Los Angeles, September 4, 2012 – TheWrap.com is pleased to announce the winners of the first annual “ShortList” Online Film festival.
- For its strong technique, stunning cinematography and for taking us on an eye opening journey to a world rarely depicted on film the Jury Prize goes to FISHING WITHOUT NETS directed by Cutter Hodierne.
- For its irreverent voice and ability to so fully capture the nature of its eccentric provocateur subject in such a compact form the jury would like to give a Special Mention to A BRIEF HISTORY OF JOHN BALDESSARI, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman.
- With the most votes for best short, the Audience Prize goes to THE MAKER, directed by Christopher Kezelos.
The awards were announced at the ShortList Awards event on the Sony lot on Tuesday night. The festival was conducted online and over mobile devices August 20-September 4, 2012.
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, star of the upcoming film “Smashed,” presented the Jury Prize. Nev Schulman, star of the indie documentary, “Catfish,” and host of a new series on MTV of the same name, presented the Audience Prize.
The awards were preceded by a panel discussion by the five-member jury about the future of independent film, and the distribution paths for short filmmaking.
The winners, the “best of the best,” were chosen from a field of 12 award-winning finalists from the Sundance Film Festival, SXSW, Venice Film Festival and the LA Film Festival, and come from the United States, Kenya, Italy, Brazil, Columbia and the UK.
The Jury Prize winner, Cutter Hodierne, was chosen by the 5-member jury which was comprised of top Entertainment professionals: Howard Cohen, Co-President of Roadside Attractions; Cassian Elwes, producer, Evolution Entertainment; Lynette Howell, producer, (Blue Valentine, Half Nelson); Zachary Quinto, actor and producer (Star Trek, Heroes, Margin Call) and Michelle Satter, Founding Director, Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program.
The Audience Prize was chosen through online voting by film fans from all over the world at shortlistfilmfestival.com. Only one vote per film was permitted. More than 10,000 fans voted in a remarkable response to the inaugural event.
The Jury Prize winner will receive a $60,000 in camera equipment from Panavision, to be used for a future filmmaking project, a Sony Alpha A77 DLSR Camera and the short will air on VH1 Classic. In addition the director of the film will receive a First Look deal at Cinedigm, a full service distributor and digital-age studio.
The Audience Prize winner will also receive the Sony Alpha A77 DLSR camera, the short will air on VH1 Classic and the director will receive a First Look deal at Cinedigm.
The shorts were hosted on TheWrap.com’s website and through its mobile platform and were also available on MTV’s film sites Film.com and Nextmovie.com.
Sponsors of the festival include MTV, Cinedigm and Panavision. TheWrap also thanks Sony Pictures Entertainment for its generous support of The ShortList.