The contract system at Hollywood studios like MGM was a very efficient system in that because we were at the studio all the time we could rehearse a lot. But it also really repressed people. There were no union regulations yet, and we were all indentured servants–you can call us slaves if you want–like ballplayers before free agency. We had seven-year contracts, but every six months the studio could decide to fire you if your picture wasn’t a hit. And if you turned down a role, they cut off your salary and simply added the time to your contract.
Kids talk to me and say they want to do musicals again because they’ve studied the tapes of the old films. We didn’t have that. We thought once we had made it, even on film, it was gone except for the archives.
I arrived in Hollywood 20 pounds overweight and as strong as an ox. But if I put on a white tails and tux like [Fred Astaire], I still looked like a truck driver.
There was no model for what I tried to do with dance . . . and the thing Fred Astaire and I used to bitch about was that critics didn’t know how to categorize us. They called us tap dancers because that was considered the American style. But neither of us were basically tap dancers.
In the hauntingly enigmatic and dialogue-free short film, ‘Screaming Silence’, Elizabeth, a young woman in the aftermath of a traumatic event, navigates her world through a haunting soundscape of everyday noises, which ‘peoples’ her world and forces her to face her reality of circumstances and her fear of reaching out for help. As the audience intimately experiences her journey, Elizabeth’s silence becomes a bittersweet force, echoing the profound emotional depth that empowers her to move forward in an altruistic twist of an ending.
Director Biography – Kalyn Elizabeth Wood, Hal Waghorn Kalyn is an American – Irish actress based in London and Los Angeles. Kalyn became interested in acting at a young age and began training when she was twelve years old. At the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, Wood received a perfect study score. In 2020, she received a BA in History from the University of Mississippi. In 2023, Wood received an MA in Text & Performance from Birkbeck University. Her film ‘Screaming Silence’ has gone on to win 25 awards.
Hal is an award winning director currently based in Bristol in the UK. He’s been studying at Bristol University for the past 3 years where he not only collaborated on a range of short films but also co founded Bristol Collaborative Arts, a Bristol based arts society created to give young artists a space to collaborate on film theatre and music projects. He now works in the British film and TV industry as a floor runner and is looking to work on future projects with like minded creatives.
When a by -the-book lawyer allows a prank war to escalate and spiraling occur. The lines of law, ethics and office humor blur.
Directed by Mitra Goodwin
Director’s BIO:
Engineer, Business Analyst, Program Manager, Script Supervisor. Those were my titles before deciding to write and direct my short film, Prank’d.
Growing up an army brat, and as an only girl to 3 brothers, movies and books were my best and constant companions. When I realized some books were made into movies, a new hobby emerged, reading the book, and subsequently watching and critiquing the movie. “Devil in a Blue Dress” and “Harry Potter” are the favorites for the transition. However, my writing outlets at the time were journaling and poetry.
Fast forward and I graduated from the University of Louisville with a Master’s in Industrial Engineering and continued performing time studies at a parcel shipping company. As I moved into software development in the corporate realm and in location to Camden, South Carolina, I realized that I gained an ability. The ability to handle meeting overloads, personality conflicts and small talk fatigue by secretly giving spirit animal nick names to my colleagues and before you knew it, I had amassed mini stories for them as well.
Another fast forward, and a week before the pandemic shutdowns, in Atlanta, GA (where I currently reside) I attended BWFN (Black Women Film Network) and later uncovered the old writings. That creative experience and those memories pushed me to the next logical step in….a Script Supervisor for Film and TV. Not apparently logical but Mitra logic, I was able to observe and learn more behind the scenes production while I honed my storytelling confidence and abilities. As I continue to create content, I hope it brings joy to those reading and watching as it brought joy to me writing.
This festival has a guaranteed 4-tier set up for each accepted script. (No matter what, all screenplays submitted receive FULL FEEDBACK on their work.) 1) Full Feedback on your script 2) Actors performance video reading of your script 3) Blog interview promotion. 4) Podcast interview on the Film Festival ITunes show
Submit your BODY IMAGE short story to the festival here, and we will automatically have it performed by a professional actor and turned into a promotional video for yourself.
THE SPECTER OF CHRISTMAS, 11min., USA Directed by Joel Harlow Official selection of Fantasia 2025 and voted Best Short FIlm at IFS/LA FilmFest 2025 The Specter of Christmas marks the fourth film in the “Old Time Radio” short film series. This time, a holiday adventure loosely based on “T’was the Night Before Christmas” narrated by Paul Giamatti.
SUBMERGED, 14min., Brazil Directed by Heloísa Cardoso A young woman waits for her lover for a secret trip. However, he does not show up and does not respond to her messages. That’s when strange and inexplicable events begin to happen in her house. She asks for help from her lover, who ignores her. Realizing that she is hopelessly alone, she gives up waiting for salvation and surrenders to her own shadow.
SHADOW OF THE IMPOSTER, 5min., UK Directed by Ortino Yang Shadow of the Impostor is a surreal psychological short film that follows Aiden, a struggling actor on the verge of a breakdown as he prepares for a major audition. Battling self-doubt, rejection, and the dehumanizing nature of the industry, Aiden begins to experience a mental split—his shadow detaches from him, reflecting his inner turmoil and fractured identity. As reality blurs with hallucination, Aiden’s confrontation with this shadow self culminates in a defiant act of rebellion during the audition, symbolizing his reclaiming of agency in a world that tries to erase him.
REPETITION, 5min., Italy Directed by Michele Lazzaro In the middle of the night, over a desolate bridge, a woman is chased by a man. Everything suggests that she is the prey, but in reality she is the hunter: a beautiful vampire who endlessly repeats her trap with the help of her accomplices.
Folie Glacée, 11min., Canada Directed by Louis Rémillard Eli et Vincent se commandent une collation à la crèmerie locale sans s’attendre aux horreurs qui ruineront leurs rendez-vous en amoureux.
FLESH WISH, 4min., UK Directed by Timothy Benjamin Slessor An experimental horror inspired by H.P. Lovecraft, David Cronenberg and Clive Barker, this music video / short details in an abstract way the summoning of demons through a ritual performed behind the locked doors of a 1970s terraced house. Images are a combination of 8mm cinefilm, analog stills and materal initially generated with the use of a variety of AI platforms before they were brought into After Effects were they were everything was heavily manipulated, with many layers of texture, noise and grain added, lighting added or altered, images distorted and blended together and so on. The actual editing was arduous, often frame-by-frame (everything was done by hand) with images further distorted and manipulated with a variety of blending modes. It was a one-man job and that one man was very, very tired by the end of it! (please note that the encode on the FilmFreeway screener is not very good, a sharper version can be seen on the Vimeo link used as the project website below)
THE LAST WISH, 14min., Ukraine Directed by Ilya Noyabrev On the threshold of the Supreme Court, everyone anxiously awaits the Decision about their fate. And only one strives to return to where a part of their soul remains…
DOBRINA, 5min., Germany Directed by Hannes Rall Lotte Reiniger meets Sergio Leone in this animated short, where desire burns as bright as the desert sun.
SMOLDERING SMOLDERING, 5min., Ukraine Directed by Ilya Noyabrev This song is about the faith of the Ukrainian people in victory and a bright future, and illustrates our present.
BELONG TO YOU, 6min., Iceland Directed by Ísak Magnússon, Óliver Sólberg Belong to you follows a swimming pool employee who thinks about his relationship with his coworker on a quiet night.
Deadline Today to Submit to the Festival via FilmFreeway:
Currently 198 FIVE star reviews on FilmFreeway!
In-person public screenings, plus other avenues to enhance the filmmaker’s film (audience feedback video, virtual festival, blog & podcast interview).
NOTE: The festival has created a hybrid festival with 4 tiers to enhance your film and your festival experience. All accepted films receive all four tier options:
Tier #1 – Your film plays at a public live event where we will record the audience reactions of your short or feature and then send you the feedback video. Or, it plays at a private festival event where the audience will record their comments/reactions to your film on their camera or phone, then we edit them and send you a promotional video. No matter what you will receive a promotional video of your film of people commenting on your film.
Tier #2 (optional) – We put up your film live on the Film Festival Streaming Service for 30 hours and invite a select industry audience to watch it. With this system, some films have already received a distribution deal, as many platforms are looking for solid feature and short films. We can not guarantee anything, of course but this has been very helpful to many in the past. (see testimonials below.)
Then (Tier #3) we will send you a list of questions to answer for our blog interview that will promote you and your film. Then after that (Tier #4) we will set up a podcast interview on our popular ITunes show where will we chat with you about the process of how the film was made.
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The goal of this festival is to showcase the best of new experimental short films and independent music videos from around the world. Films that don’t get a fair shake from other film festivals because programmers don’t know where to “categorize” these films. There isn’t a typical linear story occurring so most festivals can’t truly understand the talent and beauty around these films.
We want to showcase films that showcase true originality and talent from filmmakers from every corner of the globe. And also showcase new musicians who have made a music video and want it to be shown.
Watch the best of new films from around the world today by signing up for the FREE 3-DAY trial going to http://www.wildsound.ca (Also on Roku, FireStick, and your Itune (app))
I can relate to having those people in your life that you feel are moving on to this great, big, normal life and you’re like, ‘What’s wrong with me?’
At parties, I’ll start talking and notice everyone is looking at me and feel dumb and say, ‘Forget it,’ and then start eating things.
If you’re creating anything at all, it’s really dangerous to care about what people think.
I enjoy being characters rather than myself.
I don’t rehearse a lot. I try to keep it organic. Even in movies, the less I rehearse, the better I am.
Watch the best of new films from around the world today by signing up for the FREE 3-DAY trial going to http://www.wildsound.ca (Also on Roku, FireStick, and your Itune (app))
Live acting is a kind of adventure sport. I don’t go abseiling or snowboarding, but I sometimes think that stepping out on stage can have the same kind of adrenaline rush.
I don’t think actors need to go on pedestals. I don’t buy it. I think it’s a weird thing. It’s like you become someone else, like stepping into another universe.
You can spend a bit of yourself when you give yourself to a character. At the end of a job, you have to remind yourself who and what you are.
Watch the best of new films from around the world today by signing up for the FREE 3-DAY trial going to http://www.wildsound.ca (Also on Roku, FireStick, and your Itune (app))
She played her fist acting role at the age of 11, when she appeared as the angel Gabriel in a nativity play at school.
Her parents are second-generation immigrants from Grenada.
