Daniel Sol and Theo Dumont have been throwing the annual party for Hollywood’s rising filmmakers for 21 years. As founders and directors of the esteemed and Academy Award-qualifying Hollyshorts Film Festival, they program educational series, networking opportunities and filmmaker celebrations, and showcase meticulously selected films from the over 7,000 short films submitted.
On the morning after the opening night of the festival’s 21st installment, Daniel and Theo sit down for a coffee panel presented by Parakeet Cafe, and reflect on the origins of their partnership, the growth of the festival in the ever-evolving film industry, and the future of Hollyshorts in the coming years.
Daniel and Theo are childhood friends, whose lives in programming and community-building stretch all the way back to their teenage days. The duo threw high school parties, printing flyers to spread the word throughout their own, and neighboring, high schools.
They carried their partnership with them in their concurrent professional pursuits within the film industry. Their first Hollyshorts was a humble one compared to the goliath their festival would later become in the competitive short film festival circuit. Their first festival saw 23 films screened in 2 days in the theater owned by Daniel’s brother. In 2025, they will be screening 427 films over the course of 10 days in the TCL Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard.
They discussed how the gap of film quality has narrowed over the years. In Hollyshorts’ early days, submissions ranged from outstanding works to those that were still finding their footing. Over time, however, due to a large number of submissions, there would be films that met the festival’s level of prestige that still didn’t make the cut. As an Oscar-qualifying festival, there is a certain level of distinction that draws many of the best short filmmakers in the world.
Daniel states, “Now we’re to the point where roughly 400 films make it, and 400 films almost make it.” He elaborated on how there are so many more high quality shorts being made today because of the resources short filmmakers have at their disposal, which makes the selection process painstakingly difficult.
Jeff Pryor, the strategic advisor for the Dubai Hollyshorts expansion and VP of corporate communications at MGM Studios was also present at the panel. Jeff’s relationship to the founders predates the Hollyshorts Film Festival. In fact, Jeff introduced Theo to the world of entertainment industry events and glamour by bringing him on as an intern at his firm shortly after Theo arrived in LA.
As the duo shouts out Jeff’s attendance in the audience at the coffee panel, their friend and advisor immediately springs up from his seat and jokingly shouts, “Theo was the only one who applied for the job!” to which the room replied with laughter. It’s evident that Hollyshorts is strengthened by the foundation of long-standing friendships.
The panel concluded with the ceremonial unveiling of the HollyShorts Dubai poster artwork. Draped in sleek black sheets, the poster was revealed with a flourish, marking the start of the festival’s ambitious new chapter—proof that, for Daniel and Theo, the party is only getting bigger.
