The Hang on to Your Shorts Film Festival is entering its 11th year of bringing great short films and art to the iconic Jersey Shore. In April of 2024, the Hang Onto Your Shorts Film Festival was held in the great city of Red Bank, New Jersey.

Your art deserves a real movie theater. Accordingly, our 2026 event will be held at Basie Center Cinemas, 36 White Street, Red Bank, NJ.

New Jersey is the home of a lot of great film festivals. The Hang Onto Your Shorts Film Festival is unique because it is an intimate and inviting affair, without pretense. We celebrate your art, and we celebrate you! Hang Onto Your Shorts strives to create connections among filmmakers and actors, and these connections often result in collaborations that screen the very next year.

In celebration of the spirit of the Jersey Shore's musical history, we recently added a "Music Video" category to the awards. We also aim to promote the arts with future creators and collaborators. Accordingly, we have special STUDENT film rates.

We look forward to sharing our creative universe with you, and we look forward to meeting you! Join us in our pages (Facebook, Instagram).

Awards & Prizes

We have over 30 awards for short films, all different categories.
**NEW CATEGORY ALERT: MUSIC VIDEOS, and BEST LONG SHORT (back by popular demand) **

Rules & Terms

Online submissions only via FilmFreeway.
Submissions that are in any language other than English should be subtitled or dubbed.

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108 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • NoodleHead Productions

    LOVED this festival!! Thank you so much to Hiram and Brian for selecting and screening our film "I Thought I Heard Something..." at the Basie Center Cinemas during this year's festival. We were thrilled to see our film on the big screen, and especially appreciated the festival founders' excellent communication and exceptionally welcoming environment, as well as the delicious drinks and popcorn at the theater. :)

    June 2025
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  • Eddie Portoghese

    The crew at Hang onto Your Shorts puts on a very sound festival. They are a warm and welcoming bunch. The venue is excellent. The films looked and sounded great. Their email communication was just right and there were opportunities to network at the event. They are passionate about film and enjoy celebrating filmmakers. I recommend HOTYS as a festival to submit to.

    May 2025
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  • Christopher Owens

    On behalf of CESO ENTERPRISES, INC., Alyssa Dann, and Chris Oledude, I would like to compliment the organizers and operators of Hang on to Your Shorts! Film Festival. We are proud to have had the opportunity to showcase our work, “Orange Blues 24” in your festival, as well as share the spotlight with so many talented film makers. Submitting our film was a simple process, and everyone who contacted us on behalf of this festival was helpful, and easy to communicate with. Although we were not able to attend in person, this will remain a highlight of our year, and we recommend submitting your work to this wonderful festival! We certainly intend to participate again in the future.

    Thank you

    May 2025
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  • Kate Kelsen

    So honored to be part of this wonderful festival! And we were thrilled to take home awards for Best Short Movie and Best Supporting Actress. A crew and cast member who attended said the festival was well-organized and welcoming, and they also enjoyed the awards party. Throughout the process, we felt incredibly supported. Highly recommend!

    May 2025
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  • Michael George

    First of all, the fact that this was in a mom & pop theater was an amazing experience for film makers - to ACTUALLY see their film on the silver screen. This is reason enough to submit to this festival. Second, it was all just so... positive. Whether you walked away as a screening, nominee or winner, everyone just seemed so happy to be there. It was definitely an infectious attitude which started with the event organizers themselves. I'll definitely be submitting again if/when I do another film.

    May 2025
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