The winners of the Sony PROduction Awards 2013   were announced today following one of the most successful and fiercely fought competitions of recent years. Over 400 students, professionals, and amateur film enthusiasts, created their own short films for the chance to gain industry recognition and win the latest technology from Sony, including Sony’s Full-HD Super Slow Motion NEX-FS700EK camcorder.

The Sony PROduction Awards are designed to unearth exceptional filmmakers and give them the opportunity to further their careers. 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 26 April at which point over 10,000 votes had been received.  The twenty most popular films were then judged by Sony’s panel of industry experts and four winners, one in each category, were selected. The 2013 Sony PROduction Awards winners are:

• For Granted, by Mohamed El Sehrawy (Student)
• Csaba Mullner: Tattoo Artist, by Christian Renner (Factual)
• Routines, by Vít Kratochvíle (Creative)
• Academy, Skatepark by Jonathon Edwards (Commercial)       

Philip Bloom, a leading DP and director, and a member of the judging panel for the awards, praised the calibre of this year’s entrants. “There was a fascinating variety of films across a very broad number of styles and genres. The overall quality is excellent and I wish I had the time to watch every single entry as you learn something from everything you watch and sometimes great work slips through the cracks. If you are one of those who didn’t make the final list don’t fret. Keep at it! If you made the shortlist but didn’t win, congratulations on getting so far. Watch the other entries and of course don’t give up. You have achieved something fantastic and this is just the start!”
Each winner will receive Sony’s leading NEX-FS700EK Super 35mm NXCAM camcorder and UWP-V1 wireless microphone kit, as well as profile-raising publicity. For Granted by Mohamed El Sehrawy, which received the highest number of public votes, will also win one of the first NEX-FS700EK 4K recorder kits as soon as it becomes available. This phenomenal 4K kit includes the HXR-IFR5 - 4K RAW recording interface unit, AXS-R5 - 2K/4K RAW recording unit, AXS-512S24 - 512 GB AXS Memory Card and NEX-FS700EK 4K RAW Firmware upgrade. The victor in the Student category, For Granted by Mohamed El Sehrawy, will also win a series of Sony Masterclasses for themselves peers and their place of study.         

Award-winning Spanish director, editor, cinematographer and motion designer, Ruben Latre, who was on the judging panel for the awards, said: “It was an incredibly tough competition this year as the standard was so high.  In the commercial category I was looking for something I hadn’t seen before.  The restrained nature of Academy Skatepark really stood out - sometimes less is more. In the Factual category, Csaba Mullner: Tattoo Artist drew inspiration from the subject matter.  It was visually well executed, concise and well put together. However my favourite film this year came in the Student category. For Granted was elegant, simple, creative, well shot and beautiful.”

Olivier Bovis, Head of AV media, Sony Europe, said: “The standard of this year’s finalists has been incredibly high and the judging panel had an unenviable task in selecting this year’s winners. We would like to take the opportunity to congratulate everybody who has taken part and thank everyone who took the time to vote. 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.”

You can learn more about the Sony PROduction Awards here:  productionawards.sony.eu/. To stay up to date with the latest announcements, including information about future competitions, follow us on Twitter  here or join us on Facebook here .