It is an honor and a privilege to bring you the worldwide premiere of the 5th Annual Stage 32 Short Film Program! Below you will find seven amazing short films to watch that were carefully curated by Stage 32's panel of leading industry executives. Our esteemed panel of judges is made up of top producers, managers, development executives, and Oscar-winning filmmakers.

These films are only available for viewing Monday 1/23/23 - Friday 1/27/23

Plus, join the filmmakers for a live Q&A this Friday, 1/27! Details and registration and the end of this blog.

Our seven winning filmmakers hail from all over the world, and we could not be more excited to share their undeniable talents with you. We were proud to screen these films in the 2023 Oscar-qualifying Hollyshorts Film Festival and the Raindance Film Festival in London. And, we're even more proud to showcase today's international premiere to all of the development executives, agents, managers, and agents that work with us.

Since 2016, the Stage 32 Short Film Contest has served as an unparalleled incubator for finding talented filmmakers and helping them forge connections that make their careers blossom. Our past finalists have gone on to be signed by Paradigm, APA, Gersh, Verve, Echo Lake, Circle of Confusion, and more!

Congratulations to all the 7th Annual Short Film Contest winners, we cannot wait to see where your talents take you.

Executives - please get in contact with Amanda Toney, Sam Mannetti, or Richard Botto for introductions.

Click here to see the complete list of winners!

Grand Prize Winner

PACO by Kent Donguines

CONSUMER - by Stephanie Izsak

EXIT PURSUED BY A BEAR - by Jessica Redish

JANE - by Noel Vinson

THE LOST - by Vincent Cortez

WORDS TO MY LOVE - by Paul Ménagé

Grand Prize Winner: PACO

Kent Donguines - Producer/Director based in Westminster, Canada

Kent Donguines is a Filipino-Canadian narrative and documentary filmmaker based in Vancouver, BC. He is the CEO of Aimer Films Inc. and has produced the award-winning CBC short documentary, THIS INK RUNS DEEP, which premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. He also wrote, directed, and produced the Telus Storyhive short film KALINGA (Care), a documentary about the sacrifices Filipina nannies make to work in Canada. The short documentary had its World Premiere at the DOXA Documentary Film Festival and won the Kathleen Shannon Award from Yorkton Film Festival. Kent has worked for production companies in Canada and the Philippines, including Cedar Island Films Inc., Black Cap Pictures (Ten17p), Viva Entertainment, and Star Cinema.

His latest short film, funded by Harold Greenberg Fund, BC Arts Council, Canadian Film Centre, CreativeBC, and the National Film Board of Canada, PACO, received the Grand Prize in the 2022 Stage32 Annual Film Contest and has secured a broadcast license with CRAVE. He’s currently developing the feature film, CROSS-COUNTRY BABY, and his feature documentaries, TREASURE OF THE RICE TERRACES and CANADIAN ADOBO.

CONSUMER

Stephanie Izsak - Screenwriter/Director based in Vancouver, Canada

Stephanie is an award-winning actor, writer, and director with over 20 years of experience on stage, mic, and film/tv.

As a writer and director, Stephanie's first horror short Live Feed, won Scariest Film at its inaugural festival, Blood 'N Guts in 2019. Since then, its enjoyed screenings at festivals across Canada and the US. Her second film, CONSUMER, was a Top 6 Winning Film to be green-lit by Crazy 8s Film Society, a filmmaking incubator that produces 6 high-quality short films from emerging directors annually from hundreds of applicants and was a Winner of Stage 32's International Short Film Contest. It has since screened internationally at festivals such as Nightmares Film Festival, Oregon Screams (WINNER- Best Director), Blood In The Snow, VHS Festival (WINNER- Best Director, Best Editing, Best Music), Hollyshorts and Raindance Film Festival in London.

Stephanie has recurred on CW's THE 100, Netflix's FIREFLY LANE, many television movies, and is currently holding down the law in her fourth season as Central City's sweetest cop Officer Daisy Korber on CW's THE FLASH. She can most recently be found playing Lena on Netflix's new comedy, BLOCKBUSTER.

EXIT PURSUED BY A BEAR

Jessica Redish - Director/Writer/Choreographer based in Los Angeles, CA

Jessica Redish is an award-winning director, writer & choreographer currently in USC’s School of Cinematic Arts MFA Program. She has been referred to as a “rising star” because of her accomplishments with her award-winning short films and music videos. Her body of work ranges from contributing choreography to The Smashing Pumpkins' International Tour to her short films THE LAST CROISSANT and AIRWAY, winning Best Director and Best Comedy awards.

Her most recent success is her newest film, EXIT PURSUED BY A BEAR, a short movie musical in which she wrote, directed, choreographed, and co-wrote lyrics with composer Michael Mahler. The film received placement in the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts and Raindance Film Festivals as one of six winners in the 2022 Stage 32 Short Film Contest.

She recently completed principal photography on her short film “CAT.” The project is a 2022 Shore Scripts Short Film Fund Finalist, a Women in Media CAMERAderie Semifinalist, and had the support of ARRI, Zeiss, Cinelease, Sigma, Canon, Filmcraft Studio Gear, and Rosco, where she is a proud ambassador.

JANE

Noel Vinson - Director/Producer/Screenwriter based in Sydney, Australia

Noel Vinson is a producer, writer, and director. He is best known for the short horror film, JANE (2021), a winner of Stage 32's 7th Annual Short Film Competition, as well as DUSTERS (2020), THE MALICIOUS (2019), and I'M SORRY MOMMY (2017). Additionally, you'll hear him lending his voice to the popular true-crime podcast, The Evidence Locker.

As an experienced entertainment professional from Los Angeles, Noel's early success as a hip-hop artist propelled him onto the world stage, where he toured internationally from LA to Shanghai and to Sydney, Australia, where he is now based.

His films have attracted more than twenty awards and nominations from multiple festivals. He is a prolific independent filmmaker with a focus on working collaboratively with international artists on feature films, shorts, and podcasts under the umbrella of his company, Dissenter Stage Entertainment.

THE LOST

Vincent Cortez - Writer/Director based in Oakland, CA

Vincent Cortez became passionate about storytelling in his youth and developed his craft as he grew. After graduating from SFSU’s Cinema Program, he launched his own company, Mitchell Street Pictures, where he focused on directing content that is diverse and compelling. His short films have been distributed internationally on both big and small screens, including his short film, DAD, which was picked up by PBS, and DARKNESS OF NIGHT, which premiered on El Rey Network. Besides his work directing, Vincent has also functioned as a writer, producer, editor, and composer on various projects. He and his co-producer Sofia Cortez manage their production company, Mitchell Street Pictures.

​Focusing on universal themes, Vincent creates character-driven genre films anchored by protagonists-of-color. This intention stems from his Latino culture and background growing up in a multi-cultural community. In addition to narrative films, Vincent has also worked on corporate and commercial projects with clients ranging from Google to Samsung.

WORDS TO MY LOVE

Paul Ménagé - Writer/Director/Producer based in Paris, France

Paul Menage is a Director, Writer, Producer, and Actor based in Paris, France. He appeared in Paul Verhoeven’s ELLE and joined the ESRA Paris in 2016. He produced his first short film WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE in 2018, which was featured at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Best International Short film in Milan at the MIFF Awards 2018.

Paul produced a second short film, PAROLES À L’AMIE, in 2021 and is a part of a collection of seven short films called COMBAT. Paul is currently developing two feature films.

Join us on Friday, January 27th at 10 am PST for an exclusive panel with these amazing filmmakers!

Winners of the 7th Annual Stage 32 Short Film Program

Friday, January 27th at 10am PST

CLICK HERE to Register for FREE

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