KIDS FIRST! News

Interview stars and directors on the red carpet. Attend film previews and share your impressions of the movie with peers the world over. Being a KIDS FIRST! youth film critic is the experience of a lifetime. (And parents – there’s an education component to all this. Visual media is a pervasive element of contemporary life,a nd we’ve developed our KIDS FIRST! Film Critics program to teach kids to critique the visual messages they’re bombarded with as well as write reviews about media they enjoy.)

The KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search opens Oct. 3. We’ll have the list of films at that time for you to choose from to review, but we’ve prepared resources you can start looking at NOW to learn how to make your review th best it can be. And one of this year’s KIDS FIRST! youth film critics, Brianna Beaton, age 12, is eager to share important tips she follows when reviewing a film and creating a video presentation of her review. Check out the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search webpage for tips on how to submit, guidelines, official rules and a short video from many of our youth film critics sharing their experience.

And sharing her view of the experience from the parent’s perspective, the mother of one of our first KIDS FIRST! youth film critics says, “My daughter’s experience with KIDS FIRST! has opened many doors for her within her own person, allowing her to strive for excellence in her written and oral presentations and to always ask the deeper questions about messages and meanings in media directed to children. Her confidence in public speaking has greatly increased as well as her feelings of value and worth of her own opinions and thoughts.” (Sarah Jane Geraldi, mother of Raven Devanney, a 2011 KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search winner.)

The contest is open until midnight, Dec. 31, but the earlier you submit your entry, the better your chance to win. Entries are posted on a public website where friends, family and everyone interested can vote for their favorite review. The top 20 will be finalists, which we’ll announce the beginning of January, and the winning four will be chosen from among the finalists by a celebrity panel of judges. Winners will be announced the middle of January.

Kids, you’ll have a blast entering this contest. So get ready to take part.

Ready to start their year of reviewing films, interviewing actors and filmmakers, and blogging their perceptions, the 2012 KIDS FIRST! Youth Film Critics are here!

With a “Congratulations” to everyone who prepared the written and videotaped review they needed to enter, KIDS FIRST! is pleased to announce the winners of the 2012 KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search.

Age 6-8
Morgan Bertsch of Northridge, Calif.
Cheyenne Nguyen of Northridge, Calif.
Alternate: Aira Dani of Atlanta, Ga.

Age 9-10
Casey Chandler of Santa Fe, N.M.
Talia Rashba of Oak Park, Calif.
Alternate: Camille Bajema of Santa Fe, N.M.

Age 11-12
Brianna Beaton of Clermont, Fla.
Julianna Noone of Warwick, N.Y.
Alternate: Julia Chestnut of Highlands Ranch, Colo.
Alternate: Hunter Willow Jones of Kutztown, Penn.

Age 13-15
Victoria Burns of Atlanta, Ga.
Blakes Hawes of Kailua, Hi.
Alternate: Jennifer Huntoon of Bloomington, Ind.
Alternate: Ajay Sharma of Bloomington, Ind.

The focus of the KIDS FIRST! film critics program is teaching children healthy media habits as well as strong critical thinking, writing and public speaking skills that will stay with them for a lifetime. The KIDS FIRST! Film Critic Boot Camp, held annually in Los Angeles, teaches kids the skills to become an entertainment reporter. 

Six celebrity judges selected this year’s winners from 24 finalists who were determined by view voting on WonderworldTV.com/kidsfirst.  This year’s judges were Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theaters and Magnolia Pictures; Ben Lyons, E! film critic and frequent contributor to “Good Morning America”; Thelma Adams, a Yahoo contributing editor and author of the “Thelma Adams on Reel Women” column that runs on AMC filmcritic.com and who was the film critic at Us Weekly for 11 years following six years at the New York Post; and  George Pennacchio of the ABC7 Eyewitness News team in Los Angeles KABC-TV.

Industry supporters of the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Campaign are Amazon.com, Anchor Bay Entertainment, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video and WonderWorld Entertainment. Campaign support also comes from national nonprofit organizations that include the National Education Association, National Association of Elementary School Principals and the National Council of Women’s Organizations, with a cumulative membership of more than 17 million.

Thank you to all KIDS FIRST! supporters for viewing and voting for our 2012 KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search. Your votes narrowed the field to these 24 finalists, and our panel of industry judges in reviewing their entries now.

While we’re waiting for the judges’ selection of the winners – which will be announced shortly – groove on this video we’ve prepared of all the finalists, taking an excerpt from their entry. A lot of positive energy and enthusiastic kids. Enjoy!

Finalists – 2012 KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search

Alan Albert of Dunwoody, GA
Camille Bajema of Santa Fe, NM
Brianna Beaton of Clermont, FL
Morgan Bertsch of Northridge, CA
Caylee Boman of Fort Collins, CO
Kylah Bullock of Jonesboro, GA
Victoria Burns of Atlanta, GA
Verolyn Campos of Santa Fe, NM
Casey Chandler of Santa Fe, NM
Julia Chestnut of Highlands Ranch, CO
Aira Dani of Atlanta, GA
Delilah Dubois of Santa Fe, NM
Chloe Ford of Marietta, GA
Jared Gragg of Bloomington, IN
Blake Hawes of Kailua, HI
Jennifer Huntoon of Bloomington, IN
Hunter Willow Jones of Kutztown, PA
Cheyenne Nguyen of Northridge, CA
Julianna Noone of Warwick, NY
Kaden Butler of Loveland, CO
Kataya Rain of Santa Fe, NM
Talia Rashba of Oak Park, CA
Ajay Sharma of Bloomington, IN
Alyssa Willis of Bloomington, IN

A Happy 2012 to all our KIDS FIRST! supporters. To the inevitable list of “New Year’s Resolutions,” let us suggest one more: Add your voice to the votes that will help select the eight kids who will be this year’s KIDS FIRST! youth film critics. Voting is open through midnight Jan. 15.

Videoed reviews from kids ages six to 14 are ready for your viewing on our partner site at WonderWorldTV. Last year, our inaugural year for the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search, saw 11 million votes cast in this public voting stage of the contest that will land eight lucky kids theopportunities that include reviewing films before their public release, attending red carpet events and interviewing actors and directors about their projects.

Your vote will help narrow the field to 24 finalists. The eight winners will then be chosen from the finalists by our panel of distinguished judges: Thelma Adams, currently a Yahoo contributing editor and author of the “Thelma Adams on Reel Women” column that runs on AMC Filmcritic.com, and who was the film critic at Us Weekly for 11 years following six years at the New York Post; Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theaters and Magnolia Pictures; Ben Lyons, E! film critic and frequent contributor to “Good Morning America”; and George Pennacchio, the entertainment reporter for “ABC7 Eyewitness News” and host of ABC7’s “Evening at the Academy Awards” pre-show and post-show, whose career has been studded with three Emmy Awards, the Publicists Guild of America’s Press Award and the Critics’ Choice Movie Award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, North America’s largest critics group.
 
Winners will be announced later this month.

Campaign support comes from national nonprofit organizations that include the National Council of Women’s Organizations, with a cumulative 17+ million members, and the National Education Association. And our thanks also to our industry supporters: Amazon.com, Anchor Bay Entertainment, Feature Films for Families, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video and WonderWorld Entertainment.  

Yes, there’s still time – and it’s fun and easy to enter. KIDS FIRST! is looking for eight kids aged six to 14 who love movies and love to talk about them to be the KIDS FIRST! youth film critics for 2012. You’ve been reading, all this year, reviews and interviews by the 2011 KIDS FIRST! youth film critics – and seeing their enthusiasm shine through in the video versions. That’s the experience KIDS FIRST! is now offering to a new roster of KIDS FIRST! youth film critics.

Choose one of these titles: Happy Feet; Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer; Glee, Season 2; Spy Kids: All the Time in the World; and Barbie: A Perfect Christmas.

Watch the movie, write a review of it and create a video of yourself reviewing it, and submit your entry by midnight, Dec. 31. Post your video on our partner site WonderWorldTV for public voting. The new voting deadline is Jan. 15.

The guidelines and the tips we’ve put together for you on our website are full of suggestions to help you.

Finalists will be chosen by public voting, so tell your friends to be sure to visit www.wonderworldtv.com/kidsfirst often to vote their favorite. EVERYONE IS WELCOMED TO VOTE – VISIT OFTEN TO SEE THE LATEST ENTRIES. Last year’s contest generated 11 million votes! Then, in late January, we’ll announce the winners.  

The eight KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search winners will experience life as a film critic for 12 months — being among the first to view new theatrical releases and writing blogs and reviews for KIDS FIRST! and our media partners, and even attending red carpet events and interviewing the celebrities there. Wow! And not only is it a blast, it’s educationally sound – we don’t expect everyone who enters to pursue a career as a film critic, but the skills the child learns simply by entering the campaign are useful. And the winners are coached by leading professionals who help them develop skills that will last them a lifetime.

In the final selection, the eight winners will be chosen from the finalists by our panel of distinguished judges: Thelma Adams, who was the film critic at Us Weekly for 11 years following six years at the New York Post and whose debut novel, Playdate, was an O Magazine pick; Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, Landmark Theaters and Magnolia Pictures; Ben Lyons, E! film critic and frequent contributor to “Good Morning America”; and George Pennacchio, the entertainment reporter for “ABC7 Eyewitness News” and host of ABC7’s “Evening at the Academy Awards” pre-show and post-show, whose career has been studded with three Emmy Awards, the Publicists Guild of America’s Press Award and the Critics’ Choice Movie Award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association, North America’s largest critics group.

Campaign support comes from national nonprofit organizations that include the National Council of Women’s Organizations, with a cumulative 17+ million members, and the National Education Association. And our thanks also to our industry supporters: Amazon.com, Anchor Bay Entertainment, Feature Films for Families, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Warner Home Video and WonderWorld Entertainment.