WE ARE THRILLED TO ANNOUNCE OUR GRAND PRIZE WINNERS and TOP 5 FINALISTS!
It has been a pleasure reading so many imaginative and powerful short scripts this season. Deciding upon the Winners, was an undeniable challenge given the impressive quality of the scripts you shared with us. But our Short Film Fund doesn’t end with the screenplay competition. We are humbled and thrilled to now assist the winning scripts into production and beyond.
This is only the beginning.
For full details of what happens next, check out our Short Film Fund post-contest timeline.
Want to know more about how the Short Film Fund can help kick-start your screenwriting career? You can read all about the history of the Short Film Fund here, and our amazing relationship with ARRI Rental who will be offering free camera equipment rental over the duration of both productions.
GET YOUR SHORT SCRIPT INTO PRODUCTION WITH THE SHORT FILM FUND.
Don’t miss a deadline. Download our Contest Calendar!

GRAND PRIZE WINNER - HE WOKE UP TO DEFLATING NEWS (AWARDED $10,000 CASH GRANT)
written by Laura Spini & Laurence Brook
HE WOKE UP TO DEFLATING NEWS
A sedentary pensioner must find the inner fire to fight his local council before he is turned into a coffee shop.

SECOND PLACE WINNER - THIRSTYGIRL (AWARDED A $5,000 CASH GRANT)
written by Alexandra Qin
THIRSTYGIRL
When her estranged alcoholic sister lands in the hospital after a relapse, Charlie reluctantly agrees to drive her from New York to rehab in Kentucky. But she must deal with a secret addiction of her own along the way.
OUR TOP 5
In addition to our two grant winners, we would like to congratulate our Top 5 Finalists.
WANLE by Alison Week & Zoe Eisenberg
T4T by Ariel Mahler & Matisse Haddad
CONCRETE by Eli Newman
PASSING THROUGH by Erica Alexandria Silverman
FISH by Isabella Vizetta
This season, our Top 5 Finalists will receive feedback on their scripts from our Judges along with a Free Copy of Final Draft. Plus, the Grand Prize Winner will also receive a free Festival Pass to HollyShorts 2022.
OUR TOP 15 FINALISTS
(in alphabetical order)
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Alexandra Qin | Thirstygirl | When her estranged alcoholic sister lands in the hospital after a relapse, Charlie reluctantly agrees to drive her from New York to rehab in Kentucky. But she must deal with a secret addiction of her own along the way. |
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Alison Week & Zoe Eisenberg | Wanle | A second-generation cockfighter in rural Hawaii must choose between her birds and her lover in this look at legacy, love, and the ties that bind us. |
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Ariel Mahler & Matisse Haddad | T4T | When a closeted trans girl meets a crossdresser online, he takes her to a lingerie shop where an intriguing stranger helps her embrace her true self. |
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Darryl Daughtry | There Are Voices In Our Skin | Dave and Gilly seemingly meet up for the first time and quickly learn that they’ve known each other for lifetimes. |
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Eli Newman | Concrete | In an alternate version of 1970s America, all citizens are subject to government-issued neurological implants they believe prevent their untimely deaths. When Arkady, the lone caretaker of his ailing mother, has his implant forcibly removed by an unknown assailant he scrambles to find answers amidst a collapsing reality. |
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Erica Alexandria Silverman | Passing Through | A young woman connects with her hedonistic father in the most unlikely of places – a hospice facility in trashy paradise, South Florida. |
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Isabella Vizetta & Nicolo Meneses | Fish | A rigid scientist desperately attempts to convert a fish into his wife. |
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Jake Keating | Mid-Century Modern | The portrait of an idyllic, post-war American family is shattered when a hideous truth is revealed. |
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Jake Redmond | Carrots | Bolstered by George W. Bush’s “No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001, a school teacher takes it upon herself to forcefully help a struggling student. |
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Jess C. Wheatley | The Call Out | A roadside assistance mechanic late for a date finds more than she bargained for when monsters ambush her on her last call out. |
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Jessica Redish | Cat | A woman signs up for a dating coaching service in search of her soulmate and ends up marrying a cat. |
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Kyle Casey Chu & Roisin Isner | After What Happened at the Library | In the wake of a terrifying encounter, an overwhelmed drag queen struggles under the weight of public attention. |
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Laura Spini & Laurence Brook | He Woke Up To Deflating News | A sedentary pensioner must find the inner fire to fight his local council before he is turned into a coffee shop. |
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Megan Brooks | Heavy Handed | A wife does something unthinkable to save her farm and keeps it a secret from her husband. |
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Michael Lawrence & Jennine Okafor | Lonely Paradise | While love is the only sunshine in this young immigrant couple, it starts to waiver when they are caught in the web of a global crisis and strict US immigration laws. |