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Jeremy Merrifield’s “Balloon,” Carolina Markowicz’s “The Orphan” and Siqi Song’s “Sister” have won the top awards at the 2019 HollyShorts Film Festival, which handed out its awards on Saturday Night at the Harmony Gold in Hollywood.

Those three films won in categories that automatically qualify a short for the Best Animated Short or Best Live-Action Short categories at this year’s Academy Awards.

“Balloon” stars Jonah Beres and Paul Scheer is the story of a high schooler who discovers he has super powers. The film, made at the American Film Institute, is also a finalist at the 2019 Student Academy Awards.

Also Read: 2019 ShortList Film Festival Finalists Announced: Watch and Vote for the Winner!!

“The Orphan” is based on true stories and deals with a teen orphan given up by his adoptive parents for being too effeminate.

“Sister,” which is also a finalist in TheWrap’s ShortList Film Festival,...

Stars: Aleks Paunovic, Ishana Bala, Robert Maillet, Omari Newton, Adrian Petriw | Written and Directed by Bobby Bala

Short film almost always equals low budget. Now, this is of course not a problem, but I point it out when talking about The Shipment because it either spends a low budget extremely well or it has a much bigger budget than any short I have watched before [this was actually made for $1million! - Editor Phil].

I say this because of how visually stunning The Shipment is. I was not expecting it to look this great. The spaceships look futuristic, vast and stylish, the characters (through practical effects and CGI I believe) look like something out of a new Star Wars movie and the world which it is all surrounded by looks nothing short of jaw-dropping! The Shipment really does need to be seen to believed. I could easily assume that the budget for the CGI effects alone took up the majority of this films budget.

"My client has a very delicate product that he needs transported..." Pic4 Studios has debuted a trailer for a short film titled The Shipment, which is playing at the Tribeca Film Festival this month. It premiered at a few other genre festivals last year and is expected to debut online this summer. The Shipment is a 30-minute long sci-fi, space epic short film with a budget of $1 million, which is crazy for a short but why not. It's the directorial debut of VFX veteran (and the owner of Elite Home Theater Seating) Bobby Bala, who made this with his daughter. "My goal was to create my first film with my daughter. I felt this would be a memorable experience..." The story is about a widowed cargo hauler who ends up stuck with his daughter in a wretched spaceport. Stranded and broke, he must make a difficult choice in desperate attempt...

The Tribeca Film Festival will screen The Shipment, a $1 million dollar father/daughter science fiction short, written, executive produced and directed by VFX artist and 3D animator Bobby Bala.

The epic intergalactic tale tells the story of a widowed cargo hauler who finds himself stranded with his daughter on a wretched spaceport after their old ship breaks down. Faced with an unscrupulous offer to escape, he faces a difficult dilemma that puts his morality to the ultimate test as he tries to provide a better life for his family.

“My goal was to create my first film with my daughter. I felt this would be a memorable experience we could both share for many years and it definitely was,” says director Bobby Bala.

Besides Bobby’s daughter and newcome...