Daniel Sol and Theo Dumont on opening night

What is the mission of your festival and what motivated its launch initially and what is your role there? 
The mission of HollyShorts is to offer the best showcase platform possible for the worlds best short films and short content in a world class venue, The Chinese Theatre, in the heart of Hollywood.(webisodes, trailers, commercials, student films, etc).   

The festival was motived in part by my college experience, when I realized student filmmakers spend time and money in film school and when its all said and done, they need a place to showcase those films.  That, and the fact that we had many friends trying to break through in the industry here in L.A., so we figured it was best to create our own event and brand that can help open doors for all involved (festival friends, volunteers, filmmakers, sponsors, etc).   As for involvement, I am the festival co creator and festival director, along with Theo Dumont.  We started the fest together in 2004.

Are you personally actively interested – open or eager to showcase international cinematography - Yes, we are. 

Have you ever done a focus on European films?  
Yes.  In the past years we have had programs focused on films from Spain, Italy, France, Germany, amongst others.

Would you be interested in showcasing the best from Europe (selection circulated by the European Film Academy of which I am a Board Member)?  http://www.europeanfilmacademy.org/        
Yes certainly.

What kind of filmmakers do you want to celebrate?  
Up and coming filmmakers with a strong visual style, unique and indivual.  We want to assist those filmmakers and give them opportunities to further progress their careers through our festival.

Tell us about your experience in filmmaking? 
I have worked at Lionsgate in Theatrical Distribution and Sales for over 5 years.  I have also produced and acted in some shorts and a few feature films.

Who is your mentor/idol/reference film-wise?  
Many...but I will actually go with my brother, Alex Sol  He is the reason I came to Los Angeles and because of his inspiration we started HollyShorts at his theater, The Space, back in 2005.  My brother acted for over 20 years in over 30 commercials, TV shows, and movies such as American History X.  Outside of my brother, filmmaker wise, Kubrick is my favorite filmmaker and his films made me fall in love with filmmaking and the movie business in general.

THE FESTIVAL FACTS AND FIGURES

What was the audience attendance last year, 5 years ago. 
Over 10,000 attendees last year.  5 years ago, 3,500 attendees.

How many professionals attended? 
Many. Industry folks from Lionsgate, Gersh, Paramount, Anonymous Content, and many others, along with celebrities Adam Brody, Scott Porter, Jamie Linden, Zachary Quinto, Joe Carnahan, Sal Masekela, and others.

Trends in attendance? Qualitative, quantitative -  Our attendance has steadily risen over the fesitval history.

Is this a competitive festival?   Yes it is.

Which filmmakers were first shown and awarded at your festival before the film came to be a hit? 
We screened ASAD (directed by Bryan Buckley) last year, it won best of fest with us and it was nominated for an Academy Award this past year.

How many film submissions; Shorts film did you have this year, and 5 years ago? 
a little over 1,000 submissions last year, 5 years ago we had 591 submissions.

Trends in submissions?
Quali-quanti - with access to very good cameras and equipment now, we have seen a spike in submissions and production value...the look of the films and overall quality has gone up since we started the festival, certainly. With that said,  its now a different judging challenge to find great stories and filmmaking amongst the improved production value quality. 

Enough international submissions - We receive a good amount of international submissions, but we certainly can receive more and are always looking for great films from all over the world. 

What proportion (trend) do you see in digital film submissions
We now receive more than 70% of our submissions digitally.  Two years ago it was 50/50 digital and DVD, so clearly the digital trend is really kicking.

Do you screen HD via D Cinema projectors too?  
We screen in HD via digital, yes.  And some DCP, but not fully DCP yet.  Eventually DCP will be a necessity.  We also screen 3D films as well.

Which proportion of your festival budget is generated by sponsorship, ticket sales 
a portion indeed, along with submission fees.

Do you sell online? 
yes we sell tickets online for our events, panels and screenings.

How tough is it to launch a new festival and do you think there are too many of them in the states? 
Its always tough to launch any new venture, and festivals are no different.  So many variables to running an event.  While there are many festivals, possibly too many, I do feel that the more options for a film to screen, the better for the filmmaker.  The key is for the top festivals to get the proper recognition by both the press and by filmmakers through word of mouth, etc, so the top festivals continue to grow, benefitting the festival and the filmmaker alike.  This way the cream rises to the top and the bad festivals and the bad experiences don't diminish the positive ones.