Announcing the Semifinalists of the 2026 HollyShorts Screenplay Contest
The 22nd Annual HollyShorts Film Festival is proud to announce the semifinalists of the HollyShorts Screenplay Contest. This year's selections span shorts, features and pilots, and range from a child mistaking immigration raids for something supernatural, to a purgatorial diner, to a printer in 1524 who accidentally erases every written word in the world. Congratulations to all 49 writers below. Finalists will be announced ahead of the festival, running August 13 through 23 at TCL Chinese Theatres.
Above The Bridge — Martina Lisec
After Hours — Julian Yoval
ARC — J M Kellerman
As Is (Revision 2) — Christopher Glass
Be Careful What You Draw For — Javi Romero
Below the Surface — Stephen Lewis
CAINE — Eduardo Muniz, Danilo Moraes
Cherry — Christopher Rogers
CROW — Matilda Corley Schulman
Dark Country — Daniel Yi
Dead Water — Kevin Machate
Dr. Becky's Guide to Uncommon Symptoms — Peter Andrews
Goodnight, Los Angeles — Matt Dickson
Grave Command — Evelyn Davis
Hedonism — Jessica Lynn James
Intelligently Artificial — Matthew Valvardi
Know Your Lights — Al Benoit
Lightbulb — Serena Dykman
LiveStream — Allan Tamshen
Maiden — David Bright
Marina and Lucho — Luis Garcia & Jayme S Hall
MEAT — Victoria Villarreal
Merlin's Magic Ride — Anthony Notarile & Chris Angelis
Mis Undead Quince — Jocelyne Berumen
MISS WOUBI — Adesua Okosun
Murder Ballads & Love Songs — Matilda Corley Schulman
No One Took Her Seriously And Now They're All Dead — Brandon Mercer
Nocturne — Jae Cho
OF IRON & INK — Sara Al Thani
Rippers — Joseph Oliver Hooten
ROAD KILL — Jonathan Turner
Santa Claus is Coming to Hell! — Ben Alpi, Michael Klug
Saving Glory — Farook Qais
Shadow Conspiracy — Angel Whitaker
Sila — Mashael Alqahtani
SILENCE=DEATH — Peter Ray Field
Smart Womb — Roni Brown
Textura — Nick Jackson
The Death Row Cook — Jessica James
The Executioner's Lighthouse — Mark Clark
The Hit — Leslie Alejandro
The Logistician — Abdulaziz Aldughaither
The PaRC — Morgan Grice
The Post-Mortem of Taylor Jordan — Eric J Cook
The Skywalker — George Robert Strayton
The Two Musketeers — Dustin Richardson
They Came For Me — Douglas Lieberman
Vice Grip — Steven Traviss Smith
Written in the Stars — Robert G. Rhyne