Full Sail University Sweeps the 2026 Coca-Cola Refreshing Films Program with Historic Multiple Award Wins

Full Sail University achieved a historic sweep at the 2026 Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program, claiming top honors across the nationwide filmmaking competition. The university’s dominance was underscored by the graduate team winning the prestigious Red Ribbon Panel Grand Prize Award for their short film Behind the Screens, alongside the undergraduate team capturing the Cinemark Fan Favorite award—determined by nationwide audience voting—for their project What Makes Them Magic. Further cementing the institution’s creative footprint, Full Sail Lab instructor and Music Production alumnus Kevin Kraus earned the Best Music Composition honor for his work on Behind the Screens. This unprecedented clean sweep highlights the exceptional caliber of instruction, institutional resources, and emerging talent fostered within Full Sail’s film and television programs.

Background and Evolution of the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films Program

Established in 1998, the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program has spent nearly three decades celebrating and cultivating the next generation of cinematic talent. The nationwide initiative invites current students and recent graduates from participating film schools across the United States to submit original scripts. These proposals must creatively incorporate a specific thematic prompt provided by contest organizers, designed to highlight Coca-Cola’s enduring role in the shared moviegoing experience.

What began as a modest corporate outreach effort has evolved into a formidable pipeline for industry-ready talent. The program bridges the gap between academic theory and real-world media production, offering student storytellers professional mentorship, hands-on brand collaboration, and a rare opportunity for genuine theatrical distribution. Out of numerous nationwide submissions received each year, only a select few advance to the production phase. In 2026, just three finalist projects moved on to the final round, with Full Sail University securing two of those coveted slots and ultimately converting them into a complete awards sweep.

Industry Partnerships and Production Infrastructure

The success of the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program relies heavily on a robust coalition of industry exhibition and technical partners. Major exhibition chains, including AMC Theatres, B&B Theatres, and Cinemark Theatres, provide crucial support by offering locations for production, rigorous script feedback, and eventual theatrical distribution.

On the technical front, industry giants Red and Nikon supplied professional-grade cinema cameras and advanced glass lenses, outfitting both the primary production units and the behind-the-scenes documentary teams. Post-production workflows were equally supported by elite industry veterans: CineVantage delivered specialized music-composition and sound-design mentorship, while renowned post-production house Company 3 executed professional color grading for each finalist film.

Katie Pryor, Program Manager for Coca-Cola Refreshing Films, has spent nearly eight years overseeing the initiative and noted that Full Sail’s infrastructure stands out among academic institutions nationwide.

“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.”

Undergraduate Excellence: What Makes Them Magic

Representing the undergraduate tier of Full Sail University’s Film Bachelor Degree Program, writer-director Brandon Bishop and producer Christina Almuina crafted What Makes Them Magic, a poignant exploration of the profound emotional resonance of cinema. Set within the familiar confines of a movie theater, the narrative observes various audience members experiencing life-altering epiphanies inspired by the silver screen. Scenes range from a father visualizing his daughter’s future wedding to a young graduate drawing inner strength from a gladiator, and old friends rekindling bonds through shared cinematic wonder.

“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 reflected. “That’s really great, beautiful, and magical.”

To bring their vision to life, Bishop and Almuina utilized Full Sail’s state-of-the-art $3 million virtual production facility, Studio V1, alongside location shooting at AMC Altamonte Springs facilitated by the program’s corporate partnerships. The production crew was composed predominantly of students from Full Sail’s Film and Television degree programs, supplemented by interdisciplinary collaboration from faculty and students in 3D arts, virtual production, and audio engineering. Following extensive theatrical runs and nationwide public voting, What Makes Them Magic was officially crowned the Cinemark Fan Favorite.

Graduate Mastery and Innovation: Behind the Screens

On the graduate side, Full Sail Film alumni Angel Quinapallo and Kylie Shouse claimed the coveted Red Ribbon Panel Grand Prize Award for their ambitious short film, Behind the Screens. Written and directed by Quinapallo and produced by Shouse, the project celebrates the rich history of cinema through the evocative lens of Americana, imagining a secret, bustling ecosystem hidden behind the movie screen where the very spirit of filmmaking is kept alive.

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

The production scope of Behind the Screens was remarkably vast, requiring dozens of students, graduates, and faculty members to construct custom physical assets—including a meticulously crafted T-Rex tail—and design historical character costumes spanning multiple eras of cinema history. Like their undergraduate peers, Quinapallo’s team leveraged Studio V1’s virtual production technology, with additional sequences filmed on location at Cinemark Orlando and XD.

The university’s triumph was further solidified when Music Production graduate Kevin Kraus received the Best Music Composition Award for his atmospheric and driving score accompanying the short film.

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

Chronology of the 2026 Competition Cycle

The path to the 2026 sweep followed a rigorous, multi-month production timeline mirroring commercial Hollywood workflows:

• Fall 2025: Participating students and graduates submitted original script proposals adhering to the Coca-Cola branded content guidelines.
• Late Fall 2025: Finalists were selected by the program panel, granting student teams access to professional equipment grants from Red and Nikon, alongside mentorship allocations.
• Winter 2026: Principal photography commenced, utilizing high-end campus facilities such as Full Sail’s Studio V1 and partner theater locations including AMC and Cinemark.
• Spring 2026: Post-production wrapped following color grading sessions with Company 3 and sound design mentorship through CineVantage.
• Summer 2026: Films debuted in theaters nationwide, triggering public voting phases and final evaluation by the Red Ribbon Panel, culminating in Full Sail’s sweeping victory.

Real-World Implications and Industry Impact

A critical factor in Full Sail University’s continuous success in the Coca-Cola Refreshing Films program is its dedication to experiential learning. Across both award-winning productions, approximately 80 to 90 percent of the respective crews were staffed by current students and recent graduates. This structure allows undergraduates to step onto a nationally recognized, heavily financed commercial set while still enrolled, navigating complex professional hurdles such as budgeting, insurance compliance, talent casting, script revisions, and brand clearance approvals.

By simulating the exact pressures, legal frameworks, and creative compromises of the professional commercial industry, Full Sail equips its student body with tangible credentials before graduation. The 2026 sweep serves not only as a testament to individual artistic achievement, but also as validation of an academic model that seamlessly integrates cutting-edge technology—such as virtual production suites—with traditional storytelling crafts, setting a high benchmark for film education nationwide.