20 Short Films
$50,000 cash prize.
You're the Judge!

Attend Film Prize in-person October 16-17th or watch online starting October 15th, watch all 20 short films, and then you can vote for the grand prize winner of $50,000 cash. Plus you can vote for the best acting performance category!

The Day I Met Aretha Franklin

Written and Directed by Brian Egland & Carlos Jimenez

Two women in a beauty salon transform a playwright’s day before his play world premieres.

Best Performance Nomination:

Produced by Carlos Jimenez, La’Zaron Goodman
Starring Jordan Joseph, Natalie Spencer
Cinematography by Jannet Lopez
Edited by Yeshaya Bagwell
Music by 

About the Filmmaker

Brian Egland

Mostly a playwright, this short serves as Brian Egland’s first screenplay. He is a native of the “Crawfish Capital of the World” Breaux Bridge, a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, is a recent alum of The National Black Theatre’s I AM SOUL series, which presented his sold out New York debut, The Festival in da Back, directed by Nic Ashe, and can be seen in the major motion pictures “We Have A Ghost” starring Anthony Mackie and starring Nicholas Cage.

Film Trailer

Filmmaker Interview

Stills Gallery