Catfish - defn - a cat that loves to scavange and bring you the best micro content from across the pond.
As two international expats that have lived international lives, Courtney and Melissa realized there is a real demand for filmmakers' short films elsewhere. Filmmakers friends would often not know what to do with their shorts and discard them after the precious shorts after the traditional festival circuit. These were often kickass shorts by the types of people we want to see making content and celebrated! They *also* noticed that its good fun to gather round and watch these, not to mention the high demand from markets abroad for new and delectable viewpoints (and accents!). ....SO! With all this in mind, they gathered together a bunch of shorts, got some delicious grub and bubbly, cash prizes, a few friends and flew them all to New York city from London UK ... Oh, they also told all current and former day job bosses to watch them including Agents, film finance types, sponsors, investors, and producers etc... And well, the rest is history. Catfish was born, and a platform for shorts to be screened elsewhere to professionals with an audience hungry for new content. The cat was inspired by a cat that loved to swim, often bringing treasures in its mouth.
Fast forward to today, and the festival has grown but not lost that intimate "dinner party" flair. It provides an international platform and audience of film industry professionals but the general public often also attends! We fly short films from North America to Europe, and vice versa. Future festivals may pop up in other areas across the globe. Pre-Cannes networking parties, and providing a champagne-filled atmosphere to expand your horizons and deliberate these films is what we do best.
Judges and the board are made up of film finance types mostly, and while we have a fun intimate feel, there are cash prizes and the awards themselves are IMDB recognized. The festival is founded on a very international outlook with industry judges from around the world.
Catfish Shorts hosted its inaugural event in February 2017 at The Tribeca Screening Room and Soho House and has since continued to promote events and collaborations throughout the year. Key events have included a "pre-Cannes" networking event, a screening and art evening in Vancouver and two festivals in Brixton at The Whirled Cinema.
Our upcoming festival will be in 2021 in London, England. Stay tuned for updates on dates and locations.
Winning categories include:
Best Original Screenplay
Best Directing
Best Acting
Best Cinematography
Best Genre Film
The winner of "best picture" will receive a cash prize!
All entries immediately qualify for any of the categories above.