By Linita Masters
Last night a stellar cast of Filmmakers, Actors, and Producers walked the red carpet for opening night of the 11th annual HollyShorts Film Festival held at the TCL Chinese Theatre in the heart of Hollywood, from featured films starring Rose McGowan, Jason Patric, Sharon Lawrence, Rose McIver, Beth Grant, Robert Forster, Jennifer Morrison, Josh Lawson, Portia Doubleday, Carly Chaikin, and many more.
This is LA’s largest shorts fest, and will be running through August 22, 2015. The first, HollyShorts Film Festival took place at The Space Theatre in Hollywood on August in 2005, featuring 23 short films. Those films were primarily from the U.S., Canada, Poland, the U.K. and Thailand. The festival has been growing over the last decade and this year there will be over 400 films showcased, celebrating filmmakers from every corner of the world through a variety on genres. Hollyshorts is an organization that is committed to showcasing the best and brightest short films from around the globe, giving the opportunity for filmmakers to have their voices heard. Receiving a record 2,300 submissions from almost every continent this year, the overall Grand Prize winner of HollyShorts will take home a $15,000 cash prize courtesy of Zype.
Festival director Daniel Sol about this year’s festival: “We are thrilled to open HollyShorts with such a star-studded and great lineup of short movies, it’s going to be quite a night and an epic week of incredible content! This year marks the biggest HollyShorts ever and we look forward to helping create opportunities for our filmmakers August 13-22 in Hollywood!”
HollyShort has some illustrious Alumni that include David Arquette, Jessica Biel, Malcolm Barrett, Carter Smith, Jason Biggs, David Pryor, Jimmy Jean Louis, Paula Garces, Adrian Grenier, David Lynch, Paul Haggis, Josh Brolin, Kirsten Dunst, Demi Moore, Darren Lew, Bragi Schut, David Weinstein, William Olssen, Alex Ferrari, Larry Hankin, Lance Larson, John Thompson, Nick Carmen, Scott Porter, Mary Pat Bentel, Richard Riehle, with so many more. This year’s festivities will be adding many more talented individuals to the list.
HollyShorts opening night celebration featured the following short films:
The festival opened with a new clip from Eli Roth’s highly anticipated new feature film THE GREEN INFERNO from Blumhouse Productions, Universal and Focus Features. The film is set for its theatrical release on September 25.
THE GREEN INFERNO
Eli Roth’s THE GREEN INFERNO centers on a group of student activists traveling to the Amazon to save the rain forest. They soon discover they are not alone after crash-landing on a remote location, and are held hostage by a native tribe they set out to help save.
Also featured:
The Weight of Blood and Bones
Chris Ekstein’s western short Weight of Blood and Bones starring Jason Patric, Danny Trejo, Rose McGowan, Mark Boone Junior, Noah Hardin, Marissa Coughlan and Jeff Daniel Phillips. The Weight of Blood and Bones was inspired by characters from Zane Grey’s Novels and tells the story of how the past of a legendary bounty hunter catches up with him and haunts the memories of his young son. The film is produced by Stacy Ekstein, p.g.a. and Kevin Ragsdale.
The Bridge Partner
Gabriel Olson’s The Bridge Partner, written by acclaimed author Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) starring Beth Grant (Mindy Project), Emmy nominee Sharon Lawrence, Rebecca Brooks, Catherine Carlen and Robert Forster. The Bridge Partner tells the story of a timid housewife who is jolted into a fight for her survival when she thinks she hears her new partner at a weekly bridge game whisper a shocking threat.
Warning Labels
Warning Labels Directed by Jennifer Morrison (Once Upon A Time, Warrior, Star Trek), starring Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy), Josh Lawson (House of Lies), and Rose McIver (iZombie). Warning Labels is centered on 2 workers for the Center for Disease Control who meet for drinks, only to discover that love is the most hazardous thing of all.
DISSONANE
Dissonance Directed by Bryan Fox starring Leven Rambin (The Hunger Games ), Cindy Dolenc (Eyes Wide Shut), Lorraine Bracco (The Sopranos ), Henry Winkler, Yeardley Smith (The Simpsons), Carly Chaikin (Suburgatory), Nancy Travis (Last Man Standing), Perrey Reeves (Entourage), Kelly Preston, Devon Graye (Legendary ).
About Hollyshorts:
HollyShorts is an organization devoted to showcasing the best and brightest short films from around the globe, advancing the careers of filmmakers through screenings, networking events, and various panel and forums. The HollyShorts Film festival showcases the top short films produced 40- minutes or less.
Official Screening Schedule
http://www.hollyshorts.com/festival-schedule
Official Selections List
http://www.hollyshorts.com/official-selection2015
Dailymotion Channel
http://www.dailymotion.com/hollyshorts
YouTube Channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/hollyshortsff/videos
HollyShorts sponsors include:
All Short TV, Brickyard VFX, Company 3, Creative Handbook, Crypt TV, Daily Motion, Dark Horse Wines, Deep Eddy Vodka, Delmay Partners, Diablo, Evil Slave, Film Radar, FilmLA, Final Draft, Greenleaf Gourmet Chop Shop, Ignited Spaces, Indi.com, Indievent, Jungle Software, Kim Ruggles Events, Color Space Finishing, Law Offices of Clifford Lo Entertainment Law, Lightspeed EPS, Lyft, Mercury Production Report, Method Studios, New Media Vault, NYFA, OHM, Panavision, Philippe Catering, Pond5, Red Giant, Robertson Taylor Insurance, Script Pipeline, Shorts HD, Media Services,Simple DCP, Stage32.com, TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, The Agency-Sports & Entertainment Division, Uber, UCLA Extension, Women in Film, Zype, Hint Water, Production Hub, Monster Energy and Mama Shelter Hotels.