Pro Moviemaker July/August 2025 - Newsletter

AWARDS MPB FILMMAKER OF THE YEAR

MUSIC VIDEO ADDING SO MUCH TO THE SONG

EDITING FOR THE POST MASTER GENERAL Filmmakers know that it’s in the edit that the visuals and audio come together to create something special. From the cuts, sound design and graphics, they all add to the mix. And when you are under massive time pressure to get it all out, that takes real skill. The winner of this category is Jonny Lewis, who edits the longest- running rugby TV show in the US, which covers the country’s professional Major League Rugby. And he does it thousands of miles away from the action, in the UK. As the 2024 Pro Moviemaker Filmmaker of the Year winner, Lewis puts together game highlights, in-depth analysis and interviews with some of the biggest names in the sport – content that’s broadcast on a number of TV networks and YouTube. It’s a slick TV production, all edited in Final Cut Pro on Lewis’ Macbook Pro laptop, often against tight deadlines.

Music videos are where talent can really shine, with so many creative options for filmmakers. Though the award isn’t about judging the music, it’s about how the video adds to the whole creative package. This year’s winning entry comes from British-Indian filmmaker Aron Randhawa, who created a surreal and dreamlike world for Tara Lily’s Speak in the Dark using a mix of in-camera techniques and virtual production to add real polish. “This passion project was my first music video and was produced with a £5000 budget,” shares Randhawa. “The song is about speaking our truth and not holding on to secrets, otherwise darkness can consume us. The experience has made me fall in love with the art of music video creation, and I’m excited to grow in this space.”

CINEMATOGRAPHY CREATING MAGIC ON THE SCREEN This award celebrates outstanding cinematography, where resourcefulness beats budget. It’s about creating films that look like they had large crews and deep pockets, but are powered by lean teams, smart choices and bold vision. We home in on how filmmakers cleverly deploy lenses, lighting, camera angles and editing for crafting visually striking content. This category rewards the ability to create stylish, cinematic imagery without the Hollywood price tag, and Corry Raymond’s winning entry Out of These Waters is packed with shots good enough for any big-budget production. The film is a modern retelling of The Little Mermaid . It follows mermaid Ariel who washes up on the banks of the Thames in London. Told entirely

from her perspective, the film begins as a classic ‘fish out of water’ tale, but evolves into a powerful metaphor for the refugee experience as Ariel is slowly absorbed into systems of care, processed and misunderstood. “No one in the film speaks real English; instead, we use a fictional language that sounds like English but isn’t, placing the audience directly into Ariel’s confusion and sense of alienation,” explains Raymond. Stylistically inspired by Under the Skin – a film directed by Jonathan Glazer – the film uses hidden cameras, location filming and interaction with non-actors to capture the world through what Glazer calls ‘an alien lens’ – seeing our society as strange, disconnected and indifferent. Shot in colour with a minimalist, observational style, the film explores themes of identity, belonging and what it means to be human in a western society. The final image – a shoreline littered with the lifeless bodies of mermaids – draws direct reference to real-world refugee tragedies, reframing ancient myth as a contemporary, human crisis. It’s a visually stunning piece of work and a worthy winner.