Emerging Filmmakers Take Note! ADCAN Awards Returns for 2015

Not-for-profit creative platform ADCAN Awards today announces the launch of ADCAN Awards 2015, the second installment of an annual competition that supports both emerging filmmaking talent and deserving charities. The initiative returns following the success of its inaugural year in 2014, which saw winning contestants Emily Atterton, Esrael Alem and Filmawi Efrem all gain employment with leading UK production companies and ADCAN Awards partners Rattling Stick and Partizan.

Developed by creative professionals, Dan Heighes and Brydon Gerus, the free-to-enter competition invites unsigned creatives from across the UK to select a brief from one of four charities to create a 30 second film that promotes its cause in a unique and dynamic way. ADCAN’s chosen charities for 2015 are Superact, The Rucksack Project, Live Life Give Life and Engineers Without Borders.

The creative briefs will be available to download from adcanawards.com from 18 March. Films will be judged by industry-leading production companies Rattling Stick, Partizan and Nexus and then showcased to an impressive array of companies, partners and sponsors. The best entries for each charity brief will be shortlisted, with each charity category having a winner and a runner up; while one film will be selected as the overall Grand Prix winner. All shortlisted film makers will be given the opportunity to attend creative workshops with industry leading professionals, including those from The Mill, Wave, Work and Arri Media, and have their films featured and promoted on Vimeo.

Dan Heighes, Co-founder, ADCAN AWARDS, says, "We were overwhelmed with the positive feedback that the ADCAN Awards received from entrants, participating charities and industry professionals alike in 2014, and can happily report that following last year’s competition, a number of participants have gained employment within the creative sector. We are so proud to launch ADCAN Awards 2015 and build on the initiative’s success to create further opportunities for emerging talent and support worthy charities. We look forward to seeing what entrants will bring to the competition this year."

Brydon Gerus, Co-founder, ADCAN AWARDS, adds, “In its first year, ADCAN Awards was a success on a number of levels - filmmakers got real jobs. Charities got real ad and the industry was exposed to new talent who were using their creativity for good. I can’t wait to see the impact we’re going to make this year.”

Emily Atterton, Grand Prix Award winner, ADCAN Awards 2014, says, “I can't believe how much has changed for me in less than a year since participating in ADCAN. Following our Grand Prix recognition last year, I’ve been offered a full time role as production manager and my Director of Photography has been booked for commercials. We wholeheartedly support the ADCAN initiative as a platform for those trying to break into the creative industry.”

The participating charities are able to use the bespoke films created by entrants to further promote awareness for their causes, providing them with access to creative resources that might otherwise be unattainable due to financial constraints.