Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, along with Ron Howard (two-time Academy Award® Winner) and Josh Hutcherson (star of “The Hunger Games” franchise), have announced the names of 15 finalists in the Project Imagination: The Trailer contest. The contest, which drew a flood of submissions, encouraged people of all skill levels to turn their photos and video footage into movie trailers with titles, Hollywood style voice-overs and epic soundtracks.
The public is now able to vote through June 10 on the 15 finalists at imagination.usa.canon.com and then Ron Howard and Josh Hutcherson will select one winning trailer based on its overall impression, inspiration and imagination. The film is set to go into production this summer and will be written and directed by Kat Candler (“Hellion”).
“As a veteran filmmaker, I appreciate the value of edge-of-your seat creativity in filmmaking, and that’s what Project Imagination: The Trailer is all about,” said Howard. “Josh and Kat are the perfect complements to what’s sure to be an exhilarating exploration into the inspirational value of trailers.”
“What’s most exciting about this process is that I don’t know what to expect,” said Hutcherson.
“We were thrilled by the number of truly creative trailers that were submitted,” said Yuichi Ishizuka, president and COO, Canon U.S.A., Inc. “And, we know that Ron, Josh and Kat will honor the power of everyday moments to inspire something really fascinating.”
The 15 chosen finalists are:
► JR Poli of North Lauderdale, Fla., with “Everything is Mean”
► Anna Fuller of Louisville, Ky., with “A Reader and a Writer”
► Jan Garcia of Union City, Calif., with “The Life and Times”
► Ben Alagna of Los Angeles, Calif., with “Siren”
► Ryan McDowell of Campbell, Calif., with “Borderless”
► Mina Park of Los Angeles, Calif., with “Calling Card”
► Rachel Bingham of Sandy, Utah, with “Ninja School”
► Zack Murray of Odessa, Fla., with “Spin”
► Jonathan Spencer of Charleston, Mass., with “The 18-Hour Proposal”
► Matt Sconce of Oakhurst, Calif., with “The Hunt”
► Ryan Lawson of Chicago, Ill., with “Bubbles”
► Giordan Moore of Springfield, Mass., with “The Clumsy Shoveler”
► Marc Geiger of Lancaster, Calif., with “Stuck”
► Mark Mukherjee of Tampa, Fla., with “Tainted Water”
► Nic Thorson of Sherman Oaks, Calif., with “Project Six”
For the third iteration of Project Imagination, Francesca Silvestri and Kevin Chinoy of Freestyle Picture Company are once again producing the film, this time with Josh Hutcherson.
About CANON U.S.A., INC.
Canon U.S.A., Inc., is a leading provider of consumer, business-to-business, and industrial digital imaging solutions to the United States and to Latin America and the Caribbean (excluding Mexico) markets. With approximately $31 billion in global revenue, its parent company, Canon Inc. (NYSE:CAJ), ranked third overall in U.S. patents granted in 2014† and is one of Fortune Magazine's World’s Most Admired Companies in 2015. In 2014, Canon U.S.A. received the PCMag.com Readers’ Choice Award for Service and Reliability in the digital camera and printer categories for the 11th consecutive year. Canon U.S.A. is committed to the highest level of customer satisfaction and loyalty, providing 100 percent U.S.-based consumer service and support for all of the products it distributes. Canon U.S.A. is dedicated to its Kyosei philosophy of social and environmental responsibility. In 2014, the Canon Americas Headquarters secured LEED® Gold certification, a recognition for the design, construction, operations and maintenance of high-performance green buildings. To keep apprised of the latest news from Canon U.S.A., sign up for the Company's RSS news feed by visiting www.usa.canon.com/rss and follow us on Twitter @CanonUSA
About RON HOWARD
Ronald William "Ron" Howard (born March 1, 1954) is an American actor, director and producer. He came to prominence as a child actor, playing Opie Taylor in the sitcom The Andy Griffith Show for eight years, and later as the teenaged Richie Cunningham in the sitcom “Happy Days” for six years. He made film appearances such as in “American Graffiti” in 1973 and while starring in “Happy Days” he also made “The Shootist” in 1976, as well as making his directorial debut with the 1977 comedy film “Grand Theft Auto.” He left “Happy Days” in 1980 to focus on directing, and has since gone on to direct several films, including the Oscar winning “Cocoon,” “Apollo 13,” “Frost/Nixon,” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” Ron won the Academy Award for “A Beautiful Mind” as the Director and also producer of the film. In 2003, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.
About JOSH HUTCHERSON
Josh Hutcherson has quickly become one of Hollywood's most accomplished young actors. He has received many accolades including the 2012 Cinema Con award for "Breakthrough Actor," MTV Movie Award for "Best Male Performance," the Teen Choice Award for "Best Actor: Sci-Fi/Fantasy" and Logo's New Now Next Award for the "Next Mega Star." Josh is best known for his portrayal of Peeta Mellark in the highly successful franchise, “The Hunger Games”, alongside Jennifer Lawrence and Liam Hemsworth. Josh reprises his role in “Mockingjay Part 2” in November, 2015. In addition, Josh stars opposite Benicio Del Toro in “Paradise Lost”, a drama about the notorious kingpin, Pablo Escobar.In 2010, Josh co-starred alongside Annette Bening and Julianne Moore in Lisa Cholodenko's Academy Award nominated feature film “The Kids are All Right”. Additional film credits include the animated film “Epic”, “Red Dawn”, a remake of the 1984 classic, “Journey 2: Mysterious Island”, the independent feature film “Detention”, in which Hutcherson also served as Executive Producer, an omnibus film entitled “Seven Days in Havana”, which features seven shorts directed by seven different directors, “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D”, the first ever high definition 3-D live performance feature, “Bridge To Terabithia”, “Zathura”, “Kicking and Screaming”, “Howl's Moving Castle” and “The Polar Express”. Josh won Young Artist Awards for "Leading Young Actor" for his roles in “Zathura” and “Bridge to Terebithia”. In addition to acting, Josh is extremely involved with his charity organization, Straight But Not Narrow (SBNN). SBNN is an ally organization that prepares and trains young adults on how to become allies of their LGBTQ peer. In 2012, he was honored with GLAAD's "Vanguard Award" for his work with the LGBT community.
About KAT CANDLER
Kat Candler's award winning short films “Hellion” and “Black Metal” have screened at Sundance, SXSW, Los Angeles Film Festival, San Francisco International Film Festival, Sarasota Film Festival, Maryland Film Festival and more. Her feature film, “Hellion” starring Aaron Paul and Juliette Lewis, premiered in the U.S. Dramatic Competition at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. “Hellion” was a Sundance Creative Producing Lab participant and San Francisco Film Society/Kenneth Rainin Foundation Grant recipient. “Hellion” was released in theaters through IFC Films. Candler was a recipient of the San Francisco Film Society/Kenneth Rainin Foundation Grant for her upcoming feature “Untitled Metal Project”. Candler is a 2014 Sundance Institute Women's Initiative Fellow.
† Based on weekly patent counts issued by United States Patent and Trademark Office.
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