What are the Redstones?
The Redstones is a BU student film festival held each spring and is sponsored by Sumner Redstone, Chairman of VIACOM. The awards for the festival winners are sponsored by Canon, Avid and Gary Fleder and Scott Rosenberg. The festival is recognized as one of New England’s premiere film and television venues. The Redstones feature film projects written and directed by graduate and undergraduate students from the Boston University’s Department of Film and Television. Over the years, Redstones winners and finalists have turned out to be some of America’s most successful directors, screenwriters and producers. Many films screened at the Redstones festival have been nominated and won in film festivals all around the world. Two have even earned Academy Award nominations. Past Redstones winners include:
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- Gary Fleder, Director (Vegas, Runaway Jury)
- Joe Roth, Producer (Snow White and the Huntsman, Alice in Wonderland)
- Richard Gladstein, Producer (Finding Neverland, The Bourne Identity)
- Robert Patton-Spruill, Producer/Director (Squeeze, Body Count)
- Scott Rosenberg, Screenwriter (Con Air, Beautiful Girls)
- Josh and Benny Safdie (Heaven Knows What)
The Redstones Festival premieres on the BU campus each March and travels to Los Angeles in April. The Boston festival is highly anticipated each year, playing to a sold-out audience of students and friends from across the BU community. The Redstones film awards are sponsored by Canon, Avid and Gary Fleder and Scott Rosenberg. Prizes will include Canon cameras and accessories, Avid and ProTools software, and MacBook Pro computers for the screenplay winners.
Award categories:
- Best Film (First, Second, Third Place)
- Best Cinematography
- Best Screenplay
- Best Editing
- Best Sound Design
- Fleder/Rosenberg Best Short Screenplay
- Adrienne Shelly Production Grant
The two-part festival concludes in Los Angeles for an audience of alumni and BU in LA students. The finalist films from Boston compete again, judged by a West Coast panel of industry experts. The LA festival also offers alumni filmmakers the opportunity to enter the alumni short competition.
Apply for the 2020 Redstones Film FestivalOther Prizes and Grants Awarded at the Festival
FLEDER/ROSENBERG SHORT SCREENPLAY CONTEST
COM alumni Gary Fleder and Scott Rosenberg sponsor a contest to recognize the best short screenplay scripts. Prizes as follows:
- 1st place: $1,500
- 2nd place: $1,000
- 3rd place: $750
Fleder/Rosenberg Script Competition Rules
- Open to all currently enrolled Film & TV majors and minors.
- Limit one entry per student.
- Must be properly formatted.
- 20 pages or less in length.
- The script must be original, no adaptations (unless you own the rights to the property or it is in the public domain).
- E-mail your scripts to: filmtv@bu.edu, with subject heading: “Fleder/Rosenberg”
- No paper submissions will be accepted.
In submitting your entries please create two PDF files of your script. The first one should include a title page, bearing your name, the title and your e-mail address. The second file containing only the title and the script itself, your name should not appear anywhere in the second script. Submissions not adhering to this will be returned.
Deadline for submission is Thursday, January 3, 2019.
2019 Redstones Boston Winners
| Prize | Winner’s Name | Film Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Place | Carter Zhao, director; Carter Zhao & Eric Moots, producers | The Day Off |
| 2nd Place | Travis Newsad, director; Lelai Givens, producer | The Bartender |
| 3rd Place | Derek Matar, director; Jimmy Bie, producer | The Badge |
| Best Sound Design | Rebecca Marti | The Bartender |
| Best Cinematography | Darian Stansbury | The Bartender |
| Best Editing | Nick Sweetser & Travis Newsad | The Bartender |
| Best Screenplay | Edward Howarth & Carter Zhao | The Day Off |
2019 Redstones Los Angeles Winners
| Prize | Winner’s Name | Film Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Place | Travis Newsad, director; Lelai Givens, producer | The Bartender |
| 2nd Place | Derek Matar, director; Jimmy Bie, producer | The Badge |
| 3rd Place | Carter Zhao, director; Carter Zhao & Eric Moots, producers | The Day Off |
| Best Sound Design | Rebecca Marti | The Bartender |
| Best Cinematography | Darian Stansbury | The Bartender |
| Best Editing | Nick Sweetser & Travis Newsad | The Bartender |
| Best Screenplay | Joe Apatow | The Bartender |
| Best Alumni Short | Lisa Taback | Period. End of Sentence. |
2018 Redstones Boston Winners
| Prize | Winner’s Name | Film Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Place | Wes Palmer | The Boswell Incident |
| 2nd Place | Melissa Bennett | Butterflies |
| 3rd Place | Luke Catena | The Shepherd |
| Best Sound Design | Wes Palmer | The Boswell Incident |
| Best Cinematography | Luke Catena | The Shepherd |
| Best Editing | Luke Catena | The Shepherd |
| Best Screenplay | Wes Palmer | The Boswell Incident |
2018 Redstones Los Angeles Winners
| Prize | Winner’s Name | Film Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Place | Melissa Bennett | Butterflies |
| 2nd Place | Luke Catena | The Shepherd |
| 3rd Place | Wes Palmer | The Boswell Incident |
| Best Sound Design | Luke Catena | The Shepherd |
| Best Cinematography | Luke Catena | The Shepherd |
| Best Editing | Luke Catena | The Shepherd |
| Best Screenplay | Melissa Bennett | Butterflies |
| Best Alumni Short | Raouf Zaki | Fireflies |
2017 Redstones Boston Winners
| Prize | Winner’s Name | Film Title |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Place | Emily Sheehan | Borderline |
| 2nd Place | Wes Palmer | Pick Your Own |
| 3rd Place | Derin Kiyak | Instincts |
| Best Sound Design | Emily Sheehan | Borderline |
| Best Cinematography | Emily Sheehan | Borderline |
| Best Editing | Emily Sheehan | Borderline |
| Best Editing (tie) | Wes Palmer | Pick Your Own |
| Best Screenplay | Emily Sheehan | Borderline |