AICP’s annual Camp Kuleshov trailer competition for emerging creative artists — affectionately known as “Camp K” — has announced its Call for Entries for the 2025 installment. The editing, graphics, music score/sound design competition in which entrants are challenged to take an existing film (or films) and transform it into a trailer for an entirely different film with a decidedly fresh story, a different mood, or a surprising genre twist. The deadline for entries is September 19th, and details, rules, and a complete list of films included for use this year can be found here.
Camp K is a bifurcated competition with entrants competing regionally – East, Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West. The winners in each category at the regional level move on to compete for the grand prize in their category, The Lev. Winners of the Lev receive a $1,000 gift card provided by AICP Partner Musicbed Film Supply, as well as a certificate from Avid for Pro Tools or Media Composer.
Camp Kuleshov, and its top honor, is named for the legendary Russian film theorist Lev Kuleshov, whose early 20th-century experiments demonstrated how the order and juxtaposition of shots could shape audience perception — a concept now known as the “Kuleshov Effect.” His work laid the foundation for modern film editing and influenced generations of directors and editors worldwide.
Camp K is designed to push up-and-coming talent to sharpen their creative instincts and craft problem-solving skills, while connecting them with more seasoned artists. Camp K entrants can reach out to the many Camp K “Coaches” who can evaluate their work and offer objective feedback. To steer clear of any potential conflicts, entrants are paired with coaches from different regions. For example, if you’re based in New York, your Camp K coach may be based in Chicago or Los Angeles.
This year’s coaches are:
- Shaddai Berron, Republic, Dallas – With a fluency in both English and Spanish, Shaddai has cultivated a diverse reel of national work ranging from the recent Tropical Smoothie Cafe campaign with SNL’s Chole Fineman, McDonald’s and Frito-Lay.
- Lorenzo Bombicci, Cosmo Street, Miami – Buenos Aires–trained documentarian turned Miami-based ad editor, Lorenzo’s impactful style can be seen in his spot for Rolex, featuring Martin Scorsese, Coca-Cola and Tim Horton’s starring Wayne Gretzky.
- Chris Franklin, Big Sky, New York – Chrs is one of the founders, long-time coach, and key organizer of Camp K each year. As an editor his emotionally nuanced style can be seen in his work for brands ranging from Nespresso and USPS to American Express.
- Tyler Horton, Uppercut, New York - A rhythmic, collaborative editor perhaps best known for storytelling work on Nike’s “Letters to Heroes” campaign.
- Hugo Jordan, Cosmo Street, Los Angeles – Gifted with a knack for comedy and tapping into pop culture moments like his work for Burger King and Kendal Motor Oil, as well as his more poignant documentary style for Budweiser, and Spotify.
- Val Lasser, Big Sky, New York – Another long-time Camp K coach and organizer, Val brings over 25 years of commercial editing experience to her clients. Her subtle hand at capturing powerful moments can be seen in her work for American Express, Amazon, and ADT.
- Andy McGee, Republic, Dallas – Andy’s playful yet precise approach to storytelling is on display in his work for Epson featuring Shaquille O’Neal and Major League Rugby.
- Jay Nelson, Cut+Run, Los Angeles – An award-winning editor, known for his many Super Bowl spots and long-time collaboration with director Bryan Buckley, including his features ‘Pirates of Somalia,’ starring Al Pacino, and ‘The Bronze,’ starring Melissa Rauch, and produced by the Duplass Brothers, which premiered at Sundance.
- Joe O’Connell, Sonic Union, New York – In-demand sound designer and mixer, Joe is known for his high-profile work for brands such as Volkswagen, Pampers, USPS and, Ralph Lauren.
- David Ruben, Cutters, Chicago – 2015’s Camp Kuleshov International Grand Prize Winner in Editing, David’s recent work includes ads for Cascade, Jeep and Statefarms.
- Katie Theobalds, Storefront Music, New York – A versatile music producer with experience in advertising, branding, partnerships, production and sync, Katie has worked with high-profile brands like Meta, Mastercard, Bacardi.
- Ben Winter, Optimus, Chicago – narrative focused editor with sharp comedic instincts as seen in work for Adidas, Allstate, and Hidden Valley Ranch.
For Chris Franklin, founder and editor at Big Sky, New York, and a long-time organizer and supporter of Camp K, the experience is not just about helping junior staffers create something amazing that gets them noticed, but more about mentorship writ-large and how the skills of editing, graphic design and music/sound design composition are passed down in an industry reshaped by COVID.
“When I was starting out, I apprenticed under a film editor who was a great mentor, and I could sit next to him in the edit suite and see what he was actually doing,” Franklin says. “It's not that way anymore. Mentorship has fallen away a little bit, making it tough to pass on the craft. Camp K gives the up-and-coming post production talent in our industry a chance to come out of the shadows, to show what they have to offer. It’s truly a safe space for young creatives to experiment.”
Franklin works on the Camp K committee who structure the competition and plan all events. The committee includes: Justine Cortale, Sonic Union; Tom Duff, Optimus; Lauren Hertzberg, Cut+Run; Robby Hurd, Musicbed | Filmsupply; Chris Gipson, Republic; Gloria Pitagorsky, Heard City; Val Lasser, Big Sky; Susan Munro, Hybrid Collective; Jay Nelson, Cut+Run; Matt Nelson, Storefront Music; Jaclyn Paris, Cosmo Street; Ron Rendon, freelance; Lisa Sadek, Uppercut; and Starr Session, Hybrid Collective.
Camp K 2025 Source Films Announced:
Camp K challenges entrants to take existing films and re-imagine trailers for them as something new and different. A full listing of this year’s source films for each category, as well as competition rules and objectives, can be found on the Camp K website at www.campkuleshov.org. The deadline for entries is Sept. 19, 2025, at 11.59 pm ET. All Camp K winners will be announced during events held in participating chapters later this fall.
The roster of source films for each Camp K category typically ranges from the obscure to the mainstream and is designed to give entrants a wide selection of motifs and genres to experiment with, from a creative and craft perspective.
Regarding the films chosen this year, Franklin notes: “With this year's list, if you look through it, there's definitely a theme, but the real challenge is keeping the bar high and finding new ways to inspire entrants to challenge themselves and not repeat what’s been done before.”
In Editorial, entrants have several options for tackling films that offer a range of challenges. As usual, the list of films from which to choose, and the options for combining them in two or even three-way combinations, is extensive, ranging from classic Hollywood comedies like “Duck Soup” and musicals “Singin’ In the Rain,” to the horror favorite “Rosemary’s Baby,” the Spielberg sci-fi mind-bender, “Minority Report,” and the unmakable-today comedy, “Tropic Thunder.”
In the Sound Design category, entrants must choose a section of a film and create an entirely new sound design that casts the scene in a new light. The source options include the original 1953 version of “War of the Worlds,” as well as “Forbidden Planet” and “Blow Out.”
Graphics entrants will be challenged to create an opening title sequence for a movie that never had one, or had a simple one. Among the source films are “Apocalypse Now,” “The Seventh Seal,” and “Inside Llewyn Davis.”
In the Music Score category, entrants must create and score a music track for a scene that presently doesn’t have one. The submission must enhance the original scene and invoke emotion in line with the original movie. Among the choices are “Metropolis,” “Cloverfield,” and the Hitchcock thriller “The Birds.”
All Camp K categories are open to editorial and audio assistants, junior graphic artists, junior creatives, admin assistants, and entry-level employees at AICP member post-production and production companies. Students and interns who are actively engaged with a member company may also enter Camp K. The competition is also open to assistants and junior-level employees at music companies that are members of the Association of Music Producers (AMP).
Winners will be announced during events at various AICP Chapters this fall, with the winners of each chapter then going head-to-head to compete for the Camp Kuleshov grand prizes, the Lev, which will be announced later this year.
Supporting all Camp K competitions is Avid, which will present certificates for Media Composer or Pro Tools to the first-place winners in each chapter, and Musicbed, an AICP Supporting Partner, which is making selections from its production music library available to entrants.