April 25-27, 2025
Thank you for your patience as we sorted through the submissions. Finally…These are the selections for 2025.
We look forward to seeing you in Red Bank on Friday, April 25th through Sunday April 27. Please check back as we will be posting the sets for this year’s event, as well as our details of our kickoff party on Saturday’ April 26th at Five Dimes Brewery.
A quick “post-festival” message from the HOTYS Crew…
A heartfelt THANK YOU to all of the actors, directors, writers, scorers, etc..all of the creatives whose art and passion made the 2025 version of the Hang Onto Your Shorts Film Festival such a resounding success. We are humbled to know that you entrusted us with your art, and we were SO excited to meet you, and share a moment with you. Meeting you is, by far, the most rewarding part of what we do.
Beautiful Red Bank, New Jersey is new and unexplored ground for us. We will be working for the remainder of 2025 to make sure the HOTYS 2026 is even better. We hope to see you again.
Warmly,
BK, Chris O, Hiram, and the HOTYS Crew!
2025 Winners
| Best Drama | A Diamond in the Holler |
| Best Comedy | The Third |
| Best Horror/Thriller | Generation Hack |
| Best New Jersey Shortfilm | Glass Eyes |
| Best Music Video | Sean O’Malley - Maybe We’ll Be Alright |
| Best Animation | Deer Season |
| Best Documentary | Beyond the Herd |
| Best International Short | Melody |
| Best Ensemble | Statistical Probability |
| Best Actress – Drama | Lauren Wagner (As We Fall Silent) |
| Best Actor – Drama | Scott Cohen (A Shattering) |
| Best Actor – Comedy | Chris Orangeo (Hoodie: A Revenge Story) |
| Best Actress – Comedy | Angie Hansen (A Rough Start) |
| Best Actress – Horror/Thriller | Angel Pean (Generation Hack) |
| Best Actor – Horror/Thriller | Brett Eidman (Detoxification) |
| Best Student Film (College) | Pretty Kitty |
| Best Student Film (High School) | Gone |
| Best Supporting Actress – Comedy | Jackie McCarthy (Static Cling) |
| Best Supporting Actor – Comedy | Jake Graydon (A Rough Start) |
| Best Supporting Actress – Drama | Kassandra Perez (Baby Love) |
| Best Supporting Actor – Drama | Steven Maurice (A Diamond in the Holler) |
| Best Director – Drama | Jan Jalenak (A Shattering) |
| Best Director – Comedy | Kurt Fleischer (Frank) |
| Best Director – Horror/Thriller | Daniel Meyers (Glass Eyes) |
| Best Short Movie | Baby Love |
| Best Medium Short | The Rooftop |
| Best Long Short Film | Losing Lalo |
| Best Cinematography | The Performance |
| Best Screenplay | Bar in the Woods – Robert Cuniff |
| Rising Star – 2025 | Jake Wichansky, Lexi Hannan |
New Jersey is the home of a lot of great film festivals. The Hang Onto Your Shorts Film Festival is unique because it is an intimate and inviting affair, without pretense. We celebrate your art, and we celebrate you! Hang Onto Your Shorts strives to create connections among filmmakers and actors, and these connections often result in collaborations that screen the very next year.
In celebration of the spirit of the Jersey Shore’s musical history, this year we added a “Music Video” category to the awards. We also aim to promote the arts with future creators and collaborators. Accordingly, we have special STUDENT film rates.
We look forward to sharing our creative universe with you, and we look forward to meeting you!
What People Are Saying About Us
Submit your film today and join the fun on April 25-27, 2025!
