The filmmakers competing in TheWrap’s 2018 ShortList Film Festival had to contend with children, Nazis, drunk college students, financial challenges, peer criticism — and in the case of one of the festival’s winning short films — an adorable goat, in order to get their movies completed.

“We’re not going to pout and cry about it,” student filmmaker David Fortune told TheWrap’s Steve Pond on Thursday. “We’re going to make something happen.”

Now in its seventh year, The ShortList gathers award-winning short films from festivals around the country into one competition. And considering that for many directors, these shorts represent their first films, they’ve already faced immense adversity getting here.

Also Read: 'The Driver Is Red,' 'Magic Alps' Take Top Prizes at TheWrap's ShortList Film Festival 2018

“There are so many things that went wrong, it’s a miracle we’re here today,” the director of “Night Shift,” Marshall Tyler, said while speaking on a panel discussion during the awards presentation at the AMC Century City 15 in Los Angeles.

Randall Christoper’s “The Driver Is Red,” an animated, documentary short about the hunt for a Nazi war criminal, won the festival’s Industry Prize as determined by a jury. And “Magic Alps,” an Italian film about an Afghani refugee forced to separate at the border with his beloved pet goat, won the Audience Prize as voted on in an online poll.

The jury of industry veterans, including “Blindspotting” co-writer Rafael Casal and filmmakers Jim Cummings and Irene Taylor Brodsky, called “The Driver Is Red,” “an incredibly crafted, elegant, and possibly timely story of the execution of civilized justice under circumstances where no civility was due.”

Also Read: ShortList 2018: 'The Driver Is Red' Tells Timely Holocaust Story With Line Drawings (Video)

“When I started this project in 2016, I never imagined in 2017 there would be people marching on American soil with swastikas,” Christopher said upon accepting the Industry Award.

“Magic Alps” co-director Andrea Brusa said prior to accepting the Audience Award that the goat in his film often called the shots on set. Unlike a trained dog, this was a beautiful, but stubborn animal that dictated when the crew took breaks or where they could shoot at a given moment.

“She was the queen of the set,” Brusa said. “At the end of the film we put no animals were harmed, actually she was the boss. We were like the interns.”

Also Read: ShortList 2018: 'Magic Alps' Inspired by True Story of a Refugee and His Goat (Video)

All the same, this group of filmmakers each gave some advice to aspiring filmmakers who, with any luck, might be in this same spot next year. Among their words of wisdom were: always shoot everything to make sure you’re fully covered, insist on getting that extra shot that you might need later, don’t miss out on those special moments on set by getting too stressed out or caught up in your own headspace, and always remember that directing involves the “art of listening,” as one director put it, not just dictating orders.

“You have to embrace the challenges. Otherwise it’s not going to be fun,” said student filmmaker Cecilia Albertini.

Watch a clip from the 2018 ShortList Film Festival above.

The Scene at ShortList 2018: TheWrap's 7th Annual Short Film Festival (Photos)

TheWrap founder and CEO Sharon Waxman and awards editor Steve Pond join the filmmakers featured in the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival at AMC Century City on Thursday.
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Jurors Dana Gill, Jim Cummings, Irene Taylor Brodsky, Jihan Robinson and Rafael Casal at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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"Weekends" director Trevor Jimenez at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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Student director Cecilia Albertini at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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"The Goodnight Show" actress Ellie Dubin and director Charlie Schwan join the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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Filmmakers Cecilia Albertini and Andrea Brusa are featured in the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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The "Labor" film team joins the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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Actress Ellie Dubin, who starred in "The Goodnight Show," at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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The "Labor" film team and "Magic Alps" co-director Andrea Brusa at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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Filmmakers David Fortune, Dominique Koski, Aqsa Altaf, Charlie Schwan and Cecilia Albertini.
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"Night Shift" team before the awards ceremony at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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"Night Shift" actor Calvin Picou at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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"My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes" producer Josh Polon joins the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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TheWrap's Sharon Waxman at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival
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"The Goodnight Show" director Charlie Schwan joins the crowd before the awards ceremony.
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TheWrap team celebrates before the awards ceremony.
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The jurors of the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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TheWrap founder and CEO Sharon Waxman kicks off the awards ceremony.
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Sharon Waxman speaks about the selection of short films featured in the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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The audience at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival awards ceremony.
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Guests mingle at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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Filmmakers Quran Squire and David Fortune.
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Sharon Waxman welcomes guests to the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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Filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky speaks at the jury panel at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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"Blindspotting" co-writer and star Rafael Casal speaks during the jury panel at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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Juror Jihan Robinson, VP of nonfiction programming at Topic Studios, speaks about the short film format.
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"Thunder Road" filmmaker and Shortlist 2016 winner Jim Cummings joined the jury at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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The "Labor" team before the awards ceremony.
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Guests at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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Guests converse at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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Eleven filmmakers sit down to talk about their projects during the panel and awards ceremony.
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"Z-MAN" director David Fortune speaks about his film during the filmmakers panel.
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"Magic Alps" co-director Andrea Brusa speaks about some of the challenges working with a goat in his film.
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Aqsa Altaf, director of the student short "One Small Step," joins the filmmaker panel.
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Student director Aqsa Altaf speaks abut her film, "One Small Step."
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Filmmakers Randall Christopher, Quran Squire and David Fortune meet up during the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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"Z-MAN" director David Fortune takes a selfie with Sharon Waxman and filmmaker Quran Squire.
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Sharon Waxman and filmmakers Quran Squire and Marshall Tyler converse during the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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"The Goodnight Show" director Charlie Schwan speaks at the filmmakers panel.
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"Night Shift" director Marshall Tyler speaks about the challenges of making his film, which is set in a bathroom.
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"My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes" producer Josh Polon.
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"Night Shift" director Marshall Tyler.
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Program director Landon Zakheim announces the student prize winner, "The Peak."
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TheWrap's awards editor Steve Pond announces the audience prize winner, voted on by the public.
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Co-director Andrea Brusa accepts the audience prize for "Magic Alps."
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"Magic Alps" co-director Andrea Brusa accepts the audience prize on behalf of his co-director, Marco Scotuzzi and the rest of the film's team.
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"Magic Alps" co-director Andrea Brusa with Steve Pond after his win.
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"The Driver Is Red" director Randall Christopher accepts the industry prize, voted on by the jury.
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"The Driver Is Red," directed by Randall Christopher, is the industry prize winner.
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"The Driver Is Red" director Randall Christopher with jurors Rafael Casal and Jim Cummings.
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Producer Dominique Koski holds the student prize for "The Peak."
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Director Randall Christopher holds the industry prize for "The Driver Is Red."
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"The Driver Is Red" director Randall Christopher with Steve Pond.
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Juror Irene Taylor Brodsky after the awards ceremony.
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Juror Jim Cummings and director Randall Christopher at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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Sharon Waxman with winners Randall Christopher and Andrea Brusa.
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"My Dead Dad's Porno Tapes" producer Josh Polon with guests at the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival.
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Sharon Waxman with winner and director of "The Driver is Red," Randall Christopher.
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Filmmakers and filmgoers gathered at AMC Century City to celebrate this year’s slate of award-winning shorts

TheWrap founder and CEO Sharon Waxman and awards editor Steve Pond join the filmmakers featured in the seventh annual ShortList Film Festival at AMC Century City on Thursday.

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