Author: Film Invasion Los Angeles

2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Feature Film

Ceremony: Screenplay Awards Ceremony · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 6:00 PM

When his brother makes a decision that breaks open his life and leaves Taylor utterly alone, he ventures into the chaos of discovering and owning his queerness.

• Writer(s): Daniel Talbott

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

Los Angeles Premiere

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Taylor lives on his own in the house where he was raised, His parents both gone. He travels far out of New Orleans each week to care for his wayward older brother Cody—their family a tightly closed island of two. When his brother makes a decision that breaks open his life and leaves Taylor utterly alone, he emerges from the smallness of his existence and ventures into the chaos and swirl of the French Quarter and greater New Orleans, whose eclectic inhabitants, lost souls,

Taylor lives on his own in the house where he was raised, His parents both gone. He travels far out of New Orleans each week to care for his wayward older brother Cody—their family a tightly closed island of two. When his brother makes a decision that breaks open his life and leaves Taylor utterly alone, he emerges from the smallness of his existence and ventures into the chaos and swirl of the French Quarter and greater New Orleans, whose eclectic inhabitants, lost souls,

2026 Official Selection: Animation – Short (under 20 mins), Arthouse/Experimental – Short

After a global digital collapse called the Quiet Year, a human shares humanity’s story with a Synth-born, revealing a truth that will shape the future of humanity.

• Director(s): El Comondear
• Writer(s): Jenya Lano
• Producer(s): Jenya Lano
• Key Cast: Jenya Lano
• Editor(s): El Comondear
• Sound Designer(s): Bogdan Lyba

Language: English

Runtime: 8m

Country: United States

World Premiere

Synopsis: Set after a global digital collapse known as “The Quiet Year”, the film follows a human and a Synth-born as they explore humanity’s long journey and the moment that sparked its awakening. Through their exchange, the Synth learns that humans, AI, and the universe itself arise from the same source of awareness. The story offers a hopeful vision of creation as an ongoing loop—one that continues through every new form of life.

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2026 Official Selection: Animation – Short

Winning takes everything you’ve got

• Director(s): Mike Stamm
• Writer(s): Mike Stamm
• Producer(s): Mike Stamm, Dimos Vrysellas
• Key Cast: Bob Carter, Cadence Winter, Jack Carter, Ray Scarborough
• Editor(s): Mike Stamm
• Cinematographer(s): Mike Stamm
• Production Designer(s): Matt Evans
• Sound Designer(s): Sweet Justice Sound
• Composer(s): Abraham Darwich, Zach Heyde

Runtime: 12m

Country: United States

Los Angeles Premiere

Synopsis: The Ottoman, a hotshot mechanic and amateur robot gladiator, is looking forward to proving himself in the arena against the reigning Tournament champion and his massive mechanical Scorpion. But when his obsession with winning endangers the lives of his wife and son, the Ottoman must face some harsh lessons about what victory truly requires.

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2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Pilot/Series

Ceremony: Screenplay Awards Ceremony · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 6:00 PM

A struggling actor, while navigating his own personal demons, stumbles upon an unexpected source of income and inspiration: reading eulogies for the deceased.

• Writer(s): James Crisp

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

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A struggling actor is hired by a dying bar regular to crash his unwanted funeral and perform a brutally honest self-written eulogy. When the performance shocks the room and reminds him he still has talent, he accidentally launches a bizarre new career giving the dead the final word.

A struggling actor is hired by a dying bar regular to crash his unwanted funeral and perform a brutally honest self-written eulogy. When the performance shocks the room and reminds him he still has talent, he accidentally launches a bizarre new career giving the dead the final word.

2026 Official Selection: Comedy – Short

Two mom friends struggling to recover from the dirty little secret that pregnancy left behind, make an unusual pact.
The Hole Truth : Sometimes you find out who your real friends

• Director(s): Christine Lakin
• Writer(s): Alison Whitney
• Producer(s): Alison Whitney, Natasha Goss, Leah Bleich
• Key Cast: Alison Whitney, Natasha Goss, Mindy Sterling, Ron Funches, Horace Dodd
• Editor(s): Davey Robertson
• Cinematographer(s): Davey Robertson
• Production Designer(s): Marisa Papavero
• Sound Designer(s): Alex Bologne
• Composer(s): Gabriel Mann

Language: English

Runtime: 18m

Country: United States

Synopsis: After cleaning up Jonah’s Birthday Party, mom Natalie and her friend Amy, collapse into the couch where they confess that since childbirth, both have experienced terrible hemorrhoids. Natalie’s are back and so bad that she’s certain she needs surgery. The ladies decide (after a thorough inspection of each other’s) that they will have surgery on the same day, and go on a well-deserved Girl’s Trip to “recover” away from their families at a gorgeous AirBnB in Malibu. How bad

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2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Feature Film

Ceremony: Screenplay Awards Ceremony · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 6:00 PM

A Moorish knight gains immortality after secretly imprisoning three ancient dragons, but becomes the unwilling fuse for a modern dragon apocalypse in the process.

• Writer(s): Marcus Nel-Jamal Hamm

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

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In 837 AD Sicily, a Moorish knight named Mundir survives a dragon hunt thanks to Strega, a sorceress who binds three dragons into his body, granting him immortality and the hidden power to become the Dragon King—if he can keep the beasts contained. Centuries later in 1984 New York, Nefertiti Jackson—an Egyptian goddess living in human form—awakens from a fractured vision of a dragon apocalypse where Mundir appears to be the cause. Determined to prevent the end of the world,

In 837 AD Sicily, a Moorish knight named Mundir survives a dragon hunt thanks to Strega, a sorceress who binds three dragons into his body, granting him immortality and the hidden power to become the Dragon King—if he can keep the beasts contained. Centuries later in 1984 New York, Nefertiti Jackson—an Egyptian goddess living in human form—awakens from a fractured vision of a dragon apocalypse where Mundir appears to be the cause. Determined to prevent the end of the world,

2026 Official Selection: Drama – Short (under 20 mins), Thriller – Short

A small-town sheriff investigating a missing person discovers a freestanding door that tempts her with the life she once refused.

• Director(s): James Graham
• Writer(s): James Graham
• Producer(s): Michael Keen, Tali de Assis, Roger Mancusi (Executive Producer), David Scarpetti (Executive Producer)
• Key Cast: Annabel O’Hagan, Christian Johansen, Lauren McCann, Dan Berkey, Ernest Anemone
• Cinematographer(s): Med Ayed
• Production Designer(s): Sasha Newkirk
• Sound Designer(s): Michael Kelly
• Composer(s): Keegan DeWitt

Language: English

Runtime: 19m

Country: United States

Synopsis: Sheriff Sierra Ashgrove investigates the disappearance of Adam Yarrow, an ex-lover who returned home to care for his dementia-stricken father. In Adam’s house, she finds a freestanding red door that offers her something impossible: a “perfect” life where she married Adam and they had a daughter. Faced with this possibility, Sierra must choose between the impossible life she could have had and the imperfect but real life she does have.

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2026 Official Selection: Screenplay – Screenplay – Short Film

Ceremony: Screenplay Awards Ceremony · Sat, Aug 22, 2026 · 6:00 PM

The Debutante’s Gown: One sick fit!

• Writer(s): Ashley Heathcock

Language: English

Country: Not Specified

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In a small historic river town full of charm and folklore, a haunted debutante gown is plucked out of a quirky antique shop by a community theatre director. Emily returns home to take care of her dying Grandmother, being home ignites past trauma. She searches for a heathy distraction and lands the lead role for The Debutante. When the gown goes on it’s light-out for Emily. The gown uses her like a puppet to carryout gruesome acts of horror.

In a small historic river town full of charm and folklore, a haunted debutante gown is plucked out of a quirky antique shop by a community theatre director. Emily returns home to take care of her dying Grandmother, being home ignites past trauma. She searches for a heathy distraction and lands the lead role for The Debutante. When the gown goes on it’s light-out for Emily. The gown uses her like a puppet to carryout gruesome acts of horror.

2026 Official Selection: Featurette – Drama

Some decisions don’t arrive as a single moment – they arrive as a flood of everything you’ve ever been.

• Director(s): Grace Sims
• Writer(s): Grace Sims
• Producer(s): Grace Sims, Don Ohmer, Jonathan Bowles
• Key Cast: Sydney Cole Alexander, Bates Wilder, Jerah Milligan, Taylor Rose, Dee Freeman, Jake Ryan, Savannah Rose Wells
• Editor(s): Natalie Hill
• Cinematographer(s): Riede Dervay
• Production Designer(s): Brittany Ingram
• Sound Designer(s): Alex Bologna
• Composer(s): Lilliana Villines

Runtime: 20m

Country: United States

Synopsis: In a kaleidoscope of memories Maxine (Sydney Cole Alexander; Severance, Mission Impossible: The Final Reckoning) must navigate the surreal and transformative decision of terminating a pregnancy; questioning the very fabric of her identity and future.

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2026 Official Selection: Short Film – Horror

Have your cake…and it eats you.

• Director(s): Ren Ariel Sano
• Writer(s): Ren Ariel Sano
• Producer(s): Ren Ariel Sano, Logan Mack
• Key Cast: Daisy Lopez, John-Michael Sedor
• Editor(s): Joe Carugati
• Cinematographer(s): Logan Mack
• Production Designer(s): Grace Alie
• Sound Designer(s): Elizabeth McClanahan
• Composer(s): Sylvain Kauffman

Runtime: 9m

Country: United States

Synopsis: An unsuspecting young couple bring a cursed candle to a friend’s 30th birthday party and unleash an unlikely evil that comes to collect its just desserts.

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