Sony Announces PROduction Awards 2014 Winners

The winners of the Sony PROduction Awards 2014 have been announced today. For the first time, this year’s competition was open to entrants from all over the world.

Over 450 students, professionals and amateur film enthusiasts created short films for the Awards, as well as a chance to win the latest technology from Sony, including the NEX-FS700RH 4K Super 35mm Exmor CMOS sensor NXCAM camcorder and UWP-D wireless microphone kit.
Entrants were invited to create or share an existing film of up to five minutes and submit it to the Sony PROduction Awards site, where the public could view them and vote for their favourites. The public vote closed on 7 April at which point over 10,000 votes had been received. The fifteen most popular films were then judged by Sony’s panel of industry experts and three winners, one in each category, were selected.

The 2014 Sony PROduction Awards winners are:

• Creative – Scarecrow in Purgatory, Oliver Clubb, UK
• Factual – That Time, Benjamin Chesterton, UK
• Student – No Good Deed, Michael O’Neill, Australia

On Creative winner, Scarecrow in Purgatory, by Oliver Clubb, Philip Bloom, said: "A simple concept well executed. Solid direction, camerawork and sound – it ticks all the boxes technically. The central performance, tied in with the script, kept me watching and made me smile. A nice original short!"

Austrian filmmaker Nino Leitner, said of Factual winner, That Time, by Benjamin Chesterton: "It is a beautiful documentary that draws us in to the life of a young mother and her son and then reveals the story of her struggle with HIV and the child she was forced to give away. It’s wonderfully shot and crafted with some well used emotional slow-motion shots that disclose more about those portrayed."

On Student winner, No Good Deed, by Michael O’Neill, documentary filmmaker, Molly Clarke, said: "It’s a nicely-acted, well-shot drama that's been put together effectively – that's not easy to pull off."

Each winner will receive Sony’s leading NEX-FS700RH 4K Super 35mm Exmor CMOS sensor NXCAM camcorder and UWP-D wireless microphone kit, as well as profile-raising publicity. They will also receive access to Sony’s cloud-based video production and library platform Ci℠.
Naomi Climer, President, Sony Media Cloud Services, said: "The quality of films we have seen this years has been outstanding, even more so when you consider they have been created with limited resources. By providing this year’s winners with access to Ci℠ we are putting the power of much larger studios in their hands. It will also make it easier for them to collaborate with others and provide them with the foundations for what I am sure will be long and exciting careers."
Olivier Bovis, Head of AV media, Sony Europe, said: "The response from the global filmmaking community has been staggering, both in terms of the incredibly high standard of entrants and the number of people who took part in the public vote. We would like to thank everyone who has played a part this year in our global celebration of undiscovered filmmakers. The Sony PROduction Awards reminds us that there is a wealth of talented production enthusiasts out there and allows us to celebrate those who do not always get the recognition they deserve."
For the first time this year, the three winning films will be showcased alongside all 15 shortlisted films at the Sony World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House in London. The exhibition will take place from 1st May to the 18th as part of a wider celebration of photography and photojournalism.
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