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The Oscar-Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival saw a record 6,000 submissions from over 80 countries for their 15th annual year. The organizers are thrilled to announce that over 400 films from 30 different countries will compete for this year’s top prizes during the festival’s 10-day run from August 8-17 at TCL Chinese Theatres in Hollywood. Last year, four HollyShorts finalists were nominated for an Academy Award^® with three bringing home the gold, including the Best Live Action Short “Skin” from filmmakers Andrew Carlberg, Guy Nattiv, and Jaime Ray Newman.

This year’s competition lineup is packed and will feature Live Action, Animation and Documentary Shorts as well as Web Series, Student, Music Videos, TV pilots, and VR. The 2019 HollyShorts Oscar Qualifying categories include: Best Short Film, Best Live Action, and Best Animation. HollyShorts also features a screenplay competition where the winning short gets greenlit, shot and shown at next year’s festival courtesy of the Seattle Film Summit. Last year’s screenplay winner “Best Seller” from Nora Kirkpatrick (The Office) will make its world premiere at the festival’s Opening Night celebration on August 8th.

Stand out films include: Erica Dasher’s “Ouroboros” starring Rosario Dawson (Luke Cage), “Robu” with Emmy-nominated actor Jharrel Jerome (When They See Us), Sterling Milan’s “About The People” written by Coffey (Fighting) and featuring Michael Kenneth Williams (The Wire), Hisham Tawfiq (The Blacklist), and Sterling Brim (Ridiculousness), “The Stew” starring Supergirl’s Melissa Benoist and Carlos Valdes (The Flash), Kate Trefry’s directorial debut “How to Be Alone” starring Maika Monroe (It Follows) and Joe Keery (Stranger Things), “I Lost My Mother’s Ashes” featuring Mandy Moore (This is Us), “Food Place” directed by Crashing’s Lauren Lapkus, “It’s a Mess” with Vincent D'Onofrio (Daredevil), GLOW’s Kimmy Gatewood and Rebekka Johnson’s short “Consent,” Ed Skrein’s directorial debut “Little River Run,” “The Toll Road” with Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex), Martin Starr (Silicon Valley), Anthony Carrigen (Barry), and Billy Gardell (Mike & Molly), “Mi Madre, My Father” starring Arrow’s Stephen Amell, “Bewildered” with Keith David (Armageddon), and “SophiaWorld” starring Westworld’s Evan Rachel Wood and HollyShorts’ first robot, Sophia the Robot. Other notable filmmakers and talent include: Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element), Mike Luciano (Animals), Common, Helen Hunt (As Good As It Gets), Kenan Thompson (SNL), Kevin Nealon (Weeds), Patton Oswalt (A.P. Bio), Eric Wareheim (Tim and Eric Saga), Michael Madsen (The Hateful Eight), Childish Gambino, Flea, Malcolm Barrett (Timeless), Steve Zahn (War for the Planet of the Apes), Scoot McNary (Argo), Amy Smart (Just Friends), and Madonna.

This year’s Sponsor’s include: Becine, Bitpix, Boxed Water, Buffalo8, Capstone, City of Agusta, Colorspace Finishing, Coverfly,Coverfly, Danny Manus, Delmay and Partners, Dream Hotel, Dust, E-Tech,Easterseals of Southern California,Eventive, Final Draft, Four Points, Gold Image Printing,Harmony Gold,Hint,Impossible Dream, inDspotlight Productions™, ISA, Kabaki,Kodak, Law Offices of Cliff Lo, Loews Hotel, Monster, Pabst Blue Ribbon, PaperChase Films, Revry, Rita House,Roosevelt Hotel, SAGIndie,Seattle Film Summit, Shacksbury, Simple DCP, Stage 32, Stampede Ventures, Storyblaster, Studio 21,Talking Rain, TCL Chinese 6 Theatres, The Camera Division, The Venue @ Hollywood: SWEET!, Wildfly Absinthe, Zoe Kazan Law

About HollyShorts Film Festival (HSFF) #HSFF2019
The annual Academy Awards^® Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival will celebrate its 15th year in August 2019. HollyShorts (HSFF) brings together top creators, industry leaders, and companies and has launched many filmmakers into the next stages of their careers. HollyShorts, a regular on the MovieMaker Magazine Top 50 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee list, also engages its community and spotlights short films year-round through monthly screenings, panels, and networking events. HollyShorts Film Festival will take place between August 8-17, 2019 at TCL Chinese Theatres 6 located at 6801 Hollywood Blvd, Hollywood, CA 90028.