HOLLYWOOD, CA, May 4, 2006 -- In their tenth year, the Hollywood Film Festival® and Hollywood Awards®, co-chaired by Paula Wagner and presented by STARZ, announce their new dates and call for entries.

"We are very excited to be having our tenth annual festival and awards from October 17 to 23 at Arclight Cinemas. Last year's festival was one of the best yet, with our awards going to such Hollywood notables as Diane Keaton, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon, Jake Gyllenhaal, Rachel McAdams, George Lucas, Paul Haggis, Stephen Frears and the cast of 'Crash,' among others. The festival and awards generated more than 500,000,000 media impressions in a mix of broadcast and cable/network television, Internet, and print," Executive Director Carlos de Abreu announced.

This year the festival will be celebrating its tenth anniversary and it will be expanding its film and events program. The festival will include symposiums, premieres, special screenings and hip parties. Over 100 films will be showcased. At this time they are accepting features, docs, shorts, music videos and screenplays. The submission deadline is May 31st.

"We are very proud that our diverse programming has grown immensely in the last few years and that we have become recognized as a pre-Oscar® showcase, as well as a source for providing great networking opportunities for filmmakers looking for a break. In the last three years, a total of 42 Academy Award® nominations and 9 Oscars® were given to films the festival showcased and to the nominees and honorees of the Hollywood Awards. We are very pleased that the festival launches the push towards the awards season," said de Abreu.

"In addition, we are very happy that our winner of the Best Digital Film Award for 'Poor and Hungry,' writer and director Craig Brewer, had a major success with his second film 'Hustle and Flow,' fulfilling our mandate of bridging the gap between Hollywood and emerging filmmakers," added de Abreu.

The Hollywood Film Festival kicks off October 17 for a seven-day series of screenings and special presentations with Q/A sessions at Arclight Cinemas in Hollywood. On October 23, the festival culminates with the prestigious Hollywood Awards®, which honor established Hollywood talent, international talent and emerging filmmakers.

The Hollywood Awards® were created to honor excellence in the art of filmmaking, and the awards gala ceremony is held at the famous Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills and draws more than 1,200 attendees, including such A-list celebrities and stars as Jennifer Aniston, Drew Barrymore, Kate Beckinsale, Annette Bening, Halle Berry, Orlando Bloom, Matthew Broderick, Sandra Bullock, Chris Columbus, Russell Crowe, Cameron Crowe, Billy Crystal, Benicio Del Toro, Danny DeVito, Cameron Diaz, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert Downey Jr., Colin Farrell, Harrison Ford, Jodie Foster, Jamie Foxx, Mel Gibson, Jake Gyllenhaal, Paul Haggis, Tom Hanks, Goldie Hawn, Anthony Hopkins, Ron Howard, Scarlett Johansson, Angelina Jolie, Diane Keaton, Nicole Kidman, Laura Linney, Lucy Liu, George Lucas, Michael Mann, Rachel McAdams, Matthew McConaughey, Ewan McGregor, Sam Mendes, Mike Myers, Joaquin Phoenix, Sydney Pollack, Keanu Reeves, Susan Sarandon, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Martin Scorsese, Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Charlize Theron, John Travolta and Naomi Watts, among many others.

Prior festival and awards co-chairs, selection committee members, and judges have included Ken Annakin, Alberto Barbera, Irene Bignardi, Clare Binns, John Briley, Judith Bronowski, Elisabetta Brunella, James Cameron, Wes Craven, Michel Ciment, Martha Coolidge, Mike Curb, Richard Donner, Udy Epstein, Edward S. Feldman, Giovanna Fulvi, George Gallo, Marina Goldovskaya, Mike Goodridge, Giorgio Gosetti, Sandra Hebron, Allan Hunter, Peter Hyams, Norman Jewison, Penny Marshall, Ted Kotcheff, Margret Koehler, Laszlo Kovacs, Martin Landau, Dale Launer, Mimi Leder, Mark Lewis, George Litto, Derek Malcolm, David Mamet, Dr. Betsy McLane, Christopher Mercier, Jacob Neiiendam, Stephen Nemeth, Janice Pennington, David Permut, Fred Roos, Michel Reihac, Jose Maria Riba, Jonathan Romney, Mark Rydell, Tom Schulman, Arnold Schwartzman, Aradhana Seth, Serge Siritzky, Quentin Tarantino, Paula Wagner, and Irwin Winkler, among other established entertainment industry executives -- agents, directors, managers, producers, publicists, screenwriters and members of the craft guilds.

Starz Entertainment Group LLC (SEG) is a premium movie service provider operating in the United States. SEG offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz® and Encore® brands with approximately 14 million and 26 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment Group airs more than 1,000 movies per month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services including Starz HDTV, Starz On Demand and Vongo(SM). Starz Entertainment Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation, www.starz.com.

Festival Contact:
Hollywood Film Festival®
Ph: 310.288.1882
awards@hollywoodawards.com