
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…
I am happy to say that this year’s Fan Film Director’s Choice Awards have been a success. How do I gauge success? I gauge success in a few ways: growth, diversity, and continuity. This year we had a record number of different film franchises represented (27 different film/television franchises from around the world). This fact satisfies both our growth and diversity expectations.
I am continually amazed at the number of franchises inspiring fan films, some notable newcomers this year where films from The Last of Us, Highlander, Power Rangers and Gravity Falls. We also had a record number of returning franchises and directors. These returning “veterans” fulfill our continuity goals. Having returning directors and franchises lets us know that our format is well received.
I do like having this many judges because, even as the completed ballots come in, I never really know where it’s going to end up. Most of the categories were decided on the last day or two of voting.
We added two new categories this year—Best Poster and Best Trailer—both attracted several entries, thus also seen as a success. We will continue to add categories in an effort to give our behind-the-scenes creators an opportunity for recognition. I thank all of this year’s participants and look forward to next year.
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
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”