We're back and welcoming stories again this year, from “traditional” films to social-first or creator-led, and everything in-between. Hosted by Imagine Entertainment and The Film Zone, From Minutes to Movies is a short film festival championing filmmakers and creators, where every short is just the beginning.
The festival offers a platform, guidance and opportunity to filmmakers and creators looking to cross over into longer formats. Last year’s lineup featured an incredible range of stories from filmmakers like you, making a showcase of narratively bold and diverse stories.
This year's edition of the From Minutes to Movies ShortFest invites filmmakers and creators to share bold, personal interpretations of the American Dream—spotlighting voices ready to make the leap into longer formats. In partnership with Stand Together and the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream (MCAAD), the festival draws on each partner’s unique strength in elevating powerful stories, providing the tools, platform, and mission to inspire audience connection and community impact.
As we approach America’s 250th anniversary in 2026, people across the country are reflecting on what the American Dream looks like in their own lives. This edition of From Minutes to Movies ShortFest invites stories of American Dreams - stories grounded in contribution and community, hope and hardship, reinvention and resilience.
PLEASE NOTE: each entrant may be a member of no more than ONE team.
OPEN ONLY TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE FIFTY UNITED STATES AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA WHO ARE AGE 18 OR OLDER AT TIME OF ENTRY. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED. U.S. LAW GOVERNS THIS CONTEST.
The winner will be determined by a panel of judges including executives from Imagine Entertainment , Stand Together, and the Milken Center for Advancing the American Dream (MCAAD). The top three entries will be amplified by the @ImagineEntertainment, @TheFilmZone, @StandTogether, and @AdvancetheDream communities on social media.
First-place winner gets the chance to have a project developed, funded, and produced by Imagine, Stand Together, and Portal A via a Moonshot Grant. Moonshots is Portal A's R&D lab, which invests in emerging creators and independent creative work we all believe in.
In addition to cash prizes, the top three winners will also receive an all-expenses-paid trip to attend a culmination event at MCAAD in Washington, D.C this Fall*, where their films will be screened for attendees.
Overview of top three prizing:
• First Place: $7,500, development opportunities with Imagine Entertainment via a partnership with Portal A to develop and finance a project via a Moonshot Grant, and an all expenses-paid trip to attend a culmination event in D.C. this fall at MCAAD’s Stand Together theater.
• Second Place: $5,000, and an all expenses-paid trip to attend a culmination event in D.C. this fall at MCAAD’s Stand Together theater.
• Third Place: $2,500, and an all expenses-paid trip to attend a culmination event in D.C. this fall at MCAAD’s Stand Together theater.
*Event date TBC.
