Student filmmakers, get ready for the red carpet! After weeks of online voting, TXU Energy and the Dallas Film Society have announced the six finalists of the third annual 2012 TXU Energy Light Up the Red Carpet Student Film Contest. The three university and three high school filmmakers will find out who won this year’s grand prizes at the Dallas Film Society Honors and Awards Presentation April 20.

This year, nearly 70 competing high school and university filmmakers from schools across the state submitted three- to five-minute films on the future of energy and energy efficiency as they competed for more than $30,000 in cash prizes, video editing software and a walk down the red carpet.

Thousands of online votes supported short films created by students in cities across Texas, including the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Houston, the Rio Grande Valley and Austin. Voters were asked to score the films based on forward-thinking ideas or perspectives, solution-oriented stories and overall presentation and entertainment quality. This year’s finalists include the following students:

Finalists (High School)

• Abelardo Gonzalez, “No Blackout” Vidal M. Treviño Magnet - Laredo
• Carolina Treviño, “The Energy Police” High School for the Performing and Visual Arts - Houston
• Christian Vasquez, “A Spark” Booker T. Washington High School - Dallas

Finalists (University)

• Dillon White, “Zap!” Northlake College - Irving
• Edgar Cortes, “Domi Cile” The Art Institute of Dallas – Dallas
• Wojciech Stypko, “Man Power” University of North Texas – Denton

The finalists’ films can be seen at txu.com/studentfilmcontest.

The winning high school and university entries will each receive grand prizes of $7,500. The other prizes include $5,000 for first prize and $2,500 for second prize in both the high school and university categories. The high school finalists’ audiovisual departments will receive 100 percent of the prize money, while the university students will split the cash winnings with their schools’ AV departments. All finalists and semifinalists will also receive video editing software valued at about $400. Grand-prize winners will also attend a TXU Energy TV commercial video shoot.

About TXU Energy
TXU Energy is a market-leading competitive retail electricity provider, powering the lives of more Texans than any other retailer. TXU Energy offers a variety of innovative products and solutions, allowing both its residential and business customers to choose options that best meet their needs, including exceptional customer service, competitively priced electricity service plans, innovative energy efficiency options, renewable energy programs and other electricity-related products and services. Visit txu.com for more information about TXU Energy. REP #10004.