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Hang On To Your Shorts Film Festival

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 DramaA Diamond in the Holler
Best ComedyThe Third
Best Horror/ThrillerGeneration Hack
Best New Jersey ShortfilmGlass Eyes
Best Music VideoSean O’Malley - Maybe We’ll Be Alright
Best AnimationDeer Season
Best DocumentaryBeyond the Herd
Best International ShortMelody
Best EnsembleStatistical Probability
Best Actress – DramaLauren Wagner (As We Fall Silent)
Best Actor – DramaScott Cohen (A Shattering)
Best Actor – ComedyChris Orangeo (Hoodie: A Revenge Story)
Best Actress – ComedyAngie Hansen (A Rough Start)
Best Actress – Horror/ThrillerAngel Pean (Generation Hack)
Best Actor – Horror/ThrillerBrett Eidman (Detoxification)
Best Student Film (College)Pretty Kitty
Best Student Film (High School)Gone
Best Supporting Actress – ComedyJackie McCarthy (Static Cling)
Best Supporting Actor – ComedyJake Graydon (A Rough Start)
Best Supporting Actress – DramaKassandra Perez (Baby Love)
Best Supporting Actor – DramaSteven Maurice (A Diamond in the Holler)
Best Director – DramaJan Jalenak (A Shattering)
Best Director – ComedyKurt Fleischer (Frank)
Best Director – Horror/ThrillerDaniel Meyers (Glass Eyes)
Best Short MovieBaby Love
Best Medium ShortThe Rooftop
Best Long Short FilmLosing Lalo
Best CinematographyThe Performance
Best ScreenplayBar in the Woods – Robert Cuniff
Rising Star – 2025Jake 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

This festival is so welcoming and fun to attend!! Love the enthusiasm of Rich, Brian and Hiram. I have gone to this festival three times now and never been disappointed. Great to meet the other filmmakers as well!!

Kristin S.

Great Festival! Jersey and its people received us with open arms. The organizers are incredible people that care about your art and you as a creator. This Festival has a great sense of community and genuine appreciation for the art of film making.

Royce L.

I absolutely love this festival and they are so great to the filmmakers! I have been in this festival with both of my short films and i HIGHLY recommend for anyone in the trig-state area to submit to! Great programming and opportunities to network for filmmakers.

Kisha P.

I really enjoyed taking part in the “Hang On to Your Shorts” Film Fest. COVID didn’t allow for it to be a live event and spoiled potential networking opportunities but I look forward to submitting to them again in the future and attending a live screening. Everyone was friendly and communicated well.

Michael B.

This festival is definitely worth your attention, filmmakers. The folks in charge are generous and know what they're doing. Your film will seen side-by-side with GREAT films made my talented people. Super glad to have been part of this.

Jamie D.

We love love loved being a part of this film festival! They treated the pandemic year with as much care and excitement as they would a live screening and made every effort for the festival to be a celebration of great film works! We will definitely submit again!

Vanessa P.

Submit your film today and join the fun on April 25-27, 2025!