Oscar Shorts Top $1 Million for First Time

Program of short-film nominees surpasses last year’s $645,000 gross

The Oscar Nominated Short Films program, which was created five years ago to give moviegoers a chance to see the films nominated in the Academy’s Animated Short and Live-Action Short categories, has passed the $1 million mark at the boxoffice for the first time.

Released by Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures, the shorts crossed the $1 million threshold on Friday. The previous high gross for an Oscar Nominated Shorts engagement was $644,635 in 2009.

The shorts are shown in two separate programs, one for the live-action nominees and one for the animated films.

LogoramaThe audience has jumped 52 percent in one year, and more than 1000 percent in the five-year history of the program, according to Carter Pilcher, the chief executive of Shorts International.

In a press release announcing the milestone, Magnolia’s senior vice president, Tom Quinn, called the boxoffice figures "an incredible achievement on so many levels. On average, less than 50 specialized films a year cross the $1 [million] mark, so to see our little program blossom into a big contender is a testament to the quality of these films. It’s even more astounding considering that the marketing budget for the program has been the exact same year in and year out."

This year’s shorts – which include the two Oscar winning films, “The New Tenants” for Live-Action category and “Logorama” (above) for Animated – are currently in their seventh week of theatrical release. The full list of theaters is available at www.shortshd.com/theoscarshorts.

The nominated shorts are also available on iTunes, and, for the first time, on cable television via Movies On Demand.
 

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