The 7th HollyShorts Film Festival, an annual showcase for short films in Los Angeles, will honor producers Kevin Chinoy and Francesca Silvestri with the first Maverick Producers Award, festival organizers told TheWrap on Monday.
As part of the salute to Chinoy and Silvestri, the festival will screen a variety of short films produced by the duo, including work directed by Jennifer Aniston, Rachel Weisz and Kate Hudson and starring Anna Faris, Robin Wright, Woody Harrelson, Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart, among others.
The presentation will take place at the Arclight Hollywood's Cinerama Dome theater on August 11, and will kick off the eight-day festival, which will take place at theaters around Hollywood.
Chinoy and Silvestri will also appear on a panel discussion surveying the state of the industry.
The two honorees are principals in the production company Freestyle, where their productions have included the directorial debuts of Aniston, Jessica Biel, Kirsten Dunst, Bryce Dallas Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow and Rita Wilson.
Films included in the opening-night presentation include:
“The Spleendectomy,” directed by Kristen Kiwi Smith, starring Anna Faris, Ron Livingston, and Octavia Spencer.
"Room 10," directed by Jennifer Aniston and Andrea Buchanan, starring Robin Wright, Kris Kristofferson, Brooke D’Orsay, and Leonardo Nam.
"Free Burma," directed by Jennifer Aniston, starring Aniston and Woody Harrelson
“The Thief,” directed by Rachel Weisz, starring Joel Edgerton, Rosemarie DeWitt and Mike Randleman.
"Greg the Bunny," the IFC series from Sean Baker, Spencer Chinoy and Dan Milano.
“Cutlass,” directed by Kate Hudson, starring Dakota Fanning, Virginia Madsen, Kurt Russell, and Kristen Stewart.
The HollyShorts Festival will feature more than 200 short films, music videos, web series and spec commercials. Tickets for the opening-night presentation are on sale at www.hollyshorts.com; tickets for the entire festival will be available on July 6.
