Khaki Films, Pacific TV lead UK winners in competition

United Kingdom entrants walked away with 17 awards, including three Gold Camera first places, in the 2016 U.S. International Film & Video Festival, Los Angeles.

Ina Garten with Jennifer Garner

Khaki Films, Tunbridge Wells, won a Gold Camera and a nomination for Best of Festival in Corporate: Medical/Health for "Punctuation." The entry explores the health risks associated with HIV through the journey of a young man as his father deals with the disease. This film was commissioned as a central element of the new ‘HIV is Going Beyond Undetectable’ campaign, sponsored by Gilead Sciences, and aims to raise awareness of being HIV positive and to address the long-term issues in HIV management. The client was Packer Forbes Communications.

John Pilger at work

Also capturing a Gold Camera was RT UK, London, for "Paris, ISIS and Media Propaganda" in Documentary News Programming: Interview. The entry also earned a Best of Festival nomination in Documentary. Author John Pilger discusses the birth and development of ISIS-Daesh and its impact on the media, government and business and interviews Afshin Rattansi, host of “Going Underground.” Consideration is given to changes in recent public policies that do not seem to reflect the expected risks associated with the threat of ISIS.

Pacific Television, London, won a Gold Camera and a Silver Screen for cooking shows. The Gold was for "Barefoot in LA" in Entertainment: Cooking, which was also a Best of Festival nominee in Entertainment. Executive producers for the show were Rachel Purnell and Olivia Ball. In this entry, celebrity chef Ina Garten cooks for Jennifer Garner on her birthday in her Los Angeles home. There also is a master class with chef Wolfgang Puck at Spago and cocktail mixing at the Chateau Marmont before heading for the Hamptons to cook with acting duo Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka. The Silver Screen award was for "Pioneer Woman," a television show hosted by skilled home cook and cookbook author Ree Drummond, who works from her remote ranch in Oklahoma. The award came in Entertainment: Cooking.  Client for both projects was the Food Network, New York.

Pacific Television also won three Certificates for Creative Excellence: "Jeni and Olly's West Coast Wine Adventures" in Documentary: Travel. The client was the Travel Channel. "Marilu's Simple Good Food" in Entertainment: Cooking for client Food Network, New York; "Siba's Table" in Entertainment: Cooking for client Cooking Channel, New York.

PSONA Films, London, received a Silver Screen award in Corporate Social Responsibility/Non-

Member of the Paralympic and Olympic team

Profit for "BP's The Energy within – Meet the Team." The film is BP's positioning of its support for Paralympic and Olympic sport in the run up to the 2016 Rio Games. The client was BP plc, London. Executive Producer/Copywriter was Katy Eyre; Producer/Creative Lead: Tom Boden. PSONA earned three Certificates for Creative Excellence for "BP's The Energy Within-Marlou," and "BP's The Energy Within-Meet the Team" in Corporate: Public Relations and another in Corporate: Corporate Social Responsibility/Non-Profit.

Quite Frankly Productions, London and Bangalore, received a Silver Screen for "Brand Diageo" in Corporate: Fundraising/Development. The film demonstrates how a global organization the size of Diageo, the client, can make a difference at a local level. Producers were Lies Deneys, Sitara Menon and Guatam Shaw.

Future & Co. Films, Newcastle Upon Tyne, won a Silver Screen for "SuperCasino-Tonight We Play" in Advertising/Marketing: Business-To-Consumer. Shot in a taut, edgy style the entry is the next evolution of the SuperCasino marketing campaign and had consistent content across all media employed, TV, Online and Print. The client was NetPlay TV, London. Producer was Steve Salam, Director/Editor was Mark Lediard and Director of Photography Scott Coulter.

Receiving Certificates for Creative Excellence were Videotel Productions, London, for "Incident Investigation Analysis & Reporting Training Course" in Education: Professional Development & Continuing Education and for "Prosafe Freefall Lifeboat Training Video" in Corporate: Communication: Employee/Internal. Shell International Ltd., London, for "Shell Safety Day" in Corporate: Communication: Employee/Internal.

Capturing a Student Award was "The Flavor of the Moon" in Student Productions. Entrant Yan Zhang was producer/director'/writer/cast, with assistance from Na Zhao, writer.

The competition produced 145 awards, including 19 Gold Camera, 36 Silver Screen, 88 Certificates for Creative Excellence and three Student awards. More information can be found at www.filmfestawards.com.

One World Award Supports Tolerance; March 1 Entry Deadline Coming Up

The International Quorum of Motion Picture Producers (IQ), a global peer network of production company owners, sponsors and selects the winner of the One World Award given each year as part of the FilmFest competition. The award honors a production demonstrating international cooperation and global understanding. Established in 1966, IQ is headquartered in New York City, but has a worldwide membership. Its current president is Donna Hampton, capitolproductions.com, Sydney & Montreal.

Previous winners have highlighted health, political, racial, environmental, preservation and child labor issues. They included “Tracking the Monster: Confronting AIDS in Africa,” by Boom Pictures, New York City; “The Battle of Chernobyl” from Discovery Networks International; “Beyond Beliefs,” CloserProductions, Adelaide for Issues Deliberation Australia/America; 2012; “Heritage Saved is History Preserved” about the salvation of the town of Deventer in The Netherlands and “Counterfeit Culture,” from Tell Tale Productions, Halifax, Nova Scotia, about fake products.

      Check out www.filmfestawards.com for details on the 2015 competition. Deadline is March 1. Also, see iqfilm.org to learn more about that organization.

In Japan for Awards, Cicadas

July 28--Here I am in Japan to present two Best of Festival Awards and Gold Camera Awards and Silver Screen Awards to the two main broadcasters – NHK and MBS.

Arrived late in the afternoon on Tuesday in Osaka, a wonderful city with a lot of history and

the headquarters of MBS (Mainichi Broadcasting). This morning, I took the time to wander around the area near my hotel to adjust to the high temps (35 C) and could hear very little of the city sounds because of the noise from the cicadas. Wow, I’m talking about loud. Wonder if this is like the 17-year locusts I’ve experienced over the year in the States.

It’ll be a very busy afternoon when the events begin at 3 at MBS with many

of the senior executives, international department execs, and the producers from both MBS and AMUSE Inc, who jointly produced the Best of Festival winners: “A Passionate Challenger, Alice Sara Ott: Born to be a Pianist,” a wonderful production.

Early in the morning, I’m taking the Bullet Train (Shinkansen) from here to Tokyo to present at NHK for its winning productions and Best of Festival Award: “Light of the River.” NHK has been one of the landmark winners for its productions over the years so I am looking forward to my awards presentation there. Last year, they were co-producers of the Best of Festival winner: “Supermen of Malegaon.” I went to Singapore during the Asian Pitch to present that award.



--Lee Gluckman, Filmfest Chairman


Pictured here is Atsuhiko Sumoto, Manager, International Relations, MBS.