What an outstanding year for Film Making!
A total of over 1700 short films were submitted to this years festival and the challenge was boiling it down to 14 semi-finalists.
A representative from each film was flown to New York City for a public screeningteh SVA Theater in Midtown Manhattan.
The evening was hosted by a very familiar face from Extra!, AJ Calloway.
And covering the red carpet was NBC’s Last Comic Standing Star, Zainab Johnson.
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR TOP 14 Semi Finalists!
TUESDAY AUG 19th – DAY 1
1. Crescendo
Director/Writer: Alonso Alvarez
Cast: Montserrat Espadalé, Frank Arend, Patrick Nuo, Brad Potts, Jennifer Cadena, Anita Beck, Ali Landry
Logline: In the 18th century Holy Roman Empire, a series of events will turn an ordinary day into an extraordinary experience for a woman whose life will never be the same.
2. Hypebeasts
Director/Writer: Jess dela Merced
Cast: Michael Rosete, Jake Choi, Jess dela Merced, Trevon Davis, Jeanette Dilone, Michael Galante, Grizz Chapman, Rich Pecci, Khalid Rivera, Nathaly Lopez, Joshua Rivera, Bryan Fitzgerald, Stephen James Anthony, Fetti D’Biasi
Logline: A boy’s desire to cop the most coveted pair of sneakers is quickly replaced with the fear that he and his sister are in serious danger when racial tensions explode in an overnight sneaker line in NYC.
3. Grief
Director: George Bessudo Writer: Jesse David Ing
Cast: Kimberly Dollar, Reid Warner, Jaeden Lieberher, Asher Bank
Logline:A young couple coping with the death of their only son, is haunted by a malevolent spirit in their house.
4. Rattlefly
Director: Min Ding Writers: Min Ding & Yen-Chiao Huang
Cast: Maren Lord, Sadie Scott, Deema Aitken, Sheilagh Weymouth, Greg Seel
Logline: Sara, a small-town teenage girl with a dead-end existence who finds short-lived hope when she falls in love with the new pastor’s luminous daughter.
5. Seventh Grade
Director/Writer: Stefani Saintonge
Cast: Maxine Turenne, Mia Guzman, Ashe Davis, Khristen Gordon, Eric Bassant
Logline: Everyone is growing up except Patrice. But when a raunchy rumor threatens her best friend’s reputation, she’s forced to join the party and embrace adolescence.
6. Interstate
Director/Writer: Camille Stochitch
Cast:Benny Nieves, Gina Rodriguez, Max Arciniega, Roberto Montesinos, Laura Patalano, Aldo Ceceña, Darren La Borie
Logline: Joaquin has been teaching illegal immigrants how to drive, until an HSI agent shows up at his door. Will he save or give up those he has been helping?
7. Voicemail
Director/Writer: Thomas Fraser
Cast: Simone Missick, Thomas Fraser
Logline: A man comes home from vacation to find that he has 20 voicemails from the same person.
WEDNESDSAY AUG 20th – DAY 2
1. The Incident(s) at Paradise Bay
Director: Lorne Hiltser Writer: Nate Crocker
Cast:Bobby Soto, Peter Holden, Daniel Stewart, James Logan, Kevin Flint
Logline: Some kids get detention, some kids starve in a steel cage under the hot sun with no water all day.
2. Hunger
Director: Brian Frager Writer: James Fant
Cast:London Vale, Kristin Coffman, Paula Bellamy-Franklin, Hap Lawrence, Heather Wynters, Charles Anteby, Lowell Dean, Zack Ketz, Joseph Steven, Michael Banks, Chen Huang, Giles Clarke
Logline: A desperate mother tries to protect her disturbed young daughter on the run, but their dark past threatens to ensnare them.
3. Los Santos
Director/Writer: Coraly Santaliz
Cast:Ricardo Alvarez, Lynnette Salas, José Jorge Medina, Nancy Millán, Eddie Valdés, Filomena Saura, Danny Salinas, Roger Guzmán
Logline: How many Saints are out there?
4. #nightslikethese
Director/Writer: Hannah Macpherson
Cast: Amber Midthunder, Shay Eyre, Kenneth Miller
Logline: When a night’s escapade takes a disturbing turn for two teen girls, we learn just how disconnected and desensitized social media has made them.
5. Bombshell
Director/Writer: Erin Sanger
Cast: Sofi Choinski, Logan Riley Bruner, Shane Nepveu, Tristan Alan, Store Employee, Carolyn Slesinski, Katie Schafer, Mackenzie Brooke Taylor
Logline: A ten year-old tomboy must weigh her loyalty to her trusted older brother as the siblings become complicit in a hate crime.
6. Drudge
Director/Writer: Kheireddine El-Helou
Cast: Jessica Mann, Cameron Simmons
Logline: What was supposed to be a romantic night in for a young couple, quickly turns into a terrifying encounter with Drudge.
7. Paulie
Director: Andrew Nackman Writer: David Lee
Cast: Ethan Dizon, Hardy Gatlin, Jay Pennick, Jarid Root, Judy Durning, Christine Kellogg, Sawyer Valin
Logline: A comedy about eating dirt, the Dewey Decimal system and finishing school as quickly as possible.
Film Stills
2014 NBCUniversal Short Film Festival Semi-Finalists (Poster Slide Show) from NBC Talent Development Programs on Vimeo.