Watkins student wins prestigious film award

Watkins student Ryan Pickett of Ryan Pickett Productions has won a prestigious Award of Merit from The Accolade Competition. The Accolade recognizes film, television and videography professionals who demonstrate exceptional achievement in their craft and creativity, as well as those who produce outstanding entertainment or contribute to profound social change. Entries are judged by highly qualified professionals in the film and television industry. Information about The Accolade and a list of recent winners can be found at www.theaccolade.net.

The award was given to Ryan for his dramatic short film, Look, which analyzes the definition of beauty and how it’s perceived. Look features exceptional visual poetry created by Director Ryan Pickett and Cinematographer Shane Bartlett, also a Watkins student. The cast was comprised of Nashville locals Starina Johnson, John Ferguson, Theresa Meeker and Alison Parson. According to Pickett, “I was completely blown away when I received the news that Look won an Accolade. I entered because I wanted Look to have an IMDB page and MovieMaker magazine had named The Accolade Film Competition as a Top 25 Film Festival.”

Look was Ryan’s second film. His first film, You Only Loved Me Twice, gained him international recognition when it was selected over thousands of other entries, earning Ryan a top five finalist spot in the Race to Be Competition, hosted by media mogul Russell Simmons at the Sony Pictures Studio Lot in Los Angeles. Information about the Race to Be Competition can be found at www.racetobeusa.com. By receiving an Accolade, Ryan joins the ranks of other high-profile winners of this internationally respected award. Thomas Baker, Ph.D., who chairs The Accolade, said “The Accolade is not an easy award to win. Entries are received from around the world. The Accolade helps set the standard for craft and creativity. The judges were pleased with the exceptionally high quality of entries. The goal of The Accolade is to help winners achieve the recognition they deserve.”

For more information call Ryan Pickett (424) 653-4488 or visit his website at www.ryanpickettproductions.com. For more information about the Watkins film program, please click here.