Announcing the WINNERS of the 4rd annual DIRECTORS CHOICE fan film awards for 2024!

They’re baaaaa-aaaaack! The annual DIRECTORS CHOICE AWARDS have returned for a fourth year to announce their winners for fan films released during calendar year 2024. If you’re a fan filmmaker and want your production judged by a jury of your peers, there are currently two options. One is the Directors Choice Awards, and the other show, the SHOWRUNNER AWARDS, is limited exclusively to Star Trek fan films.

However, the Directors Choice Awards, hosted and organized by GLEN L. WOLFE and DAN REYNOLDS, co-owners of WARP 66 STUDIOS in northern Arkansas, are open to fan films from all genres of sci-fi, fantasy, superhero, and horror. And that makes for a pretty extensive list of entries.

Glen shared this with me…

This year, I am not only blogging about the awards show, I was also a judge…and a contestant! My animated movie-era Star Trek fan film, AN ABSENT FRIEND, came out in 2024 and was entered (you can see if it won anything in the list of winners and runners up below). The judges are each the director of the fan film that they enter (hence, the name of the contest). All judges were expected to watch each of the 55 entries before voting, and while I can’t vouch for all 55 judges, I will say that I myself did watch every minute of each film—despite some entries being over an hour long (and one was two full hours)! It was quite a time commitment, and I will admit to occasionally accelerating playback speed (slightly) on some of the longer films…shhhh, don’t tell anyone.

I will say that I was very pleasantly surprised with a large number of the fan films that I watched, including most of the ones that earned awards. In addition to the major franchises like Star Trek and Star Wars, this year’s entries included both Marvel and DC superheroes, Alien, Battlestar Galactica, James Bond, Chucky, Ghostbusters, Gravity Falls, Harry Potter, Highlander, Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, The Last of Us, Lord of the Rings, Narnia, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Power Rangers, Spawn, and Wolfenstein. Betcha didn’t even know there were that many genres of fan films being made, did ya?

For a list of all the fan films that were entered, all of the nominees in each category, and all the winners, you can watch their presentation video. Below is a list of the winners and runners up in all the categories, along with YouTube links to those specific fan films.


BEST DIRECTOR

Winner:
The Last of Us: Immunity
Liam Buckley and Kaleb Cook

Runner Up:
Farragut Forward: A Star Trek Fan Production
Johnny K.


BEST ACTOR

Winner:
Spider-Man: Hunted – Ultimatum
Hunter McCoy as Peter Parker/Spider-Man

Runner Up:
Spawn
Michael Olvera Roderiguez as Clown


BEST ACTRESS

Winner:
Dream Girl
Casie Maghran as Amy Shaye

Runner Up:
Slipstream: A Star Trek Film
Christina Riley as Cadet Tabor


BEST HAIR/ MAKE-UP

Winner:
Sweet Oblivion: A Star Trek Fan Production

Runner Up:
Loreley – A STAR TREK Fan Production “Prelude to Part III – Kobayashi Maru”


BEST AUDIO MIXING

Winner:
La Morte de la Guerre
Joshua Irwin

Runner Up:
Ghostbusters: Slimer
Ty Baker


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Winner:
The Batman: Harvest Moon – A DC Fan Film
Zak Menzies and Trevor Wiers

Runner Up:
The Last of Us: Immunity
Jaden Patterson


BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC

Winner:
Once a Ranger
Robert Charles Corley

Runner Up:
Boromir’s Dream – and Tom Bombadil – A Lord of the Rings Fan Film
David Fesliyan


BEST F/X MAKE-UP

Winner:
Farragut Forward: A Star Trek Fan Production

Runner Up:
Wolfenstein Legacy of Defiance


BEST COSTUMING

Winner:
Teen Titans (Fan Film)

Runner Up:
Farragut Forward: A Star Trek Fan Production


BEST ANIMATED

Winner:
Star Wars – Darth Plagueis Episode I

Runner Up:
An Absent Friend


BEST USE OF IMPROVISED SETS

Winner:
Jurassic Island
(Body shop backlot where I found the JP vehicles.)

Runner Up:
Renaissance: a Star Trek Fan Production
(Leonardo’s Workshop)


BEST CGI

Winner:
Return to Gravity Falls
Jonathan Gallo and Jeoffrey Howe

Runner Up:
The Federation Files: Mother
Dan R. Reynolds


BEST GREEN SCREEN

Winner:
Loreley – A STAR TREK Fan Production “Prelude to Part III – Kobayashi Maru”

Runner Up:
Jurassic Island


BEST CHOREOGRAPHY

Winner
Les Échos de la Force (Echoes of the Force)

Runner Up:
Wolfenstein Legacy of Defiance


BEST LIGHTING

Winner:
“Henry” An Indiana Jones Fan Film

Runner Up:
La Morte de la Guerre
Joshua Irwin


BEST COMEDY/PARODY

Winner:
The Guy Who Trimmed Me

Runner Up:
Unavoidable Delays: a Star Trek Fan Production


BEST COMPOSITE SHOT

Winner:
Slipstream: A Star Trek Film

Runner Up:
Loreley – A STAR TREK Fan Production “Prelude to Part III – Kobayashi Maru”


BEST SCREENPLAY

Winner:
Desperate Measures: a Star Trek Fan Production

Runner Up:
Dream Girl


MOST CANON

Winner:
The Batman: Harvest Moon – A DC Fan Film

Runner Up:
Slipstream: A Star Trek Film


BEST ENSEMBLE

Winner:
Exsulum (Harry Potter Fan film)

Runner Up:
Spider-Man: Hunted – Ultimatum


BEST EDITING

Winner:
Dream Girl

Runner Up:
“Henry” An Indiana Jones Fan Film


BEST PORTRAYAL OF EXISTING CHARACTER

Winner:
Marked in Black and Red
Sophie Wright as Harley Quinn

Runner Up:
Jurassic Island
Jeannete Novotny as Jeannie

Runner Up:
Magneto
Jacob Bridges as Magneto


BEST ON-LOCATION SCENE

Winner:
Bonds of Courage: A Star Wars Fan Film
Park Podvinní, Praha, Czech Republic

Runner Up:
Once a Ranger
Guardian Rangers vs. U.N. Rangers


BEST PLOT TWIST

Winner:
The Last of Us: Immunity

Runner Up:
Exsulum (Harry Potter Fan film)


BEST TRAILER

Winner:
Power of God – A Superman Fan Film

Runner Up:
Constar: The Motion Picture


BEST POSTER

Winner:
Dream Girl

Runner Up:
Les Échos de la Force (Echoes of the Force)


BEST DOMESTIC FILM

Winner:
Dream Girl


BEST FOREIGN FILM

Winner:
Loreley – A STAR TREK Fan Production “Prelude to Part III – Kobayashi Maru”


BEST IN FEST

Winner of a $250 prize:
Loreley – A STAR TREK Fan Production “Prelude to Part III – Kobayashi Maru”

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