The 2012 HollyShorts Film Festival will launch on Aug. 9 with the theatrical premiere of "PERIODS.", a series of improvised comedy films from Before the Door Pictures, the production company run by Zachary Quinto, Neal Dodson, Corey Moosa and Sean Akers.

The Brooklyn-based "PERIODS.," series was created by Victor Quinaz and Anna Martemucci, and has been described on Quinto's website as a realm "where historic context and accurate period dress mixes with an extremely modern style of comedy."

Although the films are available at the PERIODS.FILM website [5], where they have enjoyed a cult following for two years, HollyShorts will mark the debut of the shorts on a big screen. The program will include a Q&A with the filmmakers and special guests. Quinto will host.

Also read: 10 Producers Who Will Change Hollywood in 2012 [6]

“The 'PERIODS.' crew exemplifies what modern indie filmmaking is really all about – working together to create high quality content for global audiences while utilizing tangible digital tools and social media to promote and release the works to the masses," said HollyShorts co-founders and co-directors Theo Dumont and Daniel Sol in a statement.

The "PERIODS." shorts have led to a feature film, "TWV Project," directed by Quinaz and produced by Before the Door and Anonymous Content.

After the opening-night Aug. 9 kickoff at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, the eighth annual HollyShorts Film Festival will run at the Chinese through Aug. 16. The week-long festival will include animated, live-action, documentary and student shorts, along with web series, commercials and music videos.

It will also award more than $75,000 in prizes to winning short films.

To celebrate the announcement, PERIODS. is re-releasing one of its most popular shorts, "Before After," which features Quinto.

The lineup of shorts accepted into HollyShorts will be announced in early July. Advance tickets are available at www.hollyshorts.com [7].