SHORTSTV COMMENDS REPS. JOHNSON, ROS-LEHTINEN AND RUIZ FOR SUPPORTING DIVERSITY IN FILM.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Los Angeles, CA June 22, 2017— ShortsTV, the world’s only short movie Channel, has commended Representatives Hank Johnson (D-GA), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and Raul Ruiz (DCA) for launching the bi-partisan congressional Caucus for Advancement of Studio, Talent (CAST) and Film Diversity.
“We’re thrilled that Reps. Johnson, Ros-Lehtinen and Ruiz have taken the bold step together to launch a new, bi-partisan caucus that will begin to constructively tackle one of Hollywood’s biggest challenges: how to create an ever-widening pipeline of diverse talent coming into the film and television industries,” said ShortsTV’s Chief Executive, Carter Pilcher. “This year’s Academy Awards® proved again that the talent is out there, it just needs a shot.”
The majority of today’s Film and TV talent got their start making short films in university or film school, but new filmmaking technologies have made this format even more widely accessible and provide unique, low-cost opportunities to bring diverse talent into the film and TV industry. More emerging talent from diverse backgrounds are trying their hand at making short films, but they still need a place for their work to be seen in a professional environment.
“One thing is non-debatable,” Pilcher emphasized. “Short film is where it all starts for diverse filmmakers to begin to hone their skills and showcase their work. We see short films as the key to building a broad-based pipeline of diversity in Hollywood.”
Barry Jenkins is a real-world example of the career-building power of short film. Jenkins has catapulted to the A-list with his feature film, Moonlight. But, he started in short film. The stylistic connections between his first short film, My Josephine, and Moonlight are evident. He’s not alone in valuing short film. The last five Oscar-winning Best Directors have made short films throughout their careers, to hone their craft but also as an avenue to tell the stories they want to tell – their way.
“Giving diverse talent real opportunities is important to me,” said Chairman of the ShortsTV Advisory Board and former member of Congress, Charles Gonzalez (D-TX). “When I worked on diversity issues in Congress, we focused our attention on increasing minority ownership. Ownership is important, no doubt about it, but now I understand that we missed a critical piece of the puzzle – the focus on creating opportunities for diverse talent.
“It’s great that this new Caucus is putting front-and-center the need to increase opportunities for minorities in filmmaking, added Gonzalez.”
“We are thrilled that Representatives Johnson, Ros-Lehtinen and Ruiz have taken the lead to increase diversity in film, and in particular, to focus on creating opportunities for young talent. We hope that other members of Congress join them,” concluded Pilcher.
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About ShortsTV
ShortsTV™ is the first high definition channel dedicated to short movies and is available on DIRECTV (Channel 573), and AT&T U-Verse (Channel 1789), CenturyLink Prism TV (1789), Frontier Communications (Channel 1789), Verizon Fios TV, Google Fiber and numerous NCTC member companies. ShortsTV™ is operated by Shorts International, the world’s leading short movie entertainment company with the world’s largest movie catalogue dedicated to short movies, and is also available across Europe and Africa. Shorts™ is the short movie on-demand service available on iTunes movie stores in 54 countries across the globe, on Amazon Instant Video, GooglePlay and Verizon. The Company’s headquarters are in London, England, its US office is in Los Angeles it is led by Carter Pilcher, Chief Executive. Find us on Facebook: facebook.com/ShortsTV and twitter: twitter.com/ShortsTV.
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