UK TOP SOUND TECHS VOTE WHIPLASH SOUND CREW 'AMPS' AWARD WINNER FOR EXCELLENCE IN SOUND

London, 2 February 2015: AMPS (The Association of Motion Picture Sound) is extremely proud to announce that Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley have won the 2014 AMPS ‘Award for Excellence in Sound for a Feature Film’ for their work on Whiplash.

Ben Wilkins commented, "We're elated to have won. There's no better feeling than to have hard work appreciated by your peers.”

The Awards will be presented to the winners at an AMPS event later this year. AMPS’ Members who have creatively contributed to the winning soundtrack will each receive Certificates of Merit.

Five films exhibited in 2014 were selected by an AMPS Awards Committee, from which the three leading sound crew members (Production Sound, Sound Editing and Re-Recording) were nominated for award. A further ballot among all AMPS voting members selected the winning film.

The nominees were Wayne Lemmer, Christopher Scarabosio & Pawel Wdowczak for The Grand Budapest Hotel; Mike Prestwood-Smith, Renee Tondelli & John Casali for Into The Woods; Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins & Thomas Curley for Whiplash; Stuart Hilliker, Lee Walpole & John Midgley for The Imitation Game and Paul Massey, Oliver Tarney & David Stephenson for Exodus: Gods and Kings.

Chris Munro from the AMPS Awards Group said, “The AMPS awards group would like to congratulate all the sound professionals that contributed to the sound of Whiplash and wish them luck in both the BAFTA and Academy Awards. We’re also very proud to confirm that our ‘Excellence in Sound’ award is one of the first sound awards to be announced in the season.”

AMPS' Graham Hartstone added, “The AMPS award going to Whiplash is particularly significant, as the Voting Members of AMPS are all experienced professionals who understand the complex challenge posed, and the skills required to produce such an impressive soundtrack of this genre.”

Whiplash is also nominated for Sound Mixing in the Academy Awards and also for Sound at the BAFTA awards.

Long-time AMPS Sustaining Member, Dolby Europe Ltd once again acted as headline sponsor for this year's award.

The award program was created in celebration of the Association’s 25th anniversary in 2014 with plans to expand in future years to include a broader selection of creative sound technicians as well as encompassing television sound and gaming.

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NOTE TO EDITORS
AMPS (The Association of Motion Picture Sound) was founded in 1989 by a UK based group of like-minded Film and Television sound professionals. The aim was to establish an organisation where those engaged in the various crafts of sound for moving images could exchange information, endeavour to solve common problems and keep abreast of rapidly changing technology. www.amps.net

AMPS media contact
tony@awandrews.com
01737 814560
07768 352590

Ben Wilkins media contact:

Jennie Evans

Manor Marketing

jennie@manormarketing.tv

+44 1635 44991

+44 7748 636171