We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who entered this year’s Short Film Fund. Our team has evaluated submissions in every genre, from writers all over the world. We were blown away by the sheer number of heartfelt and engaging stories from talented writers who we are in no doubt will go on to do amazing work. Every writer should be extremely proud of the ambition and courage it took to send their work out into the world for consideration.
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR 2 WINNERS & FINALISTS. We will keep you updated on their projects over 2021.
For full details of what happens next, check out our Short Film Fund post-contest timeline.
THE SHORT FILM FUND RUNS TWICE A YEAR. FROM FEB-MAY & FROM AUG-OCT.
GET YOUR SHORT SCRIPT INTO PRODUCTION WITH THE SHORT FILM FUND.
GRAND PRIZE WINNER - TWO BEARS (AWARDED $15,000 CASH GRANT)
WRITTEN BY ANTHONY FLOREZ
Life on the Rez is tough, but not as tough as underdog, Casey TwoBears, a veteran whose life has been a constant state of survival.
Two Bears premiered at Palm Springs Film Festival were it was nominated for Best Short. Anthony won best director at IMDB’s Independent Short Film Festival. It has also so far played at HollyShorts, New Filmmakers Los Angeles, San Diego International Film Festival and SKINSFest.
It’s been released through the online streaming site MUBI.
2ND PLACE WINNER - LITTLE ANNA (AWARDED $10,000 CASH GRANT)
WRITTEN BY J BATZLI
Third-grade teacher Anna Wheeler receives a new student with the same first and last name as her, triggering eerie similarities and traumatic memories when the girl’s father fails to pick her up from school.
OUR TOP 5
In addition to our two grant winners, we would like to congratulate our Top 5 Finalists. In alphabetical order:
A GREY MATTER by HARRIS ALVI & CONNOR CAHILL-HAYES
CHUALAR by ANN MARIE PACE
CLOSERS by JOE EATMAN & STU BAKER
HER MIDAS TOUCH by LORNA KING
THE PASSION PROTOCOL by
LIAM HOOPER, MATILDA WILD, CAROL VAN HEMELRIJCK & VICKY WHEELER
This season, our Top 5 Finalists will receive feedback on their scripts from our Judges along with a Free Copy of Final Draft & Free Enrollment into our Ultimate Screenwriting Course. Plus, the Grand Prize Winner will also receive a free Festival Pass to HollyShorts 2021.
OUR 15 FINALISTS
| A.C. Lamberty | Miss Teen Dairy Minnesota | A transgender teen competes with her ruthless younger sister in their rural town’s annual dairy farming pageant. |
| Ann Marie Pace | Chualar | A 16-year-old Mexican teenager journeys to California through the Bracero Program in 1963 motivated by his desire to financially support his family back in Mexico, but quickly realizes the harsh realities of the program. |
| Anthony Florez | Two Bears | Life on the Rez is tough, but not as tough as underdog, Casey TwoBears, a veteran whose life has been a constant state of survival. |
| Becca Davis | The unNatural Order | A young housewife finds herself plagued by visions of the past that make her question the nature of her home, her marriage, and even her own existence. |
| Garret Walsh | The Thread & The Veil | Intrigued by the promise of a great scientific discovery, a Victorian doctor visits his reclusive former mentor but discovers instead a world of Gothic terrors he could never have imagined. |
| Harris Alvi & Connor Cahill Hayes | A Grey Matter | A Muslim surgeon struggles with his own moral compass when tasked with saving the life of a terrorist. |
| J. Batzli | Little Anna | Third-grade teacher Anna Wheeler receives a new student with her same first and last name, triggering eerie similarities and traumatic memories when the girl’s father fails to pick her up from school. |
| Jay Reid | Prophylactic | A man obsessed with germs drives his partner to the brink of madness as he attempts to control their environment. |
| Joe Eatman & Stu Baker | Closers | Through a co-worker’s death, a dishwasher learns the value of hard work on his first day in this comedy. |
| Liam Hooper, Matilda Wild, Carol Van Hemelrijck & Vicky Wheeler | The Passion Protocol | Two women are given the chance to experience intimacy for the first time before being thrust back into their normality of epidemic isolation. |
| Lorna King | Her Midas Touch | Esther, a 2nd generation Ghanaian-Scottish teen with the power to absorb grief from others at a great cost to herself, struggles against her uncaring and controlling grandmother who forces her to work at funerals for money. |
| Merrit Schmidt | Suicide at Noon | When an organized list-maker puts her intention to commit suicide on her calendar, her husband and friends must find a way to dissuade her in this dark comedy. |
| Mika Watkins | Don’t Forget (忘れないで) | Don’t Forget (or Wasurenaide 忘れないで in Japanese) is a smart, grounded, bilingual horror, which tells the story of a half-Japanese woman who begins to see her mother’s early-onset dementia as a monster that haunts them both. |
| Richard Corso & Gregory Ferbache | “A Yeti Met A Mammoth” | Held up in an ice fishing hut on the eve of a storm, an old outlaw and his young caretaker have an unexpected visitor. |
| Rory Gibson | Nae Drama | A comedy about a beleaguered young man who stubbornly resists yet another inciting incident. |
We are funding the production of two films each season from screenwriters who enter their scripts into the Short Film Fund. Don’t miss the opportunity. Find out more about the Short Film Fund.