Shreveport's super festival, Prize Fest, is over. The four-day event ended with the announcement of the winner of the short film competition, Film Prize.
On Sunday, Oct. 20, Gregory Kallenberg, founder of the Prize Foundation, announced "Sex Date"—directed by Mike Nicholas—as this year's winner of the $50,000 prize.
Film Prize Judge Kevin Arbouet said, "regardless of what happened at the end of the day, not only have you affected an audience, you've affected your family, you've affected Shreveport, you've affected PrizePort and you've affected me."
The winner of the Louisiana Film Prize 2024 has been announced. On Sunday, Oct. 20, Gregory Kallenberg, founder of the Prize Foundation, announced "Sex Date"—directed by Mike Nicholas—as this year's winner of the $50,000 prize.
Nicholas said, "I don't know if I have the capacity to say anything super serious right now, but I just want to say we got you, Gregory. This was all a plot to make you say, "Sex Date."
Twenty films competed in this competition to win the $50,000 prize during the 13th annual Louisiana Film Prize this weekend.
To learn more about each film, check out the link below:
More: These are the Top 20 films for Louisiana Film Prize 2024
Seven filmmakers received the Founders Circle award. This award granted filmmakers a $3,000 reimbursable grant to return to Film Prize and make another film. Those winners were:
- Miniature Life: Directed by Stevie Cavalier
- Blood and Milk: Directed by Eve Crusto
- Connected: Directed by Melissa Goslin
- Three Sessions: Directed by Erica Michelle Singleton
- Most Likely to Succeed: Directed by Ty and Rachael Hudson
- Plaid Skirts: Directed by Kat Durel
- Toots: Directed by Chris Alan Evans
The best performance was awarded to Moriah L. Hicks. She said, "Thanks to the people, thanks to Film Prize... it allows me to realize that it's really good that I didn't give up on myself."
The top five films were:
- Napoleonic Code: Directed by Michael Cusumano
- Sex Date: Directed by Mike Nicholas
- Most Likely to Succeed: Directed by Ty and Rachael Hudson
- Three Sessions: Directed by Erica Michelle Singleton
- Toots: Directed by Chris Alan Evans
These winners received $1,000 to reimburse for festival fees at other festivals.
2024 Winner: "Sex Date"
"Sex Date" is a short film about a married couple that attempts to rekindle their romance with a scheduled time to have sex.
Director Mike Nicholas has a long history with the Film Prize, producing and co-writing past entries -- "Funky Butt", "Stag" and "The Man from Mars."
Nicholas works primarily as an editor in Los Angeles, making shorts, educational and branded content for Nickelodeon. He’s ridden the jack-of-all-trades train from Actorville, to Writertown, with stops in Sketch Comedyburg and Producerfield, but he’s hoping to find a new creative home in Directorland, Shreveport.
Prize Fest
Prize Fest, a creative competition and festival held in the heart of downtown Shreveport, captivates festivalgoers from all over the world annually with featured films, food, music, and comedy.
This festival is hosted by the Prize Foundation, a non-profit organization that activates and elevates creatives in the community and beyond through creative competitions in filmmaking, culinary arts, entrepreneurship, music, and design.
The Prize Foundation was created 13 years ago when the award-winning Film Prize was launched.
Since 2012, the Prize Foundation has encouraged and incentivized filmmakers to choose Shreveport and Northwest Louisiana as places to make movies and try out new ideas. This has led to the creation of over 1,000 short films featuring the work of thousands of creative entrepreneurs and resulted in over $25 million in economic impact.
More: LIVE BLOG: Inside Prize Fest's Battle for the Golden Fork, Music Prize and 'Big Exhale'
Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Check out the Winner for the 2024 Film Prize
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