Thursday, January 23, 2020
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Rych McCain International/Nationally Syndicated Entertainment Columnist
The 2019 HollyShorts Film Festival Celebrated Fifteen Years In Style!
The 2019 HollyShorts Film Festival celebrated 15 years of excellence and opportunity for film makers and fans. The event was held at the TCL Chinese Theaters in Hollywood. The ten day fest saw sold out screenings daily and packed attendance at panels, social mixers, after parties and of course the grand finale; the awards night presentations that took place at the Harmony Gold Screening Room on the world famous Sunset Strip. The fest opened with a keynote conversation with industry heavyweight Anthony Russo. A host of other informative panels provided participating film makers with the opportunity to dialogue via Q&A upfront and personal with knowledgeable industry brass, then socialize with them afterward during the post panel social mixers. This also provided ample opportunity for everyone to power network.
HollyShorts co-founders Theo Dumont and Daniel Sol along with fest director Nicole Castro has built a powerhouse film fest that is now recognized worldwide with film entries from over 80 countries. HollyShorts is also a Hollywood Film/TV industry go to mainstay and has 3 Oscar qualifying categories of which a couple of their film makers have won. One such film is “Skin” by Oscar winning director Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman, which was the feature awards ceremonies closing night film.
“The Orphan” received the Oscar-Qualifying Best Live Action award and “SISTER” snagged the Best Animation award. The three films – “Balloon,” “The Orphan” and “SISTER” are officially now qualified to be in the running for an Academy Award? in 2020.
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L-R: Raraka Ito & Mako Hironaka; Impossible Dream & Dest Director Awards for "Homesick" |
“Homesick” was recognized with two top prizes including
Best Director and
Best Grand Jury Impossible Dream Award, which will be turned into a feature courtesy of
Impossible Dream Entertainment and is notably one of the biggest prizes of the night.
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Award Winners On Stage |
“Mum’s Hairpins” took home the
Best International Award which includes a generous roundtrip to London and badges to
C21’s Content London, courtesy of
Studio 21; at the conference they will have the opportunity to pitch their shorts as a series.
Best Screenplay is sponsored by
Seattle Film Summit for the second year in a row and the winner
“Desmond’s Not Here Anymore” will see the script made into a short and premiered at HollyShorts 2020.
Film Augusta will be flying out both
Best Comedy “Adams” and
Best Drama “The Neighbors’ Window” to Augusta, Georgia to meet with
Mayor Hardie Davis Jr. and the
Augusta Film Commission.
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Crowd Filing Out For A Festive After Party! |
“Esta Es Tu Cuba” won the
Best Panavision Future Filmmaker Award and will receive $15K Camera Package from Panavision.
Stampede Ventures awarded
“Tangles and Knots” the
Best Female Director Award,
“STARBOY” went on to win
Revry’s Distribution deal for
Best LGBTQ+, “The Old Wolves Club” was awarded the
PaperChase Film PitchFest Award, and
“T A L K” won the
ISA Story Award. HollyShorts Film Festival 2019 Awards Winners
Best Action – Mama Bear
Best Animation – SISTER
Best Cinematographer – On The Border
Best Comedy – Adams
Best Coming of Age – Now You Know
Best Director – Homesick
Best Diversity – Catch A Girl
Best Doc – Lazarus
Best Drama – The Neighbors’ Window
Best Editing – For The Love I Show
Best Female Director – Tangles and Knots
Best Grand Jury Impossible Dream Award – Homesick
Best Horror – Oscar’s Bell
Best International – Mum’s Hairpins
Best LGBTQ+ – Starboy
Best Live Action – The Orphan
Best Music Video – Pa’lante
Best Narrative – Lady Parts
Best Panavision Future Filmmaker Award – Esta Es Tu Cuba
Best Period Piece – The Legend of Grayson Crockett
Best Producer – Piel Canela
Best Romance – Evelyn x Evelyn
Best Sci Fi – Storm
Best Screenplay – Desmond’s Not Here Anymore
Best Short Film Grand Prix – Balloon
Best Shot On Film – Spin Cycle
Best Student – Tree #3
Best Thriller – Shehita
Best TV Category – Rainbow Ruthie
Best VFX – The Shipment
Best Web Series – Black Girls Guide to Fertility
Honorable Mention – A Million Eyes
ISA Story Award – T A L K
PaperChase Films Award – The Old Wolves Club
Screenplay Runner Up – Fireflies
Screenplay Runner Up – Meadow Valley Dollhouse Competition © 2019 Rych McCain Media/Syndication TM
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