Sony Pictures Television Networks (SPTN), in partnership with the United Nations Foundation, has announced the opening of the Picture This Festival for the Planet, a short-film competition for emerging filmmakers, everyday storytellers and changemakers worldwide to showcase the positive future they see for our planet.
People from over 70 countries are invited to submit videos inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a set of global goals agreed upon by the United Nations to end poverty, protect the planet and promote prosperity for all.
In mid-2018, eight regional winners will be flown to Los Angeles, US to attend the Picture This Festival for the Planet for a day of networking and training alongside industry leaders and social impact partners at the Sony Pictures Studio lot, followed by a screening of the regional winners’ films. Regional winners will receive airfare and accommodations for two nights in Los Angeles, along with a Sony RX0 Camera and a one year WeTransfer Plus account. The grand prize winner honored with a Sony A6500 camera and a SEL1670 lens. In Asia, the first 100 successful entries will receive a one-year WeTransfer Plus account worth US$120 each.
Andy Kaplan, President, Sony Pictures Television Networks, said: “At Sony, we are proud champions of the intersection between storytelling and innovation and are incredibly excited to spearhead Picture This. With the support of the United Nations Foundation and our other partners, we look forward to elevating and amplifying these important development goals through the voices of emerging creatives and acknowledge their good work in a meaningful way.”
SPTN launched a similar contest in 2016 across its channel portfolio worldwide, including its flagship brands in Asia, AXN, Sony Channel, GEM, ONE and Animax and those same channels will participate in this year’s festival.
In addition to Kaplan, the judges include: Megan Boone, environmental advocate and actress from the TV series The Blacklist; Elizabeth Cousens, Deputy CEO, United Nations Foundation; Marie Jacobson, EVP Programming & Production, Sony Pictures Television Networks; Tom Bernard & Michael Barker, Co-Presidents, Sony Pictures Classics; NP Singh, MD & CEO, Sony Pictures Networks India; Glenn Gainor, President of Physical Production, Screen Gems; Debbie Levin, President & CEO, Environmental Media Association; and Damian Bradfield, President and Chief Marketing Officer, WeTransfer.
Cousens said: “The Picture This Festival for the Planet is an innovative new platform to connect global audiences to what is happening on the ground as people put the SDGs into action in their daily lives. The United Nations Foundation appreciates Sony’s deep commitment to sustainability and its willingness to leverage its creativity and reach to bring the SDGs to new audiences. By celebrating individual stories of people around the world actively working to protect people and planet, Picture This will help inspire others to join the effort to realise these ambitious – and achievable – goals."
Sony Pictures Television Networks is a division of Sony Pictures Television Inc., a Sony Pictures Entertainment company. The Picture This Festival for the Planet is Sony Pictures Entertainment’s latest project to bring awareness to the SDGs. In 2016, the United Nations and Sony Pictures Entertainment launched Angry Birds for a Happy Planet, a global youth outreach campaign that leveraged online and social media platforms to encourage action to protect the planet and fight climate change. Centered on the Sustainable Development Goal No. 13 – to take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts, the campaign featured Red and other characters of The Angry Birds Movie. In 2017, supported by the cast of the Smurfs: The Lost Village, audiences were encouraged to join Team Smurfs for the Small Smurfs Big Goals campaign that inspired everyone to learn about and support the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
Details:
The contest is open to entrants from Brunei, Cambodia, mainland China, Fiji, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Macau, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Taiwan. Fiction or non-fiction are welcome, and the film can be of a wide range of genres, new or existing. Videos should be between one and eight minutes in length. Submissions for the Picture This Festival for the Planet close April 30, 2018. Entry is free. Register
Explore:
Watch the video introducing the Picture This Festival for the Planet
