Southern California Student Short Film Series 'Fine Cut' Announces Finalists, Episode Lineup and Entertainment Industry Judges for New Season Premiering Sept. 22 on KCET
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Los Angeles, Calif. – Aug. 22, 2023 – KCET, Southern California’s flagship PBS station showcasing the best of PBS while creating award-winning local programming, announced today the student finalists and the nine industry judges responsible for selecting the winners of the 24th season of the FINE CUT Festival of Films, a collection of short films from Southern California student filmmakers. Since the call for submissions announcement went out this past March with a deadline in May, over 350 films were submitted by student filmmakers enrolled in over 40 Southern California schools. FINE CUT is made possible by a generous grant from The Bridges / Larson Foundation. The FINE CUT Festival of Films will be broadcast as a series of six one-hour broadcast episodes starting Fri., Sept. 22 at 10 p.m. on KCET in Southern California with many films available for streaming at kcet.org/finecut and on the free PBS app.
This year’s three winners in the categories of Documentary, Animation and Narrative short films and one winner of the prestigious Jack Larson Southern California Student Filmmaker Award will receive a variety of prize packages offering useful filmmaking resources like rental equipment, animation software subscriptions, design tools and more valued to be worth more than $40,000.
Panel of Judges. Finalists and winners in each category were determined by an industry panel of nine esteemed individuals that included Director/Writer James Lee Hernandez (Max’s “McMillion$,” Apple TV+’s “The Big Conn,” Paramount+’s “Lolla: The Story of Lollapalooza”), Writer Kelly Younger (“Muppets Haunted Mansion,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet,” “Candy Cane Lane”), Creator and Director Elizabeth Ito (“Mall Stories,” “City of Ghosts”), Cinematographer Alison Kelly (Marvel's “Ironheart,” “NCIS Hawaii”), Story Supervisor/Story Artist Michael Herrera (“Zootopia Plus,” “Bye Bye Bunny,” “Encanto”), Director Yemisi Brookes (BBC’s “Tupac: A Life In Ten Pictures,” Max’s “Beanie Mania,” “Generation Hustle”), Creator/Executive Producer Karissa Valencia (Netflix’s “Spirit Rangers”), Director/Show Runner Everett Downing (“My Dad the Bounty Hunter”) and Writer/Director Tina Mabry (Max’s “Insecure,” FX’s “Pose”).
Awards Event. Winners in each of the three categories (Animation, Narrative and Documentary) and the winner of the Jack Larson Southern California Student Filmmaker Award recognizing one student’s strength as a storyteller, will be announced during a private awards ceremony event for the finalists and the submitting regional film schools on Weds., Sept.13. The event will screen each of the winning films during an Awards Ceremony co-hosted by Variety Television Editor/KCRW “Screengrab” Host Michael Schneider and his Variety colleague Senior Entertainment Writer Angelique Jackson.
Prizes. Each of the four winners will receive valuable prize packages including two $10,000 camera packages from Keslow Camera and The Camera Division, a membership to the International Documentary Association (with exposure to 3,000 IDA members), Stage TH!S rental package $3,500 estimated value, a $1,300 Wacom Cintiq 22 design tablet, four 12-month subscriptions to Adobe Creative Cloud, $1,000 Quixote Production supplies rental, four Final Draft 12 professional screenwriting software packages and tickets to the KCET Cinema Series. Honorees will also receive prizes donated from some of the industry’s most reputable names including Toon Boom, Dragonframe, Entertainment Partners, DCP for All, APM Music, Proko, TV Paint, My Mix Spot, Foundry and Backstage.
This Year’s Submission Statistics. Final films selected include themes focusing on mental health and disability awareness, as well as LGBTQ issues. 88% of the finalist’s films had a lead character or main subject from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group and 77% of the directors were from an underrepresented racial/ethnic group. 70% of the films had at least one female producer.
The 2023 FINE CUT finalists are listed below and episodes will air as follows
(*schedule subject to change):
“Where Do I Fit?”- Fri., Sept. 22 on KCET at 10 p.m.
An animatronic cowboy fights for creative freedom in "Under Refurbishment," a drama from Biola. Chapman documentary "A Piece of Myself" examines the appropriation of Indigenous culture by Alaska's booming tourism industry. Two Nigerian weightlifters compete against each other for a chance to win US citizenship in "Lift," a drama from NYFA followed by animated short "Sports Day" from USC.
Filmmakers: “Under Refurbishment” – directed by Griffin Douglass – Biola / “A Piece of Myself” – directed by Vivienne Ayres, Audrey Shuppert, Nidhi Kumar – Chapman / “Lift” – directed by Abraham Amkpa – NYFA / “Sports Day” – directed by Jessica Wu – USC
“Distance Between Us”- Fri., Sept. 29 on KCET at 10 p.m.
A girl turns into a feather duster during her brother’s party in "A Roadside Banquet” from AFI. A mother and daughter visit family abroad in animated short "Kilig!" from USC. A recovering alcoholic must decide if there's room in his new life for his estranged daughter and cantankerous father in UCLA drama "Uncle." Followed by animated shorts “The Bowl” and “A Train to Nowhere" from CalArts.
Filmmakers: “A Roadside Banquet” – directed by Peiqi Peng – AFI / “Kilig!” – directed by Kacey Layson – USC / “Uncle” – directed by Jun Hee Han – UCLA / “The Bowl” – directed by Si Yi Lee – CalArts / “A Train to Nowhere” – directed by Zoé Lacau – CalArts
“Claim My Place”- Fri., Oct. 6 on KCET at 10 p.m.
USC documentary "Bad Hombrewood" examines the history of Latinx representation in Hollywood. A father must leave his son behind with abusive relatives in drama short "Un Día Mas Un Día Menos" from CSUN. "SHRED," a CSUN documentary, follows a group of queer Latinx skaters building a community in SoCal. Followed by animated shorts "Nido de mi Vida" from CSULB and "Cactus and the Kid" from Woodbury.
Filmmakers:
“Bad Hombrewood” – directed by Guillermo Casarin – USC / “Un Día Mas Un Día Menos” – directed by Audrey Saca – CSUN / “SHRED” – directed by Giovanna Trujillo – CSUN / “Nido de mi Vida” – directed by Ivy Gonzalez – CSULB / “Cactus and the Kid” – directed by Effren Villanueva – Woodbury
“Finding Good in the Bad”- Fri., Oct. 13 on KCET at 10 p.m.
Two sanitation workers are caught off guard by their romantic feelings for one another in "The Basics of Love" from AFI. CalArts animation "Pipe Dreams" follows a bug's life in a dorm. LMU documentary "Rigs to Reefs" reveals thriving ecosystems in offshore oil rigs. Followed by short films "Form N-400" from USC,
“My Mothers’ Daughter” from CSULB and animated short “Resilience” from CalArts.
Filmmakers: “The Basics of Love” – directed by Joshua Nathan – AFI / “Rigs to Reefs” – directed by Callie Mejia – LMU / “Pipe Dreams” – directed by Christina Woo – CalArts / “Form N-400” – directed by Martha Rodriguez – USC / “My Mothers' Daughter” – directed by Samantha Iniguez – CSULB / “Resilience” – directed by Yoonhyung Choi – CalArts
“Creative Expression”- Fri., Oct. 20 on KCET at 10 p.m.
Three dancers with disabilities find freedom through movement in documentary short "Danceable" from USC. TikTok creator Karen Wu reveals what content creation looks like on and off the app in documentary short "Don't Blink" from CSUN. An ambitious artist descends into self-destruction before his album release in "Adam's Song" from LMU. Followed by animated short "Lunch Hour" from CalArts.
Filmmakers: “Danceable” – directed by Kelsey McGee – USC / “Don’t Blink” – directed by Kathleen Ngo – CSUN / “Adam’s Song” – directed by Nathan Xia – LMU / “Lunch Hour” – directed by Mina Chacko – CalArts
“Down a Dark Road”- Fri., Oct. 27 on KCET at 10 p.m.
Strange things happen when a car breaks down in the desert in “STALLED" from AFI. Jude grapples with what it means to be an agent of God in horror short "Seraphim" from USC. Postpartum care becomes torture in drama short "A Dire Strait" from Chapman. Followed by identity swapping in "The Borrower's Hypnotist" from CalArts and animated shorts “Occupied” from CSUF and "Solar Body" from LCAD.
Filmmakers: “STALLED” – directed by Michael Lazovsky – AFI / “Seraphim” – directed by Oscar Ramos – USC / “The Borrower's Hypnotist” – directed by Michelle Tang – CalArts / “A Dire Strait” – directed by Liang-Chun Lin – Chapman / “Occupied” – directed by Liam Fink – Cal State Fullerton / “Solar Body” – directed by Baxter Wallace – LCAD
Funding for FINE CUT is generously provided by The Bridges/Larson Foundation.
Join the conversation on social media using #FineCut and @kcet
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