Full Sail University Dominates 2026 Coca-Cola Refreshing Films Program with Historic Sweep of Top Industry Honors

Full Sail University achieved an unprecedented milestone at the 2026 Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program, capturing the highest accolades available in the prestigious nationwide student filmmaking competition. Demonstrating the caliber of its academic framework and the technical prowess of its student body, Full Sail representatives dominated the podium. The graduate team secured the coveted Red Ribbon Panel Grand Prize Award for their short film Behind the Screens, while the undergraduate team earned the Cinemark Fan Favorite honor through nationwide audience voting for What Makes Them Magic. Additionally, Full Sail Lab instructor and Music Production alumnus Kevin Kraus was awarded Best Music Composition for his auditory work on Behind the Screens, sealing a comprehensive sweep for the institution.

The annual competition, which challenges emerging filmmakers to highlight the unique intersection of Coca-Cola and the theatrical moviegoing experience, serves as a vital bridge between higher education and professional cinematic execution. For the 2026 cycle, out of a vast pool of script submissions from participating film schools across the United States, only three finalist productions advanced to the final phase. Two of those three finalist slots—and subsequently all major awards—belonged to Full Sail University teams.

Background and Evolution of the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films Program

Established in 1998, the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program was conceived to foster the next generation of cinematic talent by providing undergraduate and graduate students with tangible, real-world industry experience. The initiative tasks participating film schools with submitting original scripts centered around predefined thematic guidelines that celebrate the shared cultural ritual of cinema. Selected scripts transition from the page to the screen, evolving into fully realized, professional short films that receive theatrical distribution across major commercial cinema chains.

Over nearly three decades, the program has expanded its network of industry partnerships to offer participants a fully realized Hollywood-standard production pipeline. Major exhibition giants—including AMC Theatres, B&B Theatres, and Cinemark Theatres—collaborate directly with the student crews, providing authentic shooting locations, comprehensive script feedback, and nationwide screening opportunities. Furthermore, high-profile technical partners such as RED Digital Cinema and Nikon supply professional-grade camera bodies and cinema lenses for both primary units and behind-the-scenes documentation teams. Post-production workflows are similarly elevated through partnerships with CineVantage, which provides dedicated music-composition and sound-design mentorship, and Company 3, which executes professional color grading for every finalist film.

Katie Pryor, Program Manager for Coca-Cola Refreshing Films, has overseen the evolution of the initiative for nearly eight years. Reflecting on the standard of excellence observed at Full Sail University during the 2026 production cycle, Pryor highlighted the institution’s robust infrastructure.

"I think the facilities here at Full Sail are really, really mind-blowing," Pryor stated. "The resources and opportunities that Full Sail provides to their students are phenomenal. This program is a great opportunity for students to get that branded filmmaking experience while they still have the safety net and the resources of the school."

Anatomy of a Winner: What Makes Them Magic

The undergraduate team representing Full Sail brought a deeply emotional narrative to the screen with What Makes Them Magic. Written and directed by film undergraduate Brandon Bishop, and produced by fellow film undergraduate Christina Almuina, the short film examines the profound psychological and emotional impact that cinematic storytelling exerts on audiences.

Set within the atmospheric confines of a movie theater, What Makes Them Magic tracks a diverse cross-section of audience members whose internal emotional states are transformed by the images flickering before them on the silver screen. Narrative vignettes depict a father visualizing his young daughter’s future wedding day, a university graduate drawing inner strength and resilience from the cinematic depiction of an ancient gladiator, and estranged friends reconciling their bonds through the shared communal experience of film viewing.

"One of the only art forms that you go spend two hours in is a movie, and then you make a fundamental life change after that because you saw something that moved you," Bishop explained regarding the conceptual genesis of the script. "That’s really great, beautiful, and magical."

The production utilized state-of-the-art infrastructure, filming inside Full Sail’s cutting-edge $3 million virtual production facility, Studio V1. Exterior and contextual sequences were captured on location at AMC Altamonte Springs, leveraging the exhibition partnerships secured by the contest organizers. The crew itself functioned as an interdisciplinary microcosm of the university, drawing the vast majority of its talent from Full Sail’s Film and Television programs while receiving specialized collaborative support from faculty and students in the 3D arts, virtual production, and audio engineering departments. Following a competitive public voting window, the nationwide audience formally designated What Makes Them Magic as the Cinemark Fan Favorite.

Behind the Scenes: The Graduate Masterclass in Cinematic History

While the undergraduate team focused on the emotive power of contemporary viewing, the graduate team leaned into the structural history of the medium itself. Behind the Screens, written and directed by film graduate Angel Quinapallo and produced by fellow film graduate Kylie Shouse, offers a whimsical yet technically demanding exploration of cinema’s evolution through an Americana lens.

The narrative concept imagines a hidden, highly active subterranean universe operating directly behind the movie screen—a metaphysical engine room where the cumulative history of cinema is continuously maintained to project the magic of the movies outward to the public.

"This script just crackles with energy and captures the creativity and controlled chaos that happens behind the scenes when creating movie magic," noted producer Kylie Shouse. "It mirrors all the work that we as student filmmakers experience to create these 60 seconds of branded content."

Executing the ambitious scope of Behind the Screens required extensive mobilization across the university campus. Dozens of students, graduates, and faculty members collaborated to construct custom practical elements, including a bespoke, scaled T-Rex tail and elaborate period-accurate costumes representing diverse eras of film history. Principal photography for the short utilized Studio V1’s virtual production ecosystem, with supplementary scenes captured on location at Cinemark Orlando and XD.

The culmination of these efforts yielded the Red Ribbon Panel Grand Prize Award, recognizing the film’s exceptional direction, technical execution, and narrative clarity. Adding to the graduate team’s triumph, Music Production graduate and Full Sail Lab instructor Kevin Kraus captured the Best Music Composition Award for his intricate, evocative score accompanying Behind the Screens.

"It’s incredibly gratifying to get an award for something that I’ve put so much time and work into," Kraus reflected. "This whole project has been an absolute labor of love."

Bridging Academia and Industry: The Real-World Production Workflow

Beyond the accolades and trophies, the 2026 Coca-Cola Refreshing Films sweep highlights a broader educational and operational model practiced at Full Sail University. Across both winning productions, approximately 80 to 90 percent of the respective crews consisted of current students and recent graduates. This immersion allowed emerging filmmakers to bypass simulated environments and step directly into high-pressure, nationally recognized commercial productions.

Operating under strict industry standards, the student producers and directors were required to navigate complex professional workflows. These responsibilities extended far beyond creative direction to encompass rigorous budget management, production insurance procurement, legal casting clearances, script revisions, and multi-tier corporate brand approvals from Coca-Cola executives and partner studios.

Industry analysts note that programs of this scale provide invaluable preparation for the commercial and narrative film markets. By embedding students within a network that includes RED, Nikon, Company 3, and major theater circuits, academic institutions can effectively compress the traditional professional transition timeline. For Full Sail University, the 2026 sweep serves as empirical validation of its cross-disciplinary educational architecture, cementing its status as a primary incubator for modern cinematic talent.