Ripcord Halloween Film Festival Unveils 12 Finalists for $100,000 Short Film Prize

The Ripcord Halloween Film Festival has revealed the 12 finalists for its short film competition, selected from more than 500 horror short entries, according to collider.com. The finalist count was expanded from a planned top ten to 12 because the voting was close.

The 12 finalist films will be screened at the TCL Chinese Theater on October 29. The winners will be announced the following day, October 30. The top prize is $100,000 USD, described as the largest purse ever offered in a short film competition, with an additional $100,000 in prize money going to the runners-up.

Jury and public viewing

The five-member jury includes Tim Miller, director of Deadpool and Terminator: Dark Fate; Jean Anne Lauer, short film programmer at Fantastic Fest; Lisa Ogdie, short film programmer for the Sundance Film Festival; Neville Page, creature concept designer; and Peter Phok, horror film producer.

All 50 entries can be viewed for free on Ripcord.film. Over 500 filmmakers entered horror shorts into the festival, and the entries were narrowed to 50 and then to 12.

Miller directed Deadpool and Terminator: Dark Fate. Ogdie is a short film programmer for the Sundance Film Festival, which the article says has nurtured independent film for over 45 years. Page has worked on Star Trek, Avatar and Tron: Legacy and judged the series Face Off. Phok produced The House of the Devil, Stake Land and Ti West's X trilogy.