2009 Student Academy Awards® Entry Deadline Approaching

Beverly Hills, CA — The deadline for U.S. student filmmakers to submit their films for consideration in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 36th Student Academy Awards is Wednesday, April 1. The Student Academy Awards is a national annual competition designed to recognize and encourage promising new filmmakers.

Applications and rules for the competition are available online at http://www.oscars.org/saa. All completed entry forms for the 36th Student Academy Awards must be submitted electronically. Additionally, filmmakers must send a DVD of their film and a printed copy of their signed entry form to the appropriate regional coordinator. All entry materials must be received by the deadline to be considered (it is not a postmark deadline).

Each year more than 500 film students from colleges and universities all over the country compete for Student Academy Awards and the accompanying cash grants. Films are judged by Academy members in four categories: Animation, Documentary, Narrative and Alternative.

Past Student Academy Award® winners include Spike Lee, Bob Saget, Trey Parker, and Oscar® winners John Lasseter and Robert Zemeckis.

At the 81st Academy Awards, honoring the films of 2008, two former Student Academy Award winners received Oscar nominations: Reto Caffi for “Auf der Strecke (On the Line)” (Live Action Short Film) and Pete Docter for “WALL-E” (Original Screenplay). Over the years, former Student Academy Award winners have garnered a total of 37 Oscar nominations and have won or shared six awards.

The 36th Student Academy Awards will be presented on Saturday, June 13, at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The ceremony is free and open to the public.

Additional information about the Student Academy Awards can be obtained by visiting http://www.oscars.org/saa or by contacting Awards Administrator Rich Miller at rmiller@oscars.org.