The organizers of the 14th Annual Oscar-Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival are announcing today this year’s Official Selections. HollyShorts takes place August 9-18, 2018 at the TCL Chinese Theater, Harmony Gold Theater and other locations in Hollywood. Nearly 400 short films will compete for the festival’s top prizes. Last year HollyShorts finalists included 3 out of the 5 Live Action Oscar nominees and the winning short Silent Child from Rachel Shenton and Chris Overton.

This year, HollyShorts received an all-time record 5,000 submissions from over 80 countries. The competition will feature Live Action, Animation and Documentary Shorts as well as web series, student shorts, music videos, TV pilots, and VR. The festival also features a screenplay competition where the winning short gets greenlit, shot and shown at next year’s festival courtesy of Evil Slave Productions.

This year’s competition lineup is the most star-studded. Standouts include Penelope Cruz’s short documentary SOY UNOENTRECIENMIL which explores childhood leukaemia, Ramon Rodriguez’s (The Affair) ROUND, Liz Lachman’s PIN-UP starring Angela Sarafyan (Westworld), Kelley Kali’s LALO’S HOUSE starring Garcelle Beauvais and Jimmy Jean-Louis, Jarod Einsohn’s Long Walk Home (Produced by Anthony Hemingway) starring Ryan Rottman, Jocelyn Stamat’s LABORATORY CONDITIONS starring Minnie Driver, Kevin Alejandro’s (Arrow) LUCIFER, Fox and Mars Candy Brands short BITE SIZE HORROR (Directed by a team of up and coming horror directors), Choice Skinner’s BLACK LIGHTNING- TOBIAS REVENGE starring Jay Hunter (If Loving you is Wrong), Jack Kenny’s THE BIRDS SING TO LOUD starring Jane Lynch, Mark Lobatto’s STEALING SILVER starring Maisie Williams (Game of Thrones), Michael Reilly’s HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME starring Whoopi Goldberg, Oscar nominated animator Bill Plympton’s MODERN LIVES,  Guy Nattiv’s SKIN starring Danielle MacDonald (Patti Cake$), Tyler Winther’s GOLIATH 22 starring Jaylen Moore (SIX),  R.H. Norman’s HAJJI starring Ross Marquand (Walking Dead), Lisa Edelstein’s (House) UNZIPPING,  Omar Benson Miller’s (Ballers) Advantage Omar, Jaclyn Bethany’s THE DELTA GIRL starring Isabelle Fuhrman (Orphan) and Caitlyn Carver (I, Tonya) among others.

This year’s Sponsor’s include: BITPIX, Buffalo 8, Kodak, Panavision Camera Division, Final Draft, Easterseals, Zoe Kevork Law,  Stage 32, Deep Eddy, Peroni, Jungle Software, Shorts TV, Stella Rosa, Monster Energy, Hint, Maggianos, Zevia, Red Giant, Angeleno Magazine, Color Space Finishing, and Seattle Film Summit.

Many of the films from this year’s festival will also be available for online/digital viewing during the week of festival via BiTPIX.

The festival will announce additional films in the coming weeks, include opening night and closing night programs.

FULL LIST OF HOLLYSHORTS 2018 OFFICIAL SELECTIONS

ABOUT HOLLYSHORTS

HollyShorts Film Festival 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 Oscar Qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival showcases the top short films produced 40- minutes or less.  Categories include Short Animation, Short Live Action, Short Documentary, Music Video, Webisode, Commercials, TV, and Digital Microbudget.