Judges Announced for Elton John Competition

Elton John’s The Cut competition, produced by AKQA and Pulse Films, is now open for submissions and its judges have been revealed, following its unveiling towards the end of last year.

Sir Elton John and his long-term collaborator, Bernie Taupin, launched the competition to give young filmmakers the chance to create a promo for three of Elton’s tracks – Bennie and the Jets, Rocket Man and Tiny Dancer – conceived before the days of music videos and MTV culture.

Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, Grammy Award-winner Melina Matsoukas and Moonlight writer-director Barry Jenkins will sit on the judging panel, given their strong musical backgrounds.

Katzenberg worked closely with Sir Elton when he wrote songs for the Lion King, while Matsoukas is the video director behind iconic promos like Beyonce’s Formation and Rihanna’s We Found Love. Jenkins – as a features film director – also thinks music is vital to his process admitting, “Music is core to my films.”

To thank them for their participation in the program, Sir Elton will donate $20,000 for each judge to a charity of their choice. Katzenberg has chosen the Motion Picture and Television Fund; Barry Jenkins has opted for the African Heritage Cultural Arts Center; while Matsoukas is yet to decide which charity she will donate to.

Three winners will be selected and their entries will premiere on YouTube in the summer of 2017. For full details on how to enter, click here.

Or listen to YouTube creators Kurt Hugo Schneider, PES (below) and Parris Goebel – who will be mentoring on the different tracks, shortlisting entries and presenting their selections to the judges – for tips on how to make a winning promo.