SOURCE: Cleveland.com | Joey Morona
May 1, 2023
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The next Russo Brothers, Jordan Peeles and Chloé Zhaos of tomorrow were honored recently at the 7th annual Kids Film It Festival. Founded by 19-year-old Pepper Pike resident Ryan Levine when he was a seventh-grader at Hawken School, this year’s event attracted over 100 submissions from filmmakers ages 8 to 18 from all over the world.
The best of the best in three categories (short film, music video and animation) were selected by a panel of judges that included film producer Todd Lieberman (“The Fighter”), TV director Marc Buckland (“Santa Clarita Diet”) and NBC News producer Aaron Brownlee (“The Today Show with Hoda & Jenna”). Cleveland.com readers voted for their favorites, too, as Nikki Awards were handed out in three age groups. The honor is named after the late Nikki Delamotte, the cleveland.com arts and culture reporter who often lifted up young creatives in her work.
