HollyShorts 20th Anniversary
Every year, the apex event in short film is the Los Angeles-based HollyShorts film festival. In 2024, the excitement is even greater as the festival celebrated its twentieth anniversary. Shorts from Zoe Saldana, Bella Thorne, and Jamie Lee Curtis were featured in the lineup – and Monarch was there to help toast the festival’s two decades of excellence.
Continuing its partnership, Monarch was excited to feature premium brands to elevate the experiences throughout the festival – at the filmmaker happy hours, VIP afterparties, and red carpet mixers. Guests enjoyed Priest Ranch, Hawks Hill Ranch Winery, Paix Sur Terre, and Hive₂O. Last year’s Sunset Soiree at L’Ermitage in Beverly Hills was the perfect backdrop for the elite jurors, who this year were invited to the rooftop of The Aster in Hollywood. No matter where the party takes them, however, each qualifying filmmaker’s true hope is to take home the festival’s top honors en route… to the Oscars.
That lofty goal is right within reach for those lauded at HollyShorts, an Oscar-qualifying festival whose scope and industry impact is gargantuan. They showcased a staggering array of over 400 shorts, each carefully selected by a dedicated staff under the watchful eyes of the two festival brainchilds: Theo Dumont and Daniel Sol. In celebration of the 20th Anniversary of their groundbreaking festival, Theo and Daniel took time with us to look back at the origins and history of this vibrant event… and discuss where it’s headed in the future.
Road Trip to The Stars
Dumont and Sol are now such dynamic figures in the industry that it’s hard to imagine that, once upon a time, Hollywood was something they only dreamed about. They grew up together in Miami – childhood friends who played basketball together… then started to organize massive events as young entrepreneurs, “We thought every kid grew up like that. We didn’t know it was anything special.” That early collaboration would be the foundation of what was to come on the other coast.
At the time, Daniel’s brother – actor Alex Sol – would wow the two with tales of the bustling industry. Everything from the artistry on set to the exciting nightlife. They leapt into a car and made the big drive out West, “That epic trip was the birth of all of this.” They soaked up the entire Los Angeles experience – everything from star-studded parties to the poetic truth about actors still crashing on their grandmother’s couch. On the long trip back, returning to LA was all the two could talk about, “Whoa, we were in the scene. This is attainable.”
Welcome To Hollywood
Once they returned, however, the two learned to face the reality that there is a lot of hard work that goes alongside the glitz and glamour, “It was like, wait, not every day is a Hollywood party. There’s struggle. It’s expensive. But the good news is we went to school and scrapped like everybody else.”
The origins of their screen success are actually rooted on a stage. Alex had just opened The Space Theater – an independent performance venue always looking for events to complement its live play schedule. As they supported the theater, Dumont and Sol reasoned out, “All of our friends were making films… but they had to leave LA to get them seen at a festival. Let’s start one right here!” They couldn’t afford anything big but, by the time they were done, the thirty-seat theater showcased twenty-three films submitted from as far off as India.
As barebones as they began, however, they were also rising in the industry. Theo honed his publicist skills at MGM and Daniel – after graduating Cal State, Northridge – worked at Lionsgate. “We were quote unquote ‘studio people,’ and so were our friends. So, we’d engage them as jury. It became a family business with a communal tradition. Every summer we’d get together at BBQs and watch a ton of movies to set the schedule, then showcase them at the theatre and make it like a party. A bespoke approach with the essence of our days in Miami… and then it started taking off.”
“That Night Was Everything.”
This year’s anniversary festival felt like Oscar night already, with opening night’s afterparty inviting an illustrious jury that includes the likes of Rachel Brosnahan, Matthew Modine, Rosario Dawson, David Dastmalchian, and Tyrese Gibson.
Dumont and Sol can remember when HollyShorts wasn’t such a draw – but that never stopped them from pressing forward. Once the festival grew into larger spaces like the legendary Cinespace, “we graduated to learning about the power of celebrity on the third one.” That year featured the LA premiere of Adrian Grenier’s short, Euthanasia, as well as a performance by Biz Markie – all adding up to a boost in popularity that became featured on E! Entertainment News, “We were still projecting the films up on a wall, but people were cheering and going crazy.” Other favorite early memories include Eli Roth taking them up on the offer to screen his director’s cut of Cabin Fever – no, not a short, but still an event that had fans lined up around the block of the Laemmle Sunset 5.
Never ones to sit back and relax in success, Dumont and Sol kept making risky and aggressive moves to challenge themselves and grow larger, “We broke the bank and went over budget. That fifth year we did a deal with The Egyptian Theater and The American Cinematheque. That night was everything. David Lynch offered to make a short for us – I got invited to his place and remember thinking, ‘Who the hell am I?’ Josh Brolin and Jessica Biel attended for her short. We had drinks, a DJ, a red carpet… but the bottom line is always just to show good movies. We only wanted to show the best ones and then, hopefully, people can get deals and network and work together.”
That commitment to showcasing the best earned the festival an honor Sol and Dumont never dreamed of back on their road trip – Oscar Qualification, “Having that status is very important to filmmakers. We were already hard to get into. But now we get 6000 submissions – and we have to narrow that down to the best 400.” That qualification became even more real when the festival championed Guy Nattiv’s Skin, “Usually there’s some debate but everybody loved that movie.” The poignant and powerful short won Best of Fest at HollyShorts… then went on to win Best Live Action Short Film at the Oscars.
Nattiv was so appreciative that he came back to HollyShorts to present to the next year’s winner. That communal family vibe still runs strong… and so do the accolades. Skin was followed by Oscar winners like Tom Berkeley and Ross White’s An Irish Goodbye and Aneil Karia and Riz Ahmed’s The Long Goodbye. (They have a great track record with “Goodbye” shorts.)
For their 20th Anniversary, HollyShorts – as Daniel says it – “Celebrated past alumni and brought back people that were part of the years past and put us where we are. The bigger names are coming back. We wouldn’t keep going without them.” It also experienced a bit of a homecoming, as part of their program returned to the recently refurbished Egyptian Theater (the one that used to be “over budget”). Built in 1922, this fabled movie house will host their closing night screening of Lords of Dogtown, featuring its illustrious director, Catherine Hardwicke – who is this year’s recipient of the HollyShorts Visionary Award.
And The Next Oscar Goes To…
For years, HollyShorts has been a road to Oscar for Live Action Short, Best Animation Short, and its Grand Prix Prize for Best of Fest. Last year, it earned the power to also Oscar Qualify for Best Documentary Short. This year, they’ve also become a path to the BAFTA Film Awards as well – taking their accolades international. It’s just their latest flex that has attracted material as varied and exciting as Alex Hedison’s ALOK (executive produced by Jodie Foster), Álex Lora’s The Masterpiece, Dan Abramovici’s animated Spaceman (voiced by J.K. Simmons), and Thomas May Bailey’s The Talent, starring Emma D’Arcy. This year they’ve even added a Sports category, launched and directed by producer Jessica Badawi with NBA star Metta World Peace serving as Head Judge attracting submissions from Lewis Hamilton, the NFL, ESPN, WNBA players, Showtime Sports, Red Bull, and many others. HollyShorts featured a world premiere screening of Matt Barnes’ documentary, Black Mark, followed by a special All The Smoke episode with Beastmode himself, Marshawn Lynch.
They have also honored the art form with theatrical screenings of some of last year’s Oscar contenders, including Nazrin Choudhury’s urgent and powerful Red, White and Blue – starring Brittany Snow. Choudhury was excited for more connection, “We’re so delighted to be screening in the heart of Hollywood. We welcome the chance to showcase a very human story centered around reproductive rights that continues to be relevant at the 20th Annual HollyShorts, where they live, breathe and champion short film.”
This year’s new shorts hoped to follow in Choudhury’s Oscar-nominated footsteps, while also competing for several other accolades, including the festival’s top spot – The Grand Prix Best Short Award – which comes with a $60,000 prize from Panavision. Tens of thousands in prize money was also in play from Company3. It’s a festival full of excellence – four hundred shorts primed as the top ones to watch.
Partnership Has Its Privileges
Monarch Wine is far from the only partner in the HollyShorts party. We’re proud to have supported alongside such sponsors as Indeed, Vibes Snacks, Cotrini Skin Care, Beauty One, Documentary Channel, ShotDeck, MediaOne, and Easterseals. KODAK loves to sponsor as a way to help lift up the cause of shooting on film. It will all went down at the TCL Chinese Theatres, right between the historic Mann’s Chinese Theatre and the Ovation Center at Hollywood and Highland – home of the Dolby Theatre… inside which one of these shorts may just win the Oscar next year. Always innovating, the festival also streams virtually on bitpix.
No matter how big the festival becomes this year for its 20th – and the next 20th – it will always continue to be run by these two visionaries with a love for film that can still remember dreams of Hollywood back on a cross-country road trip. When I asked them for final advice on how to build a beloved and powerful event like HollyShorts, their answer was as proactive as it was exciting, “We’re always learning – we get ideas from everyone. We love to party. So… we throw a party!”
Helping them boost that party atmosphere is exactly where Monarch comes in. I was honored to host filmmaker Q&As throughout the fest and appear on a creative panel. Monarch’s own Christina Rodehau is not only a partner, but also a festival alumni – having helped produce 2022’s Wild Bitch, from Rebekka Johnson and Kate Nash. Monarch also hosted the Opening Night Reception and filmmaker mixers throughout the ten days and nights of the affair.
From LA to London
For Dumont and Sol, Monarch’s melding of wine and music was the perfect pairing for HollyShorts, “That’s how this started. We extract the juice from stuff we like and add it to our collage. We ask. We get a yes. Then we figure it out.” Specifically, what they’ve “figured out” is how to delight audiences and elevate filmmakers year after year – so much so that HollyShorts is excited to announce its inaugural HollyShorts London Film Festival which will be the UK extension launching this month, Dec 6th-8th at Curzon Soho Cinema.
For Kevin, being a writer has always required a great deal of wine. He never dreamed he’d be able to combine his love for the two. His screenwriting includes works for Paramount, MTV, Warner Brothers, 20th Century Fox, Bad Robot, and his role as Executive Story Editor on “Blood & Treasure,” an action adventure show on CBS and Amazon. Before that, his thirst for sketch comedy led to pieces for The Onion and National Lampoon – as well as the stages of UCB, HBO Workspace, Comedy Central Stage and festivals in San Francisco, NYC, Vancouver and beyond. He’s a write-at-home dad always ready for a winery road trip… especially a dog-friendly one.
