Winners of Jameson First Shot 2014 Announced

By Chilled Magazine

The internationally acclaimed short film competition Jameson First Shot, which gives up-and-coming film enthusiasts a real chance to break into the film industry, has announced its 2014 winners: Henco J from South Africa, Ivan Petukhov from Russia and Jessica Valentine from the US. The three directors/writers are now preparing to fly to Los Angeles to bring their short film scripts to life with the expert help of Kevin Spacey, Uma Thurman and award-winning production company, Trigger Street Productions. Following in the footsteps of Kevin Spacey and Willem Dafoe, this year the chosen three will be directing Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe Winner Uma Thurman in their unique short films, all with the funding and expertise of Trigger Street Productions.

“Every year the standard of entries seems to get higher and higher and the scripts submitted this year far exceeded our expectations again,” commented Kevin Spacey, Creative Director of the competition. “Jameson First Shot has proven itself as a real opportunity for filmmakers to get that all important ‘first shot’ in the industry, and the success our previous winners have already experienced is testament to that. I can’t wait to see the films that this year’s winners will make; I know Uma is going to be phenomenal and together with the team at Trigger Street we will make another three exceptional films.”

Henco’s script “The Mundane Goddess” follows the story of Hera, queen of the Greek Gods, who seeks answers from a therapist about her boring home life. Ivan’s film “The Gift” follows a character named Miss Anderson, who works at the city department store wrapping gifts. Jessica’s story “Jump!” is set during a 48 hour observation at a psychiatric facility, where Jack meets Wendy, a young woman with a unique obsession.

Following a rigorous judging process led by Trigger Street, 20 contestants were shortlisted and asked to direct a short scene and submit a director’s treatment. The final winners were selected based on this second stage of the competition. As in previous years, Kevin Spacey and Producer Dana Brunetti surprised the aspiring filmmakers with Skype calls to tell them they had won. You can see Henco’s, Ivan’s and Jessica’s reactions when they were told they had won on the Jameson YouTube channel.

“I was very impressed with this year’s entries and it feels like Jameson First Shot continues to go from strength to strength,” said Dana Brunetti. “We’ve had an incredible year at Trigger Street, so to be in this privileged position and to be able to share our collective knowledge, experience and our skills with these three writer/directors is a great honor. I’m looking forward to seeing them in LA and kicking off production for the third year of the competition.”