The seventh annual HollyShorts Film Festival, which opens August 11 and runs through August 18, has announced its lineup, with several prominent filmmakers and actors taking center stage. Writer Jamie Linden, whose credits include “Dear John” and “We are Marshall,” will premiere his short “The Envelope in the Glovebox,” which he also directed, as part of the opening night celebration at Arclight Hollywood.
Linden used “Envelope” to pitch the feature film adaptation “Ten Year,” which stars Channing Tatum, Kate Mara, Rosario Dawson, Justin Long, Anthony Mackie, and Scott Porter. The opening night gala will also include Jacob Chase’s short “After-School Special,” which was written by Neil Labute, whose credits include “In the Company of Men.” The opening night celebration will also see Labute presented with a special Maverick Filmmaker Award. His short “Sexting” will be shown later at the festival.
Other filmmakers being honored during the opening night festivities include the award-winning production team of Kevin Chinoy and Francesca Silvestri. They will receive the inaugural HolllyShorts Maverick Producer’s Award. Their top shorts will be screened as part of the festivities, including Kristen Kiwi Smith’s “The Spleendectomy,” which stars Anna Faris and Jennifer Aniston. Also being shown are Andrea Buchanan’s “Room 10,” Aniston’s “Free Burma,” Kate Hudson’s “Cutlass,” and “Greg the Bunny,” the acclaimed film from Sean Baker, Spencer Chinoy, and Dan Milano.
More than 300 short form projects (short films, music videos, web series, and commercials) will be screened. Award winners will receive $30,000 in post-production services from Company 3. Winners of the Best Short Film will receive $10,000; Best Director also gets $10,000, and winners for Best Commercial and Best Music Video get $5,000 apiece. Winners will be announced during the closing night ceremonies on August 18.
“In our seventh year, HollyShorts has grown to become one of the top independent fests in the country and the biggest short film festival in Los Angeles with over 300 short form projects being showcased, a one of a kind star-studded opening night premiere at Arclight Hollywood, a week-long celebration of the top shorts from around the world, multiple industry panels, networking events, and major meet and greet opportunities,” said Daniel Sol and Theo Dumont, co-founders and co-directors of the HollyShorts Film Festival. “Along with our festival coordinator Nicole Castro, we look forward to once again bringing great shorts to Hollywood. HollyShorts is the starting block for many of the top next generation filmmakers and we can’t wait to unite everyone."
There were more than 1,000 submissions from 36 countries for this year’s festival, which according to organizers was a record. Two Oscar winning short films will screen at HollyShorts this year: Luke Matheny’s “God of Love,” which won Best Short Film, Live Action, and “The Lost Thing,” from Andrew Ruhemann and Shaun Tan, which won Best Animation.
This year’s in competition short films includes top talent and recognizable stars such as: Jason Ritter, Bobby Canavale (“The Other Guys”), Alicia Witt (“Friday Night Lights”), Anthony Michael Hall (“The Dark Knight”), Dante Basco (“First Glance”), Beau Bridges (“Max Payne”) Brian Geraghty (“The Hurt Locker”), Carla Gugino (“Watchmen”), David Morse (“The Green Mile”), Devon Gummersall (“Independence Day”), Ernie Hudson (“Ghost Busters”), Gil Bellows (“Unthinkable”), Hector Elizondo (“Monk”), Jackie Harris (“Yes Man”), Alan Arkin (“Little Miss Sunshine”), Joel Edgerton (“Warrior”), Rider Strong (“Boy Meets World”), David Dastmalchian (“Sushi Girl”), Jon Huertas (“Castle”), Robin Wright Penn (“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), Tom Arnold (“Roseanne”), Paul Ben Victor, Tom Hardy (“Dark Knight Rises”), and Victor Rasuk (“How To Make it America”).
This year’s festival programs will include such genres as: Animation, Family, Horror, Drama, Thriller, Romance, Action, Experimental, Student, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Documentary, Web Series, Commercials and Music Videos.
For a complete lineup of films, go to www.hollyshorts.com
