PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release
February 8, 2012
SANTA FE, NM - The KIDS FIRST! 2012 Film Critics were just announced and they are already hard at work. Film Critic Blake Hawes traveled to Honolulu to interview the cast from Journey 2 and to learn the Rock’s Pec Pop of Love. The winners serve a twelve-month term, attending Red Carpet events and advance film screenings where they will review new family films, interview celebrities and blog about upcoming films. Tune into the number one radio show on VoiceAmerica Kids, KIDS FIRST! Coming Attractions to hear the KIDS FIRST! Film Critic review the latest film and video releases, interview celebrities and discuss other children's media events.
The 2012 KIDS FIRST! Film Critics, by age group, are:
Age 6-8
- Morgan Bertsch, Northridge, CA
- Cheyenne Nguyen, Northridge, CA
- Alternate: Aira Dani, Atlanta, GA
Age 9-10
- Casey Chandler, Santa Fe, NM
- Talia Rashba, Oak Park, CA
- Alternate: Camille Bajema, Santa Fe, NM
Age 11-12
- Brianna Beaton, Clermont, FL
- Julianna Noone, Warwick, NY
- Alternates: Julia Chestnut, Highlands Ranch, CO and Hunter Willow Jones, Kutztown, PA
Age 13-15
- Victoria Burns, Atlanta, GA
- Blake Hawes, Kailua, HI
- Alternate: Jennifer Huntoon, Bloomington, IN and Ajay Sharma, Bloomington, IN
To enter, applicants submitted both a written and videotaped review of one of the official KIDS FIRST! Film Critics Search 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.
The 2011 film critics have all garnered their own fan club and have established an identity of their own. Raven Devanney from Denver excels in her role as host of KIDS FIRST! Coming Attractions radio show on VoiceAmerica Kids. Gabriella Chu from New York has attended many advance screenings and interviewed celebrities including Jordana Beatty (star) and Megan McDonald (author) of Judy Moody & the NOT Bummer Summer. Anthony Aranda has attended three premiere events - for the Disney release of Winnie the Pooh, the indie film This is Your Ocean Sharks, and Cars 2 where he interviewed John Lasseter and his crew on the Pixar lot. Makai Weber Colvin says her best experience was, “interviewing Travis Oats, (voice of Piglet) on the Honey Colored Carpet at the Winnie the Pooh premiere at Walt Disney Studios" during the KIDS FIRST! 2011 Film Critics Boot Camp.
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. This year's judges included 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's 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 include 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.
For more information about the KIDS FIRST! Film Critics campaign, visit KidsFirst.org.
