Nate Theis wins Best in Show for ‘Driving.’ ‘Birthday’ by SVU’s Nick Tustin wins the first place student award, followed by ‘Religatio’ by Jaime Giraldo and ‘Panty Fairy’ by Junwei Chen.
NEW YORK -- ASIFA-East held its 46th Annual Animation Festival Awards Ceremony on Sunday, May 17, handing out awards across a variety of categories and craft from student, commercial, and independent entries to excellence in writing, design, and animation. The awards ceremony, which included screenings of the winning films, was hosted by Codename Kids Next Door creator Tom Warburton. The event was held in The New School’s Tishman Auditorium, followed by a reception at Wollman Hall.
Nate Theis won the award for Best in Show for his short film Driving. The first place student winner was Birthday by Nick Tustin from the School of Visual Arts, while Religatio by Jaime Giraldo from the Vancouver Film School took second, and Panty Fairy by Junwei Chen took third.
See below for the full list of winners at the 2015 ASIFA-East Awards:
2015 ASIFA-East Peggy Award for Best in Show
- Driving by Nate Theis
Student Films
- First Place Birthday by Nick Tustin (School of Visual Arts)
- Second Place Religatio by Jaime Giraldo (Vancouver Film School)
- Third Place Panty Fairy by Junwei Chen
- Honorable Mention re+belief by Raymond McCarthy Bergeron (Rochester Institute of Technology)
- Honorable Mention Midnight Snack by David Romero (University of the Arts)
- Honorable Mention Monster by Thomas Shek & Stephanie Lin (School of Visual Arts)
Commissioned Films and Music Video Awards
Commissioned Films Over 2 Minutes
- First Place Fun Times with Rez by Christopher Conforti for Nick Digital
Commissioned Films Under 2 Minutes
- First Place Scare Off by Nelson Diaz for Hallmark
Music Videos
- First Place Mojo Thunder Music Video by Benjy Brooke & Kris Merc for ATABOY Studios
Independent Films
- First Place Between Times by Ru Kuwahata & Max Porter
- Second Place Pig by Steven Subotnick
- Third Place LATE by Christi Bertelsen
Craft Awards
- Excellence in Writing Highway of Hell by Andy & Carolyn London
- Excellence in Education Why Are Some People Left-Handed? by Lisa LaBracio (TED-Ed)
- Excellence in Sound Design Behind My Behind by David Chai
- Excellence in Experimental China Violet by David Ehrlich
- Excellence in Animation Duckling Gets a Cookie?! by Pete List (Weston Woods Studios)
- Excellence in Design Chosin: Baptized by Fire Chris DiFiore & Byron Gray
Women In Animation Special Awards
- Women in Animation Award for Student Animation
Eggplant by Yangzi She (University of California, Los Angeles) - Women In Animation Award for Independent Animation
Give Luci by Mary Nittolo
ASIFA (Association Internationale du Film d’ Animation) was formed in 1960 by an international group of animators to coordinate and increase worldwide visibility of animated film. ASIFA’s membership includes animation professionals and fans from more than 50 countries. ASIFA sponsors animation festivals in Annecy, Ottawa, and Hiroshima. ASIFA-East is the Eastern U.S. chapter of ASIFA, based in New York City. ASIFA-East hosts monthly screenings of animated films along with other events of interest to those in the East Coast animation community, as well as fans of the medium.
'Driving' by Nate Theis.
'Birthday' by Nick Tustin (School of Visual Arts).
'Religatio' by Jaime Giraldo (Vancouver Film School).
'Panty Fairy' by Junwei Chen.
're+belief' by Raymond McCarthy Bergeron (Rochester Institute of Technology)).
'Midnight Snack' by David Romero (University of the Arts).
'Monster' by Thomas Shek & Stephanie Lin (School of Visual Arts).
'Fun Times with Rez' by Christopher Conforti for Nick Digital.
'Scare Off' by Nelson Diaz for Hallmark.
'Mojo Thunder' Music Video by Benjy Brooke & Kris Merc for ATABOY Studios.
'Between Times' by Ru Kuwahata & Max Porter.
'Pig' by Steven Subotnick.
'LATE' by Christi Bertelsen.
'Highway of Hell' by Andy & Carolyn London.
'Why Are Some People Left-Handed?' by Lisa LaBracio (TED-Ed).
'Behind My Behind' by David Chai.
'China Violet' by David Ehrlich.
Source: ASIFA-East
Formerly Editor-in-Chief of Animation World Network, Jennifer Wolfe has worked in the Media & Entertainment industry as a writer and PR professional since 2003.
