Winner's Announced for Elton John: The Cut

Monday, May 08 2017 18:50

Winner's Announced for Elton John: The Cut

Written by James Zahn

While all content is editorially chosen, articles may contain affiliate links which may generate revenue for the site when a purchase is made.

Winner's Announced for Elton John: The Cut

Back in December, I first shared news of Elton John: The Cut, a contest in which filmmakers would compete via YouTube for a shot at directing official music videos for three iconic songs that had never had proper videos. In celebration of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s 50th anniversary of their songwriting partnership, Elton John, supported by YouTube, launched their search for directors to helm “Rocket Man,” “Tiny Dancer,” and “Bennie and the Jets.” After receiving entries from more than 50 countries, the winners have been determined - winners that Bernie Taupin says “are all too talented to fail.” Check out the reveal of the three winners below...

From the official announcement: "On February 28th the full judging panel for The Cut, made up of Elton John and Bernie Taupin, along with Barry Jenkins (Oscar-Winning Director), Jeffrey Katzenberg (CEO and Founder of Dreamworks Animation) and Melina Matsoukas (Grammy Award-Winning Music Video Director), gathered in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles. They were joined by the YouTube mentors for each category, Kurt Hugo Schneider (Live action – Tiny Dancer), Parris Goebel (Choreography - Bennie and the Jets) and PES (Animation – Rocket Man) who presented their shortlist of 5 choices for their category to the judging panel. A final winner was selected for each category winning the opportunity to make the official music video and $10,000 to support future creative endeavors."

Final videos will be shown later this month. Stay tuned...

Published in Music News

Tagged under

James Zahn

James Zahn is best-known as The Rock Father™, a media personality, commentator, adventurer and raconteur. He is the Owner, Publisher, and Editor-in-Chief of THE ROCK FATHER™ Magazine. In January, 2019, after nearly a decade of publishing The Rock Father™ Magazine, he joined Adventure Media and Events as Senior Editor of The Toy Book—the leading trade publication for the toy industry since 1984, as well as The Pop Insider — a destination for all things pop culture, and The Toy Insider — the leading consumer guide for toys and games. He is also editor of The Toy Report, a weekly newsletter published by The Toy Book each Thursday. Zahn has over 27 years of experience in the entertainment, retail and publishing industries.

He regularly serves as a Brand Ambassador and spokesperson for several Globally-recognized pop culture and lifestyle brands in addition to consulting for a number of toy manufacturers.

Creatively, James has directed/edited music videos, lyric videos, and album trailers for bands such as FEAR FACTORY, has appeared as an actor in feature films and commercials, written comic books, and performed in bands. He currently serves as an artist manager and video director for PRODUCT OF HATE, whose debut album was released by Napalm Records in 2016, distributed by ADA/Warner Music in the U.S. with Universal Music handling global. A new album has been completed and is set for release this year.

Zahn and/or his work have been featured in/on CNN, NBC, ABC, WGN, CBS, GCTN, G4, The Chicago Tribune, Forbes, MarketWatch, Reuters, BusinessWire, Fangoria, Starlog and more. He's appeared as a music expert on CNN's AC360 alongside Anderson Cooper, and has been interviewed by Larry King. In the past he served as a writer for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family and PBS KIDS, penned articles for Sprout and PopSugar, and was a contributor to Chicago Parent.

Learn more here.

Connect with James on Facebook or Twitter.