Watch actress, writer, and director Stella Velon and lead actor Alan Smyth’s interview with Arpa International Film Festival, where ‘The Critic’ is nominated for the Best Short Film award. The 23rd edition of the festival will take place November 12-22, 2020 on Seed & Spark. Get your festival passes here.
The W3 is sanctioned and judged by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts (AIVA). AIVA members include executives from organizations such as Spotify, Majestyk, Big Spaceship, Tinder, Conde Nast, Disney, Microsoft, Wired, and many others.
Other Gold winners in the Video category this year include SingleCare’s ‘Feeling Presidential’ national ad campaign starring Martin Sheen, and James Arthur feat. Travis Barker music video ‘YOU’ from Sony Music Entertainment, among others. Less than 10% of the 3000 plus entries in the 15th edition of the awards were selected as Gold winners.
Congratulations to our team!
To learn more visit the winners gallery here: w3award.com/winners/gallery.
Actress/writer/director Stella Velon and producer Jean Gabriel Kauss of The Punk Floyd Company spoke with The Webby Awards about how ‘The Critic’ was made. The short earned Stella a 2020 Webby nomination for Best Individual Performance and has won over 20 festival awards to this day. Read the interview here.
On April 28th, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 24th Annual Webby Awards with Stella picking up a nomination for Best Individual Performance for THE CRITIC.
Hailed as the “Oscars of the Internet” the Webby Awards are the leading international award rewarding excellence across the internet and in online film & video. As a nominee, Velon is among the top 10% of 13,000 entries worldwide and has been singled out as one of the five best in the world in that category!
The other nominees in the same category are Fka Twigs ('Honey Boy'), Emily Hampshire (‘Schitt’s Creek’), Leslie Grace (Latin GRAMMY® nominee), and writer-comedian Gastor Almonte.
Viewers can vote for the Webby People's Voice Award through May 7th from anywhere in the world. The winners will be announced via a virtual celebration on May 19th, dubbed the Webbys From Home. Last year, people cast over 3 million votes from 230+ countries and territories worldwide, and the site was visited by over 5 million people.
“Written, directed by, and starring Stella Velon, The Critic is an indie short that, painted in vibrant colors and rife with symbolism and underlying meaning, is an emotional ride that is immediate and powerful.”
– Mark Ziobro | THE MOVIE BUFF
Stella talks to Keely Gelineau during the 2019 Catalyst Content Festival (in Duluth, MN) about the genesis of the short and what’s next for the feature version of the film.
Velon took home the Best Breakout Performance Award there.
Watch the interview below.
At our Scotland premiere in the beautiful town of Paisley, ‘The Critic’ received the Best Story Award at the HB Film Festival.
Selected by a jury that includes the co-Head of Movies at Amazon Studios (Julie Rapaport), Head of Diversity at Amazon Studios (Latasha Gillespie) and Founder and CEO of IMDb (Col Needham), we are extremely proud to announce that ‘The Critic’ is the recipient of one of the four First Prizes (or runner-up awards) at Amazon Studios’ inaugural All Voices Film Festival for U.S. filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds.
Thank you to the judges and to all of those who supported our entry during the initial festival window (June 3 - 24, 2019) by viewing and reviewing the film on Amazon Prime Video!
Watch it now: http://bit.ly/thecritic-amazonprime
At its Palm Springs premiere at the 2019 Annual Queen Palm International Film Festival and Awards Show, ‘The Critic’ took home the Grand Jury Prize ‘Couronne d’Or’ as well as the Best of Fest ‘Queen Supreme’ Award for Best Short ‒ First-Time Filmmaker (Stella Velon)
‘The Critic’ will have its Palm Springs Premiere at the 2019 Annual Queen Palm International Film Festival. Join us on Sunday July 14th at 4:30 pm at the Mary Pickford Theatre. More info here.
As a two-time Gold Award winner as well the Royal Gem Diamond Festival Standout at the December 2018 edition. ‘The Critic’ will compete for the Grand Jury Prize in the Best Short - First-time Filmmaker & Best Actress (Stella Velon) categories.
Watch, rate, and review 'The Critic' on Amazon Prime. Your views count!
At an awards ceremony held at the historic Ahrya Fine Arts Theatre in Beverly Hills, The Critic was named Best Short Film at the 13th Method Fest Independent Film Festival.
In addition to becoming the "Festival Standout"' Royal Gem Diamond winner, 'The Critic' took home 7 other awards including two Gold awards for Best Short First-Time Filmmaker and Best Actress (Stella Velon).
