Imagine Entertainment today announced the launch of the second edition of its short film competition, “From Minutes to Movies ShortFest,” in partnership with The Film Zone, Stand Together and the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream (MCAAD). It is now open for submissions.
Themed “American Dreaming,” the festival invites U.S.-based creators to submit original works exploring personal interpretations of the “American Dream”—inspirational and aspirational stories grounded in contribution and community, hope and hardship, reinvention and resilience.
Submissions will be accepted in all formats, from scripted to unscripted, widescreen to vertical. In partnership with the award-winning content company Portal A and their Moonshots program – where Portal A invests in emerging creators and independent creative work – the first-place winner gets the chance to have a project developed, funded and produced by Imagine, Stand Together, and Portal A via a Moonshot Grant. The top three winners will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to attend a celebration event at MCAAD in Washington, D.C., this fall, where their films will be screened for attendees.
“From Minutes to Movies ShortFest” aims to spotlight those pushing the boundaries of short-form storytelling — whether aspiring directors, digital creators or emerging voices in film. By providing a platform where innovative projects connect to traditional long-form distribution and/or development, the fest seeks to challenge conventions and shape the future of storytelling.
2024’s first-place winner, “Single Residence Occupancy,” directed by Omer Ben-Shachar, continues to win awards, including the Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at the Atlanta Film Festival, qualifying it for the Academy Awards.
