Robert Arentz founded the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival AKA LA Shorts Fest in 1997. LA Shorts Fest is among the largest short film festivals in the world with more 250 film screenings per annual festival. Lasting a week in Los Angeles California, the Festival includes the viewing of short films, educational panels, interactive events which include an award ceremony honoring the films chosen by panel to receive various category acknowledgements. Accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...

, award winners are eligible for Academy nomination. Attendance to the LA Shorts Fest attracts more than 8,000 moviegoers, filmmakers, and entertainment professionals annually.

Judging Process

Films are screened and selected by a panel of jurors who vote on the final nominated film selections. Past jurors have included Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck

Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...

, James Franco

James Franco

James Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and instructor at New York University. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s...

, Sandra Oh

Sandra Oh

Sandra Oh is a Canadian actress. She is best known for the role of Dr. Cristina Yang on ABC's Grey's Anatomy, for which she has won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild award. She also played notable roles in the feature films Under the Tuscan Sun and Sideways, and had a supporting role on the...

, Faye Dunaway

Faye Dunaway

Faye Dunaway is an American actress.Dunaway won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in Network after receiving previous nominations for the critically acclaimed films Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown...

, Thora Birch

Thora Birch

Thora Birch is an American actress. She was a child actor in the 1990s, starring in movies such as All I Want for Christmas , Patriot Games , Hocus Pocus , Now and Then , and Alaska . She came to prominence in 1999 after earning worldwide attention and praise for her performance in American Beauty...

, Paula Wagner

Paula Wagner

Paula Wagner is an American film producer and film executive.-Early career:Wagner began her career at Creative Artists Agency. In 1993 she launched Cruise/Wagner Productions with her former CAA client Tom Cruise. C/W's first film, Mission: Impossible, was an international hit that brought the...

, and Julian McMahon

Julian McMahon

Julian Dana William McMahon is an Australian actor and former fashion model. He is best known for his portrayals of Cole Turner in The WB hit series Charmed, womanizing plastic surgeon Christian Troy on the Emmy and Golden Globe award-winning TV show Nip/Tuck, and Doctor Doom in Fantastic Four and...

.

Awards

• BEST OF FEST (Academy Qualifying)
• BEST FOREIGN FILM (Academy Qualifying)
• BEST DRAMA (Academy Qualifying)
• BEST COMEDY (Academy Qualifying)
• BEST ANIMATION (Academy Qualifying)
• BEST EXPERIMENTAL (Academy Qualifying)
• BEST DOCUMENTARY
• BEST CREATIVE COMMERCIAL
• BEST MUSIC VIDEO

LA Shorts Best of Fest Winner will receive; Panavision’s in-kind donation of a film camera package, through their New Filmmakers Program, will be awarded to LA Shorts Best of Fest winning filmmaker for a future project. The value of the package is approximately $60,000 and is available for up to 4 weeks of filming.

Honorees

Those who have been honored in the festival include Hollywood legends Charles Chaplin, Harold Lloyd

Harold Lloyd

Harold Clayton Lloyd, Sr. was an American film actor and producer, most famous for his silent comedies....

 and Robert Wise

Robert Wise

Robert Earl Wise was an American sound effects editor, film editor, film producer and director...

. Many recognized actors have screened films and attended the festival such as Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson is an American actress, model and singer.Johansson made her film debut in North and was later nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in Manny & Lo . She rose to further prominence with her roles in The Horse Whisperer and Ghost World...

, Demi Moore

Demi Moore

Demi Guynes Kutcher , known professionally as Demi Moore, is an American actress. After minor roles in film and a role in the soap opera General Hospital, Moore established her career in films such as St...

, Ashton Kutcher

Ashton Kutcher

Christopher Ashton Kutcher , best known as Ashton Kutcher, is an American actor, producer, former fashion model and comedian, best known for his portrayal of Michael Kelso in the Fox sitcom That '70s Show...

, Courteney Cox

Courteney Cox

Courteney Bass Cox is an American actress, she is best known for her roles as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom Friends, Gale Weathers in the horror series Scream and as Jules Cobb in the ABC sitcom Cougar Town, for which she earned her first Golden Globe nomination....

,Martin Landau

Martin Landau

Martin Landau is an American film and television actor. Landau began his career in the 1950s. His early films include a supporting role in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest . He played continuing roles in the television series Mission: Impossible and Space:1999...

, James Woods

James Woods

James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...

, Gary Oldman

Gary Oldman

Gary Leonard Oldman is an English actor, voice actor, filmmaker and musician.A member of the 1980s Brit Pack, Oldman came to prominence via starring roles in British films Meantime , Sid and Nancy and Prick Up Your Ears , with his performance in the latter bringing him his first BAFTA Award...

, and directors Jan de Bont

Jan de Bont

Jan de Bont is a Dutch cinematographer, producer, and film director.-Early life and career:De Bont was born, one of 17 children, to a Roman Catholic family in Eindhoven, Netherlands. His earliest work after studying at the Amsterdam Film Academy was with the Dutch avant garde director Adriaan...

, Tim Burton

Tim Burton

Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...

, Bryan Singer

Bryan Singer

Bryan Singer is an American film director and film producer. Singer won critical acclaim for his work on The Usual Suspects, and is especially well-known among fans of the science fiction and superhero genres for his work on the X-Men films and Superman Returns.-Early life:Singer was born in New...

 and Paul Haggis

Paul Haggis

Paul Edward Haggis is a Canadian screenwriter, producer, and director. He spent his early career producing and directing various American and Canadian television network series.-Early life and education:...

.

History

Venues: LA Shorts Fest History Dates & Venues

• Year 1, October 3–5, 1997 - Barnsdall Art Park

• Year 2, September 11–13, 1998 - Opening Night Gala @ Writers Guild Theater, venue: Barnsdall Art Park

• Year 3, October 1–3, 1999 - Opening Night Gala @ Writers Guild Theater, venue: Barnsdall Art Park

• Year 4, October 5–8, 2000 - Opening Night Gala @ Writers Guild Theater, venue: Los Angeles Film School Theater

• Year 5, October 3–8, 2001 - Opening Night @ El Rey Theater, venue: Los Angeles Film School Theater

• Year 6, October 15–20, 2002 - Opening Night @ ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas, venue: ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas & Los Angeles Film School

• Year 7, September 16–22, 2003 - Opening @ ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas, venue: ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas

• Year 8, September 7–13, 2004 - Opening ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas, venue: ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas

• Year 9, September 6–13, 2005 Opening @ ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas, venue: ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas

• Year 10, September 5–14, 2006 Opening @ ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas, venue: ArcLight Hollywood Cinemas

• Year 11, September 5–17, 2007 Opening @ AMC Burbank 16, venue: AMC Burbank Town Center 6

• Year 12, August 15–21, 2008 Opening @ Laemmle Sunset 5 Hollywood, venue: Laemmle Sunset 5 Hollywood

• Year 13, July 23–31, 2009 Opening @ Laemmle Sunset 5 Hollywood, venue: Laemmle Sunset 5 Hollywood

• Year 14, July 22–30, 2010 Opening @ Laemmle Sunset 5 Hollywood, venue: Laemmle Sunset 5 Hollywood.