HollyShorts Unveils Lineup for 2008 Film Festival
Event Takes Place August 7-10 in Hollywood, CA

July 2, 2008 Hollywood, CA—The 4th annual HollyShorts Film Festival (HSFF) kicks off on Thursday, August 7, 2008 with a marquee opening night celebration featuring a number of high profile short film projects. The opening night event, which takes place at the Egyptian Theatre in conjunction with the American Cinematheque, will feature director Bill Purple’s short film “Hole in the Paper Sky,” which stars Jessica Biel (“I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry”), and Gary Marshall (“The Other Sister”); Wireimage co-founder Jeff Vespa’s short “Nosebleed,” which stars David Arquette (“Scream”) and director Alex Ferrari’s short film “Red Princess Blues Animated: The Book of Violence” voiced by Paula Garces (“Harold & Kumar”). The event will also showcase the Hollywood premiere of actor Josh Brolin’s (“No Country For Old Men,” “American Gangster) short film “X.”

The HollyShorts opening night celebration will also feature the Hollywood premiere of actor Larry Hankin’s (“Friends”) short film “The Outlaw Emmett Deemus” and director/radio personality Marty Keegan’s Award-winning short film “Verboten.”

Friday, August 8, will mark the festival’s inaugural HollyShorts Music Video celebration, showcasing clips from some of the world’s fastest rising new music video directors at Nacional in Hollywood.

The film festival core screenings and industry panels take place at Laemmle Sunset 5 theatres Saturday, August 9 and Sunday, August 10.

“We are stepping up our Hollywood presence in a major way this year with a marquee opening night celebration in conjunction with the American Cinematheque, a new music video category and an official a lineup of high profile short films,” said HollyShorts Film Festival director and co-founder Daniel Sol. “With networking events, super-panels and after-parties accompanying our strong lineup, we look forward to providing filmmakers, movie enthusiasts and industry executives a platform to unite, do business and have a great time!”

Recently Ranked as one of MovieMaker Magazine’s Top 25 Film Festivals worth the entry fee, HollyShorts received over 650 submission from 25 countries for the 2008 edition of the HollyShorts Film Festival, a festival record. Along with a strong domestic presence, the 4th annual HollyShorts Film Festival will feature a slew of shorts from the international community, with 11 countries represented.

Vying for the Best Student Short Film Award, HollyShorts has selected student projects from: Cal State Northridge, UCLA, USC, Chapman Film School, Savannah College of Art and Design, Binghamton State University of New York, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, New York Film Academy, AFI, and Temple. The Best Student Short Film Award will win a 5-day HVX-200, HD Camera rental package from festival sponsor Martini Crew Booking.

Tickets for the August 7, 2008 HollyShorts opening night celebration on go on sale on July 21 and can be purchased on HollyShorts.com or through the American Cinematheque at Fandango.com. Tickets for the August 9-10 HollyShorts programs at Laemmle Sunset 5 go on sale July 7 and can be purchased by visiting the B-Side section of www.hollyshorts.com or www.laemmle.com. Special festival passes and group packages available.

Below is the official slate of short films for the 2008 HollyShorts Film Festival:

HollyShorts Opening Night Celebration Official Selections (Not in Competition)

Hole in the Paper Sky
Run time: 33 min. | USA |
Directed by Bill Puple. Stars Jessica Biel (“I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry”), Gary Marshall (“The Other Sister”)
Drama. Howard Ferp is a brilliant, misanthropic mathematics doctoral candidate. Just as he is about to complete his thesis and win the city-wide chess tournament, his carefully calculated life is turned upside down when he learns that his work study position has been eliminated. Forced to start a new job in the psychology department, Howard encounters two kindred spirits, his supervisor Karen and a doomed laboratory dog. Howard risks everything he thought important to save the animal and, in doing so, discovers his humanity.

Nosebleed
Run time: 9 min. | USA |
Directed by Jeff Vespa. Stars David Arquette (“Scream”)
A man tries to get rid of a nosebleed with disastrous effects. Jeff Vespa is an artist, celebrity photographer and Co-founder of the digital photographic agency WireImage. He is also responsible for the creation of the WireImage Portrait Studio that has become an integral part of the independent film festivals worldwide. Previously Vespa produced “Rituals” a film starring Regina King and Isaiah Washington that screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and “The Cage” starring Michelle Trachtenberg.

The Outlaw Emmett Deemus
Run time: 8 min. | USA |
Directed by Larry Hankin (“Friends,” “Seinfeld”)
Motorcycle Comedy. ‘Don Quixote’ on a motorcycle. A retired elderly gentleman (Emmett Deemus) wants to live the life of an outlaw biker. He’s just bought a funky old ‘57 BMW motorcycle with a sidecar, ‘…and jumped into the wind to protect road pilgrims, fight the man, and make some news’. After picking up a lady who’s car has run out of gas on a deserted country road, he tries to impress her with his ‘outlaw creds’ on the way to a gas station. As if calling his bluff, they’re attacked by a gang of Real Outlaw Bikers — and, with the help of The Lady, The Old Guy wins…probably.

Red Princess Blues Animated: The Book of Violence
Run time: 7 min. | USA |
Directed by Dan Cregan, Written and Produced by Alex Ferrari, voice by Paula Garces (“Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay”)
Animation. Red Princess Blues Animated: The Book of Violence is an animated short film prequel to Alex Ferrari’s upcoming feature film Red Princess Blues. In this tale we meet a 12 year old little girl who finds herself in a strange country looking for her father. She is then taken in by a “unique” looking man who goes by Nino. She soon discovers the “Book of Violence” and slowly begins her journey that one day will lead to vengeance.

Verboten
Run time: 14 min. | USA |
Directed by Martin Keegan
Thriller. Laura Hagen is the only beauty in Todd Gorman’s life. Unfortunately, Laura also happens to be his abusive father’s bewitching girlfriend. When Todd’s odd behavior drives Laura away, the lonely teenager embarks on a menacing quest to find something lovely for himself.

“X”Run time: 15 min. | USA |
Directed by Josh Brolin (“No Country For Old Men,” “American Gangster”) Hollywood premiere. Drama. An inmate escapes prison to reunite with his daughter and searches for her murdered mother in order to ultimately exhume her body and give her a proper burial.
Written, Directed and Produced by Josh Brolin, starring Eden Brolin as Jasmine, Eleanor Lambert as Pretty Girl and Vincent Riverside as Jack with Cinematography by John ‘Fest’ Sandau, Editing by Katie Mcquerrey and Camera/Electrical by James F. Conick. “X” was produced by Brolin Productions.

2008 HollyShorts Film Festival Official Selections (All in Competition)

Agnieszka 2039
Run time: 12 min. | Poland | Sci Fi
Directed by Martin Gauvreau
A fantastic view from the future of Poland.

A Letter to Colleen
Run time: 08:36 | USA| Animation
Directed by Carolyn London
Andy London has been haunted by the events of his 18th birthday for years. In this short animated film set in the early 90’s, he writes a letter to Colleen in an attempt to put his demons to rest.

Barrio Thief
Run time: 16:22 | USA| Student: Drama (California State University Northridge)
Directed by Michelle Mizner
A story about imagination transcending any boundary, Barrio Thief depicts a mother and son facing the grim realties of a highly contagious disease.

Beholden
Run time: 25:30 | USA| Student: Drama (Chapman Film School)
Directed by David Jibladze
Anna must choose between the life of her love and the future of her child she desperately struggles to ensure.

Bloom
Run time: 12:57 | USA| Drama
Directed by Lance Larson
The only things standing between a Rent-A-Cop and true love are the guard dogs on a used-car lot.

Carissa
Run time: 23:00 | USA| Documentary
Directed by David Sauvage
Today Carissa Phelps is earning a law degree and an MBA from UCLA. But when she was twelve, she was homeless and forced into prostitution in Fresno. Carissa recounts her story.

Casper & Kitty
Run time: 05:20 | USA | Comedy
Directed by Franco Parente
An erotically tongue in cheek recount of a relationship gone bad plays out in the mind of a broken playboy.

Collector
Run time: 14:01| USA | Thriller
Directed by Dempsey Tillman
Stars the late Brad Renfro (”The Client”, “Apt Pupil”, “Bully”). Justin Sayer struggles with a mental illness that has consumed his life.

Come Back To Sudan
Run time: 29:00 | Sudan, USA | Documentary
Directed by Daniel Junge
Documentary following three “Lost Boys” of Sudan and their adoptive American mother as they journey home to their war-torn country.

Creating Discourse
Run time: 28:15 | USA | Student: Drama (Savannah College of Art and Design)
Directed by Clint Litton
In a haze of transitions, past relationships, and creative energy, two people come together only to face moving apart.

Deletes
Run time: 15:01 | India, USA | Documentary
Directed by Jon Van Dyke
250 million Dalits suffer everyday in India. Who will be their voice for freedom?

Diner
Run time: 08:30 | USA | Student: Animation (Binghamton State University of New York)
Directed by John Wilson
In this retro-mechanical fairy tale, a love-struck amalgamation of kitchen utensils attempt to finally come together as a diner closes for the evening.

Easy Money
Run time: 15:00 | USA | Student: Thriller (New York Film Academy)
Directed by Lauren Pena
A naive girl’s best friend intentionally volunteers her to babysit in a household with a pro-curious lifestyle. Throughout the night she discovers the dark side of the family’s relationship, only to find herself questioning her own conscience.

El Primo (The Cousin)
Run time: 16:00 | USA | Drama
Directed by Nick Oceano
A sheltered, sensitive teenager visits his tough, older cousin in Laredo, Texas and learns a hard lesson about what it means to be a man.

First____________
Run time: 10:00 | USA | Documentary
Directed by Dave Laden
Are we really all the same? Or different? You decide.

Gandhi at the Bat
Run time: 11:00 | USA | Comedy
Directed by Steph Argy and Alec Bohem
Gandhi at the Bat is a newsreel-style account of the little-known (and totally fictional) incident when Mohandas K. Gandhi pinch-hit for the New York Yankees in 1933.

Hero The Great
Run time: 21:00 | USA | Drama
Directed by Juan Caceres
Life can’t get any worse for Hero until he finds himself resurrecting a friendship, recovering love and saving his soul in the dawn of the summer blues.

I F**king Hate You
Run time: 9:00 | USA | Comedy
Directed by Zak Forsman
A young man forms an ill-conceived scheme to redeem himself in the eyes of his ex-girlfriend.

I Kicked Luiz Guzman In The Face
Run time: 20:46 | USA | Comedy
Directed by Sherwin Shilati
A young man gains online celebrity after fabricating a story about how he beat up the actor Luis Guzman.

La Botte De Guerre (The Boot of War)
Run time: 28:52 | France | Drama
Directed by Reda Mustafa
During WWII, the night just before the allie landing on normandy’s coast, a soldier from the air borne is found wounded into a secret spot underground held by a resistant family…

La Gordiranfla
Run time: 18:13 | Mexico | Drama
Directed by Anwar Safa
A compulsive gambler wakes up one day to find out he lost his business (A wagon fixed for selling ‘gorditas’). Now in order to recover his wife, he has to recover ‘la gordiranfla’.

Leave You In Me
Run time: 19:14 | USA | Drama
Directed by Dutch Doscher
An unexpected admission emerges while a couple is making love. Naked, emotionally and physically, they must confront a tangled web of love, sex and betrayal. The path to reconciliation leads to a dark and uncertain forgiveness.

Lloyd Neck
Run time: 15:30 | USA | Student: Drama (NYU Tisch School of the Arts)
Directed by Benedict Campbell
Alex has a crush on her brother’s friend Jesse. But Jesse likes Alex’s brother Taylor. Alex knows something is up with her brother. He’s in a strange place and he takes Alex and Jesse to his favorite spot.

Love Hurts
Run time: 02:26 | USA | Comedy
Directed by Christian Simmons
Love hurts, love scars, love wounds and mars.

Mandy & Lester
Run time: 10:59 | USA | Comedy
Directed by Lena Beug
In suburban Middle America a spectacled, 10-year-old loner named Lester will emerge as an unlikely hero.

Missing Pieces
Run time: 16:02 | USA | Comedy
Directed by Samah Tokmachi
David Ostermann so deathly afraid of getting testicular cancer that he’s gone to Tijuana with his best friend (Rainn Wilson, “The Office”) to solve the problem before it happens.

Murdering Mamay’s Boy
Run time: 17:50 | USA | Thriller
Directed by Katherine Cunningham-Eves
Based on the short story by pushcart-prize winning novelist Emily Raboteau, ‘Murdering Mama’s Boy’ follows three days in the life of an American-born Haitian girl, her relationship with her mother and her overwhelming desire to commit murder.

My Backyard was a Mountain
Run time: 24:00 | USA | Student: Drama (AFI)
Directed by Adam Schlachter
A Puerto Rican boy has one day to find a home for his pet goat, Chivo, before his family relocates to New York City in the late 1950’s. While searching for a new owner for Chivo, the boy discovers the promise of first love with his childhood friend, Denise, whom he will also have to leave behind.

No Place Like Home
Run time: 13:28 | USA | Drama
Directed by Mick Betancourt
A young man returns home to find that the family he left is much the same, but different.

Norma Grace
Run time: 12:12 | USA | Drama
Directed by Laurent Morlet
An aging actress, meets with her young and inexperienced agent in her Hollywood apartment. Time for discussions, arguments and disclosures…

Old Days
Run time: 23:15 | USA | Student: Musical (NYU Tisch School of the Arts)
Directed by Matthew Shapiro
Coming-of-age story about a 74-year-old woman who reluctantly enters a retirement community and struggles to find her niche within the eccentric residents’ social hierarchy.

Papiroflexia
Run time: 2:30 | USA | Student: Animation (UCLA)
Directed by Joaquin Baldwin
An origami tale of a skillful paper folder who could shape the world with his hands.

Parts
Run time: 20:00 | USA | Drama
Directed by Scott Hanson
A butcher, saddled with an abandoned child, chooses between starting the family his wife always wanted, or paying off his mob debt by selling the orphan.

Person, Place or Thing
Run time: 16:47 | USA | Drama
Directed by Elle Martini
A drifter’s solitary routine is interrupted by an unexpected encounter.

Pink Shorts
Run time: 08:50 | USA | Drama
Directed by Jeffrey Huston
This is the story of a little girl, her favorite pair of pink shorts, and the judgment of Almighty GOD.

Psycho Hillbilly Cabin Massacre!
Run time: 17:00 | USA | Comedy
Directed by Robert Cosnahan
A bloodbath erupts when a group of students discover an isolated hillbilly cabin in the woods.

Redemption Maddie
Run time: 25:15 | USA | Drama
Directed by Aaron King
In the wake of tragedy, fourteen year old Maddie Clifford employs sex, insulin syringes, and an ill-fated rabbit in a startling quest for redemption.

Rushers
Run time: 24:00 | USA | Comedy
Directed by Joey Boukadakis
Two mid-twenties brothers pose as college students and crash Rush Week.

Side Effects May Include
Run time: 03:27 | USA | Alternative
Directed by Shad Clark
Reality ruptures commercial bubbles in this socially explosive short.

Sunday Afternoon
Run time: 14:59 | Canada | Drama
Directed by Kaveh Nabatian
When a mysterious musical force causes scorching heat, tornadoes, and raging fires to devastate our planet, four very different people wait out the end of the world at a local corner store.

El Regalo (The Gift)
Run time: 04:40 | USA | Comedy
Directed by S. Escobedo
A Homeric adventure Mexican proportions.

The Maid
Run time: 19:20 | Egypt, USA | Student: Drama (Temple University)
Directed by Heidi Saman
When Rasha’s suspicions of her employers are confirmed, she must come to terms with her perceptions of trust, duty, and her place within the family household.

The Cave: An Adaptation of Plato’s Allegory in Clay
Run time: 03:10 | USA| Animation
Directed by Michael Ramsey
An adaptation of Plato’s, ‘Allegory of the Cave’ animated in clay.

The Sacrifice
Run time: 14:54 | USA| Drama
Directed by Diane Namm
The story of 13-year-old Esmee Johnson on the day in which cult leader Rev Dobbins comes to take her as his wife

The Sky Is Always Beautiful
Run time: 13:57 | Australia | Drama
Directed by Jeremy Cumpston
Sex and Love. Marriage and Infidelity. In crimes of the heart the guilty don’t always pay.

The Turtle and The Shark
Run time: 03:52 | USA | Animation
Directed by Ryan Woodward
After defying the King Malietoafaiga of Samoa, and deceiving their families, Fonuea and her husband flee to the island of Tutuila. However, in order to not bring dishonor on their loved ones, they gave up their lives.

This is J03
Run time: 03:00 | UK | Comedy
Directed by Once Were Farmers
This Is J03 is live action/ 3D animation about J03, an 8bit digital man stuck in our 21st century analogue world searching for a way home.

Vartan LLP
Run time: 17:20 | USA | Student: Drama (USC)
Directed by Myles Price
One of the most powerful and successful businessmen working on Wall Street is shaken to his core by one phone call.

Verano 79 (Summer 79)
Run time: 19:00 | Mexico | Drama
Director Rodrigo Oviedo
Two young teens, Rogelio and Chepo, are best friends with different interests. However, they work hard one summer as associates in order to fulfill their entrepreneur dreams. Yet something unexpected happened which brought them apart only to be reunited many years later with a score to settle.

Virgins Wanted
Run time: 21:19 | USA | Comedy
Directed by Casey Geinsen
A 26-year-old Virgin tries to lose her virginity via Craigslist.

HollyShorts Music Video Celebration Official Selections (All in Competition)

• “By-Standing: The Beginning of an American Lifetime” Directed by Karen Lin

• “Daydreams” Directed by Chris Luccy

• “DJ:LA” Directed by Jerry Chan

• “Good Morning Herr Horst” Directed by Lovisa Inserra

• “La Chica Y Su Bolsa” Directed by Daniel Campos

• “Long Night Drone” Directed by Neil Forman

• “Secret and Whisper”XOXOXO” Directed by Steve Hoover &
Danny Yourd

• “Temporarily In Love” Directed by Randy Scott Slavin

The Generators “Point of No Return” by Directed by Nicholas Romero (nicholas@modedfilms.com) Music Video.

“Guilty” by Brandon Dumas (brandondumas@rayzrsharp.com)
A young actress deals with something very strange concerning her car after hitting a cyclist and fleeing the scene.

“The Moonlit Road” by Leor Baum (leor.baum@gmail.com)
Based on the classic tale by Ambrose Bierce, ‘The Moonlit Road’ follows a mystifying occurrence that alters a family and their home. The fragmented memories of their experience begin to intersect through a different family living in the same house, years later.

“Il Supplente” (The Substitute)by Andrea Jublin (2008 Academy® Award nominee) (m.stella@indianaproduction.com)
The arrival of an unusual newcomer galvanizes the students in a high school classroom.

The last HollyShorts monthly screening series took place in April at the Echo Park Film Center and featured a standing room crowd.

About Echo Park Film Center
Echo Park Film Center is a volunteer-run, non-profit media arts organization located in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. We provide equal and affordable access to film/video education and resources via:
• a community microcinema and meeting space
• free and nominal cost media arts education programs
• a comprehensive small format film equipment and service department
• a touring film festival showcasing local established and student filmmakers
For more information, visit: www.echoparkfilmcenter.org

The 4th Annual HollyShorts Film Festival takes place August 7-10, 2008.

About Clifton Post
Clifton Production Services is a leading state of the art facility that provides post-production and visual FX services to the entertainment industry. The company was founded by brothers Raphael and Sam Kryszek. Before starting CPS Raphael worked as a producer, director and post-supervisor for many companies including E! Entertainment and New Line Cinema. As an experienced modeler, animator and compositor, Sam recently contributed his talents to the TV Shows “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles”, “Bionic Woman”, and “CSI” among others.
Clifton Production Services specializes in complex digital design, FX, 3D animation, editorial and a vast array of other post production services for film and video.

Clifton Post HollyShorts Best Editing Prize Package
The winner will receive $2000.00 worth of effects work on your next project. Whether your next project calls for something as simple as elementary sign replacement or as complex as 3D character animation, Clifton Post will take the complexity out of Digital Design and FX and bring
your vision to life, giving you blockbuster visual effects through any one or several professional applications, including NewTek Lightwave, Shake, and After Effects. Digital Design
services include:

* 3D animation
* Digital Matte Painting and Set Extensions
* Character Animation
* Compositing
* Visual Effect Supervision and Consulting

Seattle-based DRY Soda Co. offers today’s consumer a modern alternative in refreshment — a line of all-natural, lightly sweet sodas, flavored with fruit or herb extracts, and sweetened with a small amount of pure cane sugar. Combining the subtle essence of nature and the kitchen in four cuisine-inspired flavors — kumquat, lavender, lemongrass and rhubarb — DRY’s unique design and clean finish make it an ideal soda to pair with a great meal or a refreshing beverage on its own. For those who enjoy cocktails, DRY Soda also makes a distinct and sophisticated mixer.

Drink DRY and celebrate your everyday. Serve DRY and elevate your every occasion.

MARCH

APRIL