HollyShorts

With a passion for film and filmmaking since childhood, Daniel decided to move to California in 2000 with an interest in the film business. After working on Commercial Productions as a PA and then acting in various short films, he gained an interest and knowledge into what it takes to put together a film. With that came friendships, and with the people he met along the way the common theme sprung up: Young Filmmakers had no access to industry professionals, and they had no way to screen movies locally. This sprung the idea for the HollyShorts Film Festival. Sol currently works at Lionsgate in Domestic Distribution, and has recently acted in the Short Film “Shoot-Out.”

Theo Dumont, Co-Founder/Producer HollyShorts Film Festival Producer

An addict to the filmmaking process, Dumont teamed up with Daniel Sol in 2004 with the goal to provide a platform for filmmakers to showcase their independent short films, network with industry professionals and create insightful, industry career-advancing panels and forums. Dumont is currently a corporate communications executive and has a background in executing media/public relations campaigns. Dumont has served as a publicist at some of Hollywood’s leading entertainment companies. He is also a graduate of Florida International University.

Erica Sardarian, Producer, HollyShorts Judge

Upon graduation from UCLA, Erica decided to get her feet wet in the highly competitive yet lively world of entertainment by applying for an internship at the Style Network. After a short stay as an intern on the show Style Star, she was immediately hired as a production assistant on the Emmy Awards Live Show for the E! Network. This is where Erica got the opportunity to witness first-hand all of the glitz and glamour of the red carpet. Her transition from television into the world of online media began when she started working on short form content for the Vine at Eonline. From there, she was hired to write, edit, and produce both movie and television show promotional packages for the Barker channel on Comcast Video-on-Demand. Erica then made her way into yet another branch of entertainment…radio. As the associate producer and talent booker on the launch of E!’s newest radio show, Yo on E!, Erica was in charge of not only bringing all the celebrity guests into the studio but also making sure the three hour daily program ran smoothly. Erica is currently working on the long-time running educational and documentary style television show, Modern Marvels on the History Channel. Her passion and world revolves around film and television production, while she works on numerous side projects as well. One of these projects included producing a short film titled, Parallel Cut, with her director brother, Edgar Metro. The film was nominated at last year’s Arpa International Film Festival and premiered at the Egyptian Theatre in the heart of Hollywood. The brother-sister duo have started their own production company called Metro-Marcel Pictures and are working on several independent projects as well.

Cheryl Quintana Leader, HollyShorts Sponsorship Coordinator

Founder and president of INDIVISION2000 Productions, Cheryl Quintana Leader writes, directs and produces educational videos in English and Spanish for the Latino community. Quintana Leader was the first Latina to produce a nationally syndicated hour-long television special hosted by Edward James Olmos – The Hispanic Heritage Film Project: An American Experience sponsored by AT&T, Kodak and Very Special Arts showcasing Latino filmmakers and their bicultural stories (which included the award winning “Tanto Tiempo”). Her brief work has garnered an AV/Video Multimedia’s Top 100 Producers Award, Women’s History Month Award from Comision Feminil/Los Angeles, a Gold Apple at the National Educational Film & Video Festival, two CINE Golden Eagles from Washington D.C., two National Best Short Film titles (Chicago Latino Intl. Film Fest & San Jose Film & Video Fest), as well as having been inducted into the Xicano Retrospective archives at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. INDIVISION2000 Productions is proud to have recently launched a 16-week web education on-line training series on behalf of The Woodhull Institute for Ethical Leadership and Dove’s “Campaign for Real Beauty” to provide women access to success building tools that promote ethical development and empower women to act as agents of change for themselves and their communities; and “HEALTHY HOMES,” Take a Closer Look: Be A Junior Health Inspector, a 10-minute edutainment project for the City of Long Beach, Dept. of Health & Human Services and The Long Beach Alliance for Children with Asthma (LBACA) to educate the community on asthma triggers and ways to prevent health hazards in and around our homes as a means of facilitating safe environments. Christine Devine (Fox11 News Anchor), Rick Quintero (Fox 11 News); and Daryl Sabara (Juni Cortez, “Spy Kids”) were featured to make this special project and PSA shine! Born in Phoenix, Arizona, and now residing in Mar Vista Hills, California, Quintana Leader graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA in English/Women’s Studies Specialization.

Peter Russell, Story Analyst, HollyShorts Judge
Peter Russell is a story analyst for Walden (AFG) Films, Imagine Films, Participant Films and CBS Television Network. He is an instructor at UCLA’s Extension School, Entertainment Division where he teaches on film and television story. He lives in Malibu, California.

John Lazear, SOC, Camera Operator/Cinematographer/DP, HollyShorts Judge

John Lazear is a member of the International Cinematographers Guild, and was inducted into the prestigious Society of Camera Operators in 1996 with a unanimous vote. As Director of Photography he specializes in shooting feature films in the 35mm film format. His body of work as DP covers 20 full length feature films, and several TV Series, music videos, and documentaries. Throughout the years working as a camera assistant and finally as a Camera operator on hit TV shows like Friends, ER and King of Queens and major motion picture films as Batman Returns, Rat Race, and Swordfish John has had to fortune to be influenced and work with great cinematographers and learn the subtle skills needed to create emotion for the sake of realizing the director vision by masters of the art of cinematography. Drawing on this knowledge, Lazear launched his cinematography career in the direct to video film market, His first film “Thousand Miles” won the cinematography award at Houston Film Festival. His second and third films (”the remnant” and Scream bloody Murder”) we run away successes in their genre of direct to DVD horror films. He was soon a sought after Cinematographer for independent horror films. His artistic endeavors were recognized by the society of camera operators who sponsored his entry to this highly acclaimed society. As a DOP and Camera Operator, John has experience with specialty camera rigs, SFX techniques, helicopter shooting, cranes & jibs, underwater, blue/green screen, and HDTV.

Stacy Parks, Author, Founder Filmspecific.com, HollyShorts Judge

Miss Parks began her entertainment career at Poly Gram Records in Paris, France as an International Marketing assistant. After returning to the U.S, she entered the William Morris Agency as an assistant in the Soundtrack division, and later moved to the Independent Film division where she learned film financing, packaging, and pre-sales from the pros. After leaving William Morris, Miss Parks went to work as Associate Producer on Shadow Magic (Sony Pictures Classics), one of the first international co-productions to be shot in the People’s Republic of China. In 2001 Miss Parks paired up with British P.R guru Lynne Franks and directed and produced a series of short documentaries for SEED TV in London. After returning to Los Angeles from London, she began work at foreign sales agency Echelon Entertainment as V.P of international sales, and later moved on to ACT 1 Entertainment where she was also V.P of International Sales. As a foreign sales agent, she sold hundreds of films to worldwide distributors and helped filmmakers realize their dreams of distribution. She also raised international co-production and pre-sale money for several films. After spending years as a foreign sales agent, she decided to write a book “The Inside Guide To Independent Film Distribution” (Focal Press), since there was nothing else on the market that told the actual truth to filmmakers about the distribution game. Miss Parks later went on to launch the online Film Distribution community Film Specific (www.FilmSpecific.com) offering filmmakers the opportunity to interact directly with distributors. Miss Parks holds an Masters degree in International Business and currently resides in Los Angeles, California where she is a Sales Executive at BBC Worldwide.

Stephen Price, Editor Stash DVD Magazine, HollyShorts Judge

Stephen Price is the founding editor and creative director of Stash Magazine, the monthly DVD showcase of animation, VFX and motion graphics for design and advertising. In it’s short two-year history, Stash has grown to become an invaluable creative resource for advertising, broadcast, post-production and design professionals and students in over 50 countries. Graduating from graphic design and computer animation, Stephen has since designed, produced, executive produced and reported on animation and visual effects for commercials, television series and feature films. He also created and executive produced 52 episodes of SPLAT!, the 1/2 hour TV magazine show about animation.

Larry Hankin, Actor/Writer/Producer, HollyShorts Judge

Larry graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Industrial Design, immediately moved to Greenwich Village, New York and started telling funny stories in coffee houses and nightclubs, which led to him open for acts that included Miles Davis, “The Lovin’ Spoonful”, “Blood, Sweat, & Tears”, and Woody Allen, among others. Those engagements led him to Chicago where he joined, “Second City”, but soon left with several of his fellow improvisers and director Alan Myerson, and headed for San Francisco where they founded, “The Committee”, a Second City rival. Within two years, the group (all from New York) was invited to New York to headline on Broadway at the St. James Theatre for a limited, three-month run. Hankin then headed for Hollywood, where, in quick succession, he did a guest star role on “Laverne & Shirley” and then co-starred as Charlie Butz in Clint Eastwood’s feature, “Escape from Alcatraz”. Larry used the money he made on those two roles to write, direct, and produce “Solly’s Diner”, a film short in which he starred as “Sometimes Jones”, a down and out street character he’d been writing short fables about for years. The film earned an Academy Award “Oscar” nomination, was distributed worldwide, and was invited (along with Larry) to the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy. Since then, Larry has appeared in over 30 films - including, “Escape from Alcatraz”, “Annie,” “Running Scared”, “Home Alone”, “Pretty Woman”, and “Billy Madison”. Recently, Larry’s just finished filming two about-to-be-released features: one, a murder mystery: “The Alphabet Murders,” and the other, a comedy, “Buzzkill”. On TV, he’s guest-stared in over 80 shows from, “Friends” and “Seinfeld”, to “CSI, Las Vegas” and “The Sarah Silverman Show.” On the LATC Main Stage, Larry co-starred as Jacques, in the American theatrical premiere of Milos Kundera’s “Jacques and His Master”, directed by Simon Callow. This inspired Larry to write and produce his comic, One-Man Show, “Emmett Sez”, in which he played “Emmett Deemus”, a homeless-poet-biker. It opened at the Met Theatre in Hollywood to rave reviews. He has since been exploring “Emmett” in a series of his own film shorts. Larry’s latest film short: “The OutLaw Emmett Deemus”, is an introduction to his full-length feature screenplay: “The Outlaw Emmett Deemus”.

David Dean Bottrell Actor/Director, HollyShorts Judge

David Dean Bottrell co-wrote the screenplay for the 2001 Fox Searchlight release KINGDOM COME. A former off-Broadway playwright and sometime TV actor, he is probably best known these days for his reoccurring role as the creepy “Lincoln Meyer” on “Boston Legal.” Over the past twelve years, he has written scripts for Fox Searchlight, MTV Films, Paramount and Disney Feature Animation among others. His first short film, AVAILABLE MEN premiered in March 2006 at the HBO US Comedy Arts Festival and has since screened in over 130 film festivals, winning 17 “Best Short Film” awards. David just finished writing a musical for Fox Searchlight and is currently attached to direct his adaptation of Jessica Hendra’s controversial 2006 memoir “How to Cook Your Daughter.”

Alex Sol Actor/Theatre Director, HollyShorts Panelist/Judge

Alex Sol is the artistic director and founder of The Dreamhouse Ensemble. Alex came to Los Angeles 16 years ago. He studied at the Lee Strasburg Theater Institute, where he played Tonto in “Does A Tiger Wear A Necktie” and was granted a full 3 year scholarship. After completing the institute,Alex began performing in various stage productions including “True West”,”Talk To Me Like the Rain and Let Me Listen” by Tennessee Williams,”The Sunshine Boys”, “The Root”, and others. During this time Alex was inspired to begin directing. He directed plays such as “Orpheus Descending”, the critically acclaimed “Little Secrets” by Larry Maravilliga, “Savage in Limbo”, and a host of others. Alex also produced and starred in “Roy’s Coffee Shop” which received a nomination for best comedy ensemble in the 2002 LA Weekly Awards. His film credits include New Line Cinema’s “American History X” directed by Tony Kaye, “The Adventures of Pluto Nash”, The Million Dollar Hotel” written by Bono and produced by Mel Gibson, and “Taking Lives.” Alex’s TV credits include guest starring roles on “CSI: New York”, “Cold Case”, and “Without a Trace.” Alex would like to thank his grandmother, Libby, and his mother, Harriet, for their love and support though this journey.

Carmen Cabana Cinematographer, HollyShorts Judge

Carmen Cabana is a cinematographer/camera operator born and raised in South America (Colombia/Venezuela). Since the age of 15, Carmen focused her art on painting and still photography. In 2005 she moved to Los Angeles to discover cinematography as her passion career. In less than three years she has shot over 15 features and shorts internationally and locally, several TV shows and music videos. Her unique vision, sense of team work and enthusiasm has proven effective in accomplishing goals in the shortest amount of time and building a name among other filmmakers. Her main effort focuses on complementing a director’s vision through semiotic methods of visual storytelling. Very active on the pre-production process, Carmen Cabana likes to be involved in all stages of a film and work closely in collaboration with other departments. She is perhaps one of the most multi talented cinematographers with recognitions on also Sound Design and Editing. Carmen Cabana understands cinematography as the art of complementing a statement without being redundant. An Associate member of the SOC, DSC and Nalip. Carmen Cabana lives in Los Angeles, California.

Peter Facer HollyShorts Jury, Producer

Facer’s adventurous spirit brought him from Yorkshire, England to the United States. He made his mark during the music video revolution of the 1980’s, producing the acclaimed music video shows “Video One” and “Video Beat”.
The shows helped enhance the careers of many eighties pop icons including Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, Culture Club, Wham!, Tears For Fears, RUN DMC and yes even Michael Jackson! Facer was a key member of the production team that launched E! Entertainment Television in 1990. He co-developed and produced the popular “Behind The Scenes” series for the network. He also produced one hour documentary specials for E! on a variety of film, music and entertainment themes. As an independent producer Facer has continued to hone his behind the scenes production skills, working with a diverse range of clients and on a variety of interesting projects; from Sir Elton John and Yanni, to the FX cable network and New Line Home Entertainment’s “The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King” Extended Edition dvd. Facer has also written and directed his first independent documentary, “Web Of Secrecy - YF-23 Black Widow II Declassified”, the intriguing story of the Northrop Grumman stealth fighter, and the people who built it.

Harry Bernstein, HollyShorts Committee Member and Judge

Harry has been involved in traditional and new media for over twenty years. He served as Vice President of Programming at SelecTV and Vice President of Film Acquisitions at Showtime Networks, and was a senior development executive at Paul Allen’s Starwave Corporation where he developed CD-Rom projects with Clint Eastwood, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Johnny Carson and Jim Henson Productions. He was Vice President Corporate Development and a founding member of Reel.com where he spearheaded the use of the web as a sales medium for movies, and served as Vice President, Business Development at NapaStyle, a media company specializing in culinary and lifestyle programming. Mr. Bernstein hosted a music program on National Public Radio for several years, and serves on the Board of Directors of Other Minds, an arts organization in the San Francisco bay area. He most recently served as Executive Producer on the upcoming PBS series, Chef’s Story (spring 2007).