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Dances With Films Announces it 15th Year Winners!
A milestone for any festival, DWF celebrated it's 15th "Dare Dream Do" year at Hollywood's world famous Grauman's Chinese Theatre. With sold out crowds and a record box office, the festival's closing night Awards Ceremony was at Hollywood&Highland's club LEVEL 3 with awards presented by actor Esai Morales, and festival directors Leslee Scallon and Michael Trent.

This year's Competition Winners include:

Feature Competition
-Grand Jury Prize - FRAY (Director/Writer - Geoff Ryan, Producer - Jodi Redmond)
-Honorable Mention - SMALL CREATURES (Director/Writer/Producer - Martin Wallace)
-Audience Award - DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR (Director - Iris Almaraz w/Guest Director Gustavo Ramos, Writers - Iris Almaraz & Gustavo Ramos, Producer - Joey Mendez)

Documentary Competition
-Audience Award - THE EXQUISITE CORPSE PROJECT (Director - Ben Popik, Writers - Chioke Nassor, Joel Clark, Adam Conover, Dave Segal, Raphael Bob-Waksberg, Producers - Margaret Laney & Ben Popik)

Fusion Short
-Audience Award - HI, LILLIAN (Director - Mike Lemcke, Writers - Mike Lemcke & Grant Lyon, Producer - Grant Lyon)

Fusion Feature
-Audience Award - SHOWBOYS (Director -Johnny Soto, Writers - Johnny Soto & Jeff Garner, Producer - Diana Vu)

Short Competition
-Grand Jury Prize - CRESCENDO (Director/Writer/Produer - Alonso Alvarez Barreda)
-Honorable Mention - A DAY IN THE LIFE OF YOUR CATS (Director/Producer - Jeffrey Williams, Writer/Producer - Dan Greenberger)
-Audience Award - TEN DOLLAR COVER (Director - Bubba Carr, Writers - Bubba Carr & LC Crowley & Grayson Hunter, Producers - LC Crowley & Michelle Keller

For its 2nd year, DWF gives an ICA (Industry Choice Award) to a filmmaker juried by this years industry luminaries Mark Ordesky (LORD OF THE RINGS Exec. Producer/Amber Ent.), Steven Wegner (THE BLIND SIDE/Alcon Ent.), Mike Macari (THE RING I & II,
Macari/Edelstein) and Tracy Bing(MARCH OF THE PENGUINS, GOOD NIGHT AND GOOD LUCK).

This year's ICA Award goes to 2 films:
-INTO THE WAKE (Director - John Mossman, Writers/Producers -Tim Miller & John Mossman)
-CRESCENDO (Director/Writer/Produer - Alonso Alvarez Barreda)

For its 6th year, Canon sponsor's DWF's 2 MINUTE, 2 STEP SHORT FILM CHALLENGE which brings 6 filmmmaking teams together as they are given just 4 hours to shoot and edit a two minute film.

This year's 2 MINUTE, 2 STEP SHORT FILM CHALLENGE winner is:
-CRIME IN A BOX by Jeff Lorch and Jason Weissbrod


ABOUT US: DWF is dedicated to the truly Independent films and the people behind them, priding itself on finding tomorrow's talent today. DANCES WITH FILMS was formed in 1998 by a group of filmmakers who envisioned a festival where "who you know" didn't matter, only the quality of the work. The name, DANCES WITH FILMS, was actually a play on the plethora of 'dance' film festivals that cropped up left and right at the time - Slamdance, Digidance, Nodance, TromaDance. Truth be told, it started out as a rebellious joke. Originally the fest had the long title of "Dances With Films: Festival of the Unknowns" - something of a send up to all the 'Dance' Festivals that seemed to spring up over night. Then, after a battle with Orion Pictures, it became a symbol... of our irreverence and commitment to challenge the system. It's actually a pretty funny story. Check out this great article from FilmThreat. Unlike Digidance, Nodance, TromaDance and even Orion - DWF is still going strong as is our commitment to indie films. Our belief in our filmmakers is rewarded year after year - as we watch our DWF Alumni move on to produce, write, direct and/or star in blockbuster movies and TV shows. We hope you'll join us in celebrating the film stars of tomorrow.
Leslee Scallon & Michael Trent
Founders, Dances With Films