Premiere Pro Make the Cut: The Big Reveal

Congratulations to the winners! We were inspired by all of the cuts, and it’s our pleasure to present the six music videos of Imagine Dragons’ “Believer” that wowed us most.

It’s not often that a product can stay relevant enough to stand the march of time, but Premiere Pro has – 25 years and still going strong. To empower and inspire the global community that has supported us for the past quarter-century, Adobe set out to offer both professional and aspiring creatives a unique opportunity to show off their editing chops. In partnership with Imagine Dragons, we invited fans of the band and Premiere Pro alike to cut a video using exclusive footage for their new hit single “Believer,” shot by accomplished director Matt Eastin. Cutting a music video is a significant undertaking, but we knew that our users would be up for the challenge. And you honestly made us “believers!”

Make the Cut received nearly 9,000 submissions from 28 countries, including cuts from the UK, Germany, India, Japan, the Philippines and Norfolk Island. Sixty percent of the entries came from brilliant young creators under the age of 25, and 68 percent used Adobe Stock content in their cuts.

Thousands of people were inspired to download the Believer footage to try their hand at editing in Premiere Pro for the first time, even if they didn’t submit their cut. We heard from educators who used Make the Cut as an assignment to teach their students how to edit and parents who partnered with their kids to make a cut, and nothing makes us happier than inspiring a new generation of editors!

Since it takes, on average, 15-20 hours to edit a music video, potentially hundreds of thousands of hours were spent by our amazing community to create their submissions – and we couldn’t be more impressed.

“I was blown away by the level of creativity, skill and storytelling in the submissions we received. I always say Adobe has the most creative community in the world and the quality of work from this contest was yet another proof point,” said Ann Lewnes, Adobe’s CMO, and a judge of Make the Cut.

And with that, we are so thrilled to announce the winners!

Grand Prize: Adam H., USA

The top video, judged on originality and creativity, use of Premiere Pro CC, and overall appeal.

Fan Favorite: Chris G., USA

The most liked video by fans on the Adobe Creative Cloud Channel on YouTube.

Most Unexpected: Timo H., The Netherlands

We had no idea what you’d come up with, but this video knocked our socks off.

Best Young Creator: Nicolas B., France

The best up and coming editor under 25 years old.

Best Short Form: Lucia N., Spain

The most impressive video that’s 30-60 seconds long.

Best Use of Stock: Micah S., USA

The video with the most creative use of supplied Adobe Stock footage.

We want to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone – the thousands of you – who helped us celebrate the 25th anniversary of Premiere Pro in such an impactful way. Here’s to another 25 years of cuts, keyframes and enabling this incredible creative community to do what it does best.