Top Film Students to be Honored with the Avid Awards at USC School of Cinematic Arts’ First Look Festival

Hollywood, CA, 29.04.2013

Student nominees vie for top honors, cash prizes and screening at Avid-sponsored event

Avid® (NASDAQ: AVID), today announced the sponsorship of the USC School of Cinematic Arts’ 2013 First Film, a showcase of student short films from the School’s First Look Festival, and the introduction of the first-ever Avid Awards. The collaborative effort between Avid and the USC School of Cinematic Arts, one of the top film schools in the country, underscores the deep commitment these organizations share to educate tomorrow’s innovative media makers. The award ceremony will take place at the prestigious Directors Guild of America (DGA) Theater in West Hollywood on April 30. In addition to being honored for their work, winners will also receive cash prizes.

“We are so pleased to have Avid as a partner in acknowledging and celebrating the high level of films our students produce,” said Elizabeth M. Daley, Dean of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. “Our students rely on Avid technology to make exciting professional-level First Look films each year, so to have the company express encouragement and support for their work is an honor.”

USC’s First Look Festival showcases 41 student-made short films from both the Film & Television Production Division and the Peter Stark Producing Program over the course of the weekend-long festival. A majority of films in this year’s festival were cut with Avid editing solutions, including Media Composer, the industry’s preeminent nonlinear editing solution. Avid recently launched Media Composer 7, which accelerates and simplifies file-based workflows and extends real-time production everywhere.

Before the Avid Awards ceremony, six jury-selected short films will be screened at the Director’s Guild of America. Gold, silver and bronze prizes will be awarded to the top three films, and one film will be named audience favorite.

“The Avid Awards recognize the nation’s top film students and the innovative work at one of America’s finest film schools, USC School of Cinematic Arts,” said W. Sean Ford, vice president of worldwide marketing for Avid. “The works of these award winners is a sneak preview of the bright future of cinematic storytelling in America, and we look forward to their continuing contributions to our prestigious community of aspiring and elite filmmakers.”

For more than a decade, USC School of Cinematic Arts’ First Look Festival has showcased the talent and imagination of students destined to join the ranks of the entertainment industry’s top cinematic professionals. Notable directors to graduate from the school have included longtime Avid users such as George Lucas, Lee Unkrich, Robert Zemeckis and many others.

About Avid

Avid creates the digital audio and video technology used to make the most listened to, most watched and most loved media in the world – from the most prestigious and award-winning feature films, music recordings, and television shows, to live concert tours and news broadcasts. Some of Avid’s most influential and pioneering solutions include Media Composer®, Pro Tools®, Interplay®, ISIS®, VENUE, Sibelius® and System 5. For more information about Avid solutions and services, visit www.avid.com, connect with Avid on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn,SoundCloud; or subscribe to Avid Buzz.

About USC School of Cinematic Arts

In 1929, USC became the first university in the country to offer a Bachelor of Arts degree in film. The School's founding faculty included William C. DeMille, Douglas Fairbanks, D.W. Griffith, Ernst Lubitsch, Mary Pickford, Irving Thalberg and Darryl Zanuck, among others. Since its founding, the School of Cinematic Arts has had a profound impact on the global entertainment industry and the academic study of film, television, animation, games and emerging media.

About the USC First Look Festival

For more than a decade, USC School of Cinematic Arts’ First Look Festival has provided a diverse glimpse of the talent and imagination of students destined to join the ranks of the entertainment industry’s top cinematic professionals. Notable directors to graduate from the school have included longtime Avid users such as George Lucas, Lee Unkrich, Robert Zemeckis and many others. In addition to First Film, the annual First Look Festival comprises work from across several division at the School of Cinematic Arts, including Writing, Production, Producing and Animation.