LOS
ANGELES (March 30, 2012) – NBCUniversal
has been celebrating diversity for over 40 years with hits from Julia
& The Cosby Show to Will & Grace, Heroes, &
Community. This year marks the seventh anniversary of one of
NBCUniversal's Diversity tent poles: Short
Cuts Festival is the premier showcase for aspiring writers,
directors, actors, and producers from all over the country, celebrating
diversity both in front of and behind the camera.
The Short Cuts
Festival is a unique showcase of independent short films under 20
minutes in length and featuring a culturally or ethnically diverse
production team, cast, or theme. Last year's festival brought in over
1,500 submissions, providing the opportunity for fresh & diverse
talent to get their material in front of key decision-makers from
the entire NBCUniversal family -- as well as agents, managers, producers,
and other industry players across all genres; including comedy, drama,
horror & sci-fi.
In the past, top
recipients have been awarded everything from meetings with top television
and feature development executives to Avid Suites, a Panavision camera
package valued at $60,000, and a pilot script commitment from Universal
Television studio.
With past partners
from Variety and Hollywood Reporter to Starwood Hotels, Puma, American
Airlines & CocaCola, the annual festival also celebrates growing
partnerships between NBCUniversal's own networks and studios from
NBC, Bravo, E!, G4, SyFy, mun2, Telemundo & USA Networks to Focus
Features & Universal Pictures.
The submission
window is now open at www.NBCshortcuts.com.
Semi-finalists will be celebrated with a two-day screening and panel
in NYC in early September, while finalists will be flown to Los Angeles
for additional screening and panels at the Directors Guild of America
in October 2012. This year's Prize Packages and Judges will be announced
on the festival site within the coming months.