SCAD Savannah Film Festival Announces Entertainment Weekly’s Breaking Big and Additional Honorees

Breaking Big Awardees include Austin Abrams, Monica Barbaro, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Ethan Herisse, Ebony Obsidian, and Savannah Lee Smith

Jodie Comer to Receive Etoile Award

SAVANNAH, GEORGIA (Oct. 18, 2024) — The SCAD Savannah Film Festival is once again partnering with Entertainment Weekly to host the Breaking Big Awards and Panel Friday, Nov. 1. This year's honorees include Austin Abrams (Wolfs and The Line), Monica Barbaro (A Complete Unknown), Nicholas Alexander Chavez (Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, Grotesquerie), Ethan Herisse (Nickel Boys), Ebony Obsidian (The Six Triple Eight), and Savannah Lee Smith (Cruel Intentions), who will participate in an awards presentation and panel discussion moderated by Entertainment Weekly executive editor Gerrad Hall. Entertainment Weekly editors will attend the festival and moderate select panels.

Additionally, Jodie Comer will be presented with the Etoile Award. The festival will feature an In Conversation with the Tony Award and Emmy Award-winning actor, as she delves into her remarkable career. Best known for her role as Villanelle in the BBC America’s cult hit series Killing Eve, Comer most recently starred in Jeff Nichols’ critically acclaimed period film The Bikeriders. In the film, Comer completely immerses herself into the role of Kathy, serving as an anchor to the story and guiding audiences through the film and into the world of 1960s biker gangs. Comer will share personal insights on her approach to complex characters like Kathy, her journey in the entertainment industry, and her evolution as one of today’s most dynamic and celebrated actresses.

This year’s festival takes place Oct. 26-Nov. 2 and will open with Blitz and close with Maria. The Breaking Big recipients will join previously announced honorees Colleen Atwood (Variety Creative Impact in Costume Design Award), Marisa Abela (Next Gen Award), Amy Adams (Outstanding Achievement in Cinema Award), Annette Bening (Lifetime Achievement Award), Jerry Bruckheimer (Legend of Entertainment Award), Kevin Costner (Legend of Cinema Award), Kieran Culkin (Virtuoso Award), Colman Domingo (Spotlight Award), Karla Sofía Gascón (Distinguished Performance Award), Jharrel Jerome (Lumiere Award), Felicity Jones (Spotlight Award), Pablo Larraín (Auteur Award), Richard Linklater (Lifetime Achievement in Screenwriting Award), Diego Luna (Impact Award), Natasha Lyonne (Maverick Award), Mikey Madison (Breakthrough Award), Isabela Merced (Rising Star Award), Steve McQueen (Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award), Demi Moore (Icon Award), Lupita Nyong’o (Virtuoso Award), Jason Reitman (Vanguard Director Award), Daisy Ridley (Lumiere Award), RaMell Ross (Breakthrough Director Award), Zoe Saldaña (Vanguard Award), Chris Sanders (Icon of Animation Award), Sebastian Stan (Maverick Award), and the cast and crew of The Piano Lesson - Danielle Deadwyler, John David Washington, Skyler Aleece Smith, and Michael Potts (Ensemble Award).

Presented by the Savannah College of Art and Design, the SCAD Savannah Film Festival is filled with cinematic creativity from award-winning professionals and emerging student filmmakers. Each year, more than 63,000 people attend the eight-day festival. A distinguished stop on the road to the Academy Awards, the annual festival kicks off with a gala opening night screening, while the rest of the week features scheduled competition films, premiere screenings, workshops, lectures, and panels. Other programming highlights at the festival include Amazon MGM Studios’ LGBTQIA+ Shorts Competition and the Behind Her Lens series, which includes panels with influential female directors, producers, and artisans, who will discuss the importance of staying true to their vision and empowering the industry forward with profound stories. These events take place at SCAD’s historic theaters and industry-leading studio spaces throughout the historic city of Savannah.

For additional information on the festival lineup and tickets, visit filmfest.scad.edu.

About the SCAD Savannah Film Festival

Presented by the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), the SCAD Savannah Film Festival is filled with cinematic creativity from award-winning professionals and emerging student filmmakers. Each year, more than 60,000 people attend the eight-day festival. The festival has become a distinguished stop on the road to the Academy Awards, hosting exclusive screenings, competition films, feature films, documentaries, shorts, animated films, panel discussions, and workshops at SCAD's historic theaters and industry-leading studio spaces. Presented in Savannah, a premier film hub in the Southeast, the festival promotes quality movies produced by independent and studio filmmakers.

Follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok @savfilmfest and @scaddotedu and use #SCAD and #SAVFF.

SCAD: The University for Creative Careers

SCAD is a private, nonprofit, accredited university, offering more than 100 graduate and undergraduate degree programs across locations in Atlanta and Savannah, Georgia; Lacoste, France; and online via SCADnow. SCAD enrolls more than 18,500 undergraduate and graduate students from more than 110 countries. The future-minded SCAD curriculum engages professional-level technology and myriad advanced learning resources, affording students opportunities for internships, professional certifications, and real-world assignments with corporate partners through SCADpro, the university’s renowned research lab and prototype generator. SCAD has earned top rankings for degree programs in interior design, architecture, film, fashion, digital media, and more.

Career success is woven into every fiber of the university, resulting in a superior alumni employment rate. A 2024 study found that 99% of recent SCAD graduates were employed, pursuing further education, or both within 12 months of graduation. SCAD provides students and alumni with ongoing career support through personal coaching, alumni programs, a professional presentation studio, and more. Visit scad.edu.

About the SCAD School of Film and Acting

With resources that rival Hollywood studios, award-winning professors, stunning locations, two professionally run casting offices, and stellar film and television festivals, the SCAD School of Film and Acting is the ideal place for students to launch into the multibillion film and television industry. The SCAD acting, cinematography, editing, film and television, production design, and sound design programs prepare students to command roles on stage, screen, and behind the scenes through instruction that includes real-world experience on productions for short films, live performances, TV sitcoms, dramatic series, music videos, commercials, and more.

Additionally, SCAD is making a significant investment in the futures of the university's School of Film and Acting and School of Animation and Motion students with the completion of a Hollywood-style film backlot at Savannah Film Studios. The landmark 11-acre, three-phase expansion includes the backlot, a next-generation LED volume stage for virtual productions — one of two owned and operated by the university, along with a second at SCAD Atlanta's Digital Media Center — and new soundstages, among other features. The expanded Savannah Film Studios is the largest and most comprehensive university film studio complex in the nation.

During the 2024 festival, SCAD will unveil a magnificent new 17,500 sq. ft. production and costume design building next to the Savannah Film Studios backlot. This state-of-the-art facility will include space for costume design sewing labs, a fabulous industrial garment conveyor, and massive production design scene shops for building, welding, painting, and much more. This facility further highlights the university’s commitment to collaborations across filmmaking disciplines.

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