Thank you to all who came to the 3rd Annual Shortz Film Festival. The fest was a huge success and a great time was had by all who attended. If you missed it, well you missed a wonderful time of short films, filmmaker networking, and great food and drink.

Congratulations to our winners:
Audience Choice:
1st Rachel Nichols – “The Inbetween”
2nd Ben Hausler – “The People Who Were Never There”
3rd Bo Campbell- “Anti-Hero”

Judges Choice:
1st Rachel Nichols – “The Inbetween”
2nd Ole Christoffer Haga – “Stick”
3rd Colleen J. McShay – “Commonplace”

Brief (2 minutes or less)
1st Matthew Thayer – “Mans Best Friend”
2nd Leonard Vine – “Rise & Fall of a Pea”

The Shortz Film Fest featured 28 submitted films this year including a student block from The House of Blue (students from PV High School), films from the Bay Area, Redding, Los Angles, Norway, Canada and of course several films made right here in Chico. We also featured a block of past favorites, films from the past two years of our film fest. Two days of films and free popcorn make the $10 admission price a pretty good deal. The films delighted our audience with their creativeness, special effects, and stories. We were lucky to have so much talent share their creations with us and we look forward to more amazing films next year!

We want to thank all of our sponsors of this year’s festival.  Vistanet for hosting our website that allows us to run as an all digital festival as well as your cash donation. Fifth Sun for the amazing t-shirts. Graphic Fox for printing the programs, flyers, posters, and other printing needed.  Digital Print and Design for printing our two 3 x 6 foot banners and large format prints displayed at the El Rey.  Videomaker Magazine for cash and giveaways. Upgraded Living Magazine for the terrific article in the July issue and for a local outlet for our tickets sales. Chico Theater Company for giving us an online outlet to sell tickets and advertising at the theater. That Jack Show for the additional advertising segment on CW10.  Matador Motel.  Cyberlink software for free software to give away.  And of course our filmmaker dinner and after party hosts Grana Restaurant.  And what fabulous hosts they were, providing all the food for our filmmaker dinner on Saturday night as well as giving us their lovely patio for our “after the show parties” Saturday and Sunday nights. The food was amazing and the atmosphere was perfect. We could not make this film festival happen without all our sponsors and we hope to continue these relationships in future film fests.

We want to thank all of the folks from out of town who made the trek to Chico for the film fest. We hope you enjoyed our town, and that we made you feel welcome. Chico is a wonderful town and we love to share it whenever we can.  Remember submissions start March 1st, 2014....a mere 7 months away!

Thank you all again for coming out to enjoy the films and support independent filmmaking. If you liked what you experienced please tell a friend, or better yet make a donation on our website and help us bring you more films from these amazing filmmakers.

We hope to see you all again next year.
 

The results were so close this year that some winners only won by a thousandth of a point!
To ALL of our Filmmakers this year we would like to extend our sincerest thanks and wishes of continued successful filmmaking.

Audience Choice
  1st Place - The Inbetween - Rachel Nichols
  2nd Place - The People Who Were Never There - Ben Hausler
  3rd Place - Anti Hero - Bo Campbell
Briefs
  1st Place - Man's Best Friend - Matthew Thayer
  2nd Place - The Rise And Fall Of A Pea - Leonard Vine
 

Judges Choice
  1st Place - The Inbetween - Rachel Nichols
  2nd Place - Stick - Ole Christoffer Haga
  3rd Place - Commonplace - Colleen J. McShay
Briefs
  1st Place - Man's Best Friend - Matthew Thayer
  2nd Place - The Rise And Fall Of A Pea - Leonard Vine

Only one more day until the fun starts, so we thought we'd send one last reminder to everyone.

Here it is!

• THIS WEEKEND - August 10th and 11th - El Rey Theater 

• 28 international, regional and local  independent short films.
• Filmmakers attending from around the country will be in attendance for Q&A.
• Free popcorn in one of California's oldest cinema theaters.
• Nightly after parties at Grana
• Filmmaker Dinner at Grana on Saturday night. (limited ticket availability)
• Film Awards, prizes and giveaways.

Tickets can be purchased at Chicotix.com, Downtown at the Upgraded Living offices at 334 Broadway, or at the door and are only $10 per day. Yes...that's right PER DAY. Come be a part of all the daily festivities for one low daily price.

Doors open at 12:30 on Saturday and 2:00 on Sunday. Click here for a full listing of the films and screening blocks.

We can't wait to see you all here!

Shortz! Film Festival featured in the Chico Enterprise Record.  Now's the time to get your tickets for Sat., Aug. 10th and Sun., Aug 11th.  Go to ChicoTix.com or see you at the door!

Shortz! coordinators Scott Brown and Renee Boyd sit down with entertainment talk show host Jack Stockton of That Jack Show.  Find out more about the Shortz! Film Festival, catch a few sneak peaks, and then join us at the festival next weekend Aug 10th and Aug 11th at the El Rey theater in downtown Chico, CA.  Go to the website to see the 2013 films and their times.
 

The program airs today, Sunday, Aug., 4th at 10:30am.

Here is a list of the providers and their station:

• Comcast Cable KHSL-DT Channel 10 & 90  Chico-Redding

• Dish Network KHSL-DT Channel 9084 Chico-Redding

• Dishnetwork local Chico-Redding KHSL-DT Channel 10

Over The Air Waves

• KHSL-DT Channel 12.2 Chico-Redding

See you all at the Shortz! Film Festival!

Want to earn a free ticket to the film fest? We need volunteers to help set up and pass out fliers for our Thursday night market booth! If you're interested, please email us at info@shortzfilmfest.com.

Can't volunteer, but want to come by and say hello? Stop by our booth and give us a shout out on camera! A few lucky shout outs will be shown on the big screen at the El Rey Theatre during the film fest!
 

CyberLink, the creators of PowerDirector, are now a Shortz! Film Fest sponsor!

They have graciously provided five full copies of their video editing software PowerDirector Ultra that we will be giving away to budding filmmakers at the festival.

Yes, you heard right, FIVE fully loaded copies of PowerDirector Ultra! Thanks Cyberlink!

If you cant wait until the fest, check out their free trial and online tutorials today!

Chico Theater Company is a regionally and nationally recognized theater company of the highest artistic merit committed to programs that enrich people's lives and perform a service to the Northern California area.  CTC uses the performing arts to inspire, educate and entertain audiences of all ages and to forge relationships with educational institutions.

In addition to providing the community with theater that enriches lives, CTC researches, develops and fosters new performing art works that celebrate the human experience and help the community recognize its commonalities.

Marc Edson, owner of the Chico Theater Company, has been a good friend to the Shortz! Film Festival and is very supportive of the film community.  Through his ticketing venue, ChicoTix.com, you can purchase tickets to the Shortz! Film Fest.  Visit ChicoTix.com, find and click on the Shortz! Film Fest banner to purchase your ticket now.

   Shortz! Film Festival is proud to announce it’s newest sponsor, Grana!  

This superb restaurant is the festival’s official hotspot for the Filmmaker Meet & Greet Dinner and both after parties on Saturday & Sunday.  Watch for more details as we near the festival and be sure to join us for all three!  But don’t wait. Visit Grana, Chico's only farm to table osteria now, and see why they continue to get rave reviews. Grana is located at 198 E. 2nd St  Chico, CA.

A little more about Grana

As a locally owned and operated restaurant, Grana not only recognizes the responsibility they have towards the sustainability of our community, but is also enlivened by the tremendous opportunity to bring to town such a unique dining experience. Downtown Chico’s first wood fired oven is showcased in a beautifully repurposed space on the corner of East 2nd and Wall St. and features a sophisticated and contemporary design that, while completely remodeled, still pays homage to the building’s previous tenant, whose logo and red stripe are featured prominently upon the back wall.

Grana specializes in traditional wood fired neapolitan pizzas complemented by a variety of fresh seasonal food, boutique wines, and craft beers.

Shortz! Film Festival is proud to announce that Upgraded Living Magazine has joined us this year as a sponsor. 
Go to the nearest place that has their July issue and check out page 22!  We are so excited to be a part of such a high quality local magazine.  A magazine with a brighter view of your community. This is also a good time to visit their office, 334 Broadway, Chico CA and pickup your ticket to the Shortz! Film Festival.