The American Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) wrapped another successful year of Camp Kuleshov, affectionately known across the industry as Camp K, with celebrations in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York honoring 2025’s standout emerging post-production talent.
The annual trailer competition challenges rising editors, sound designers, music scorers and graphic artists to reinvent existing films as something entirely new. It’s a pressure-cooker of creativity, craft, and problem-solving — and for many young artists, their first taste of mentorship from top pros across AICP member companies.
This year’s winners, representing studios including Cutters, Cosmo Street, Optimus, Flavor, Yessian, Uppercut, Sound Lounge, Another Country and more, were recognized at packed events around the country. Trophies were awarded in Editing, Sound Design, Music Score, and Graphics, along with honorable mentions in each region.
West/Southwest (Los Angeles)
Held at Uppercut + Racket Club, complete with Halloween costumes, LA’s show crowned Alexandra Jimenez of Cosmo Street Editorial with first place in Editing for reimagining Tropic Thunder with the Devil as its lead character. Additional honors went to Luke Strickler (Arcade Edit), Rich Gonzalez (Cosmo Street), and an honorable mention for music score to Owen Stinsmuelhlen (Racket Club) for The Birds.
East/Southeast (New York)
At Crystal Lake in Williamsburg, Thomas Sheriff of Whitehouse Post won first place in Editing for reframing About Time as psychological terror. Sound and score wins went to Pablo Ancalle and Natalie Cordero (Sound Lounge), along with Zoltan Monori (Heard City), while Waner Zhang of Uppercut topped Graphics with a reimagined Inside Llewyn Davis.
About the Lev Awards
Regional first-place winners now move on to compete for the prestigious Lev Award, Camp K’s grand prize, named for film pioneer Lev Kuleshov, which will be announced at the AICP Awards in Chicago on November 20.
Mentors, Judges, and the Craft Community
Camp K continues to thrive thanks to a deep bench of industry mentors, judges, and committee members who volunteer year-round. From Cut+Run to Republic, Big Sky Edit to Storefront Music, dozens of working artists gave their time to coach entrants and help shape the next wave of post-production talent.
This year’s Committee included: Justine Cortale of Sonic Union; Tom Duff of Optimus; Chris Franklin of Big Sky Edit; Chris Gipson of Republic; Lauren Hertzberg of Cut+Run; Robby Hurd of Musicbed+Filmsupply; Val Lasser of Big Sky Edit; Susan Munro of Session City; Jay Nelson of Cut+Run; Matt Nelson of Storefront Music; Jaclyn Paris of Cosmo Street; Gloria Pitagorsky of Heard City; Ron Rendon; Lisa Sadek of Uppercut; and Starr Session of Session City.
Each year, artists from AICP member companies serve as Coaches to the Camp K entrants, offering feedback and guidance as they craft their entries. The 2025 Camp K Coaches were: Shaddai Berron of Republic; Lorenzo Bombicci of Cosmo Street Editorial; Chris Franklin of Big Sky Edit; Tyler Horton of Uppercut; Hugo Jordan of Cosmo Street; Val Lasser of Big Sky Edit; Andy McGee of Republic; Jay Nelson of Cut+Run; Joe O’Connell of Sonic Union; David Ruben of Cutters; Katie Theobalds of Storefront Music; and Ben Winter of Optimus.
The judges for the East/Southeast competition were: Lorenzo Bombicci of Cosmo Street; Jen Dean of Cut+Run; Chris Franklin of Big Sky Edit; Alex Hagon of Uppercut; Tom Jucarone of Sound Lounge; Val Lasser of Big Sky Edit; Matt Nelson of Storefront Music; Joe O’Connell of Sonic Union; Rob Ryang of Cut+Run; Micah Scarpelli and Mike Sobo, both of Uppercut; and Katie Theobalds of Storefront Music.
Camp K Midwest judges were: Tim Cahill of Optimus; Mike Ciacciarelli of Optimus; Magdalena Hernandez of Cutters; Brian Hrastar of Optimus; Marly Koven of Flavor; Brian Leitner of Utopic; Kristen MacDonald of Whitehouse Post; Tyler Nelson of Optimus; Deb Shimmel of Whitehouse Post; Drew Weir of Another Country; Ryan Wood of Optimus; and Dan Zabinski of Whitehouse Post.
The judges for the Camp West/Southwest installment were: Jackson Armstrong of Republic; Nick Crane of Racket Club; Ben Ellis of Nomad; Justin Hori of Racket Club; Andrew McGee of Republic; Andrea Mendoza of Cut+Run; Susan Munro of Session City; Jay Nelson of Cut+Run; Fernando Raigoza of Arcade Edit; and Rob Watzke of Wind & Water Creative.
Above (left to right): Leah Fishwick, Cutters Studios; Amara Lapuz, Cut+Run; Brett Rossiter, Another Country; Waner Zhang, Uppercut; Natalie Cordero, Sound Lounge; Gage Bowman, Flavor Studios; Zoltan Monori, Heard City; Isabella Paulitz, Cutters Studios; Thomas Sheriff, Whitehouse Post; Carly Bickett, Optimus; Brian Naughton, Cutters Studios; Kyle Totzke, Cosmo Street Editorial; JoJo Diaz-Orsi, Yessian; Pablo Ancalle, Sound Lounge; Lucas Hansa, Another Country; Patrick Fermo, Big Sky Edit; Luke Strickler, Arcade Edit; Owen Stinsmuelhlen, Racket Club; Alexandra Jimenez, Cosmo Street Editorial; Rich Gonzalez, Cosmo Street Editorial
REELated:
The Gerety jury has spoken: here are the winners for the 2025 edition
