The Coca-Cola and Regal Films annual student filmmaking program announced a new Fan Favorite Award. The Award is part of the new voting process and will support the next generation of filmmakers through social sharing. All five finalists will be featured online.

The Coca-Cola and Regal Films program partnered with Universal Pictures’ Blockers to introduce the new fan vote during the Empowering Women in Filmmaking live discussion and at the film’s after screening party at the Twitter House. Every time someone shares their favorite film via Twitter they are supporting student filmmakers and that share counts as a vote.

The Coca-Cola and Regal Films program invites aspiring, up-and-coming filmmakers from 29 university and college film schools across the country to participate. Students receive funding, mentorship and resources from technical partners RED Digital Cinema and Deluxe’s EFILM. Beginning March 9 through April 20, movie fans can view the five finalist teams’ films and influence the Fan Favorite Award winner by sharing their work with the program’s new social share vote element.

“Regal is enthusiastic about providing opportunities to aspiring filmmakers, and the Coca-Cola and Regal Films competition is a fantastic way to show our support,” said Ken Thewes, Chief Marketing Officer at Regal. “With the new Fan Favorite award option, movie lovers can support that next generation and pick their favorite film, offering unique and valuable feedback to our finalists.”

The finalists’ films will be available to watch online beginning at 12:00 a.m. on March 9 at coke.com/RegalFilms. For a sneak preview visit http://bit.ly/CocaColaRegalFilms2018. Each day, fans are asked to tweet the applicable hashtag to cast a vote for their favorite film. Each tweet also earns voting participants one entry into the Fan Favorite Sweepstakes, where they could win a year of free movies and concessions at Regal.

“Film festivals and industry events have long fostered a diverse, interactive environment for filmmakers, creating opportunities for artists to share their work with the community,” said Stefanie Miller, SVP Coca-Cola North America Strategic Partnership Marketing. “The Coca-Cola and Regal Films program is based on similar principles for aspiring filmmakers, and we’re excited to launch the new Fan Favorite Award alongside the director and stars of Universal’s Blockers as they present their expertise about the art of moviemaking.”

Students from 29 top college and university film schools participated in the 2018 Coca-Cola and Regal Films program and five advanced to this year’s finals. Each finalist team received $15,000 to create a 35-second film to connect people to the movie-going experience. RED Digital Cinema, the program’s provider of professional digital cameras and accessories, supplied camera equipment for each production and the winning team. The grand-prize winning film will debut at Regal theaters nationwide.

The five finalist films available for fan voting / Twitter sharing are the following:

Columbia University: The Premiere

Ithaca College: The Library

Elon University: Movie Life

School of Visual Arts: Just One Bite

University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA): Frozen in Time

The Empowering Women in Filmmaking live conversation takes place on Saturday, March 10, at 3:30 p.m. at the Comcast Social Media Lounge in the Austin Convention Center. Sponsored by Coca-Cola Regal Film (CCRF), the chat focuses on themes of female empowerment as found in Blockers, the state of affairs for women in Hollywood, and supporting aspiring female filmmakers. Guests include:

From Universal Pictures’ Blockers:

• Kay Cannon (Director)

• Geraldine Viswanathan (Actress)

• Gideon Adlon (Actress)

From Coca-Cola Regal Films:

• Aviva Kleiner, who is on the panel representing the Coca-Cola and Regal Films program, has spent the last decade dedicated to developing filmmaking platforms for students and professionals. These programs include STAYFREE Girls in the Director’s Chair, Mary Kay Inspiring Stories, and the Coca-Cola Regal Films program.

• Brett Levner, who is on the panel representing the Coca-Cola and Regal Films program, was the first female winner of the Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker Award program. Levner produced many popular MTV reality shows and won a Comedy Central Award for Best Comedy Screenplay. She is currently an Assistant Professor of Film at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.