Courtesy/BestShortsCompetition

On Thursday, none other than General Hospital’s Michael Easton (Silas) received a very special honor for directing and producing his short film Ultraviolent which stars former One Life to Live favorite Trevor St. John (Ex-Victor Lord Jr.)!  Easton’s short film took top honors in The Best Shorts Competition winning The Best of Show Award.

In Ultraviolent the time is April 24, 1996, and in an act that mirrors the ending of his best-known film Performance, avant-garde director Donald Cammell shoots himself in the head, putting an end to a lifelong obsession with art, insanity and death.  St John skillfully captures Donald’s decent into madness amidst a background of pulsing music, deadly silence and creative filming.

The Best Shorts Competition recognizes film, television, videography and new media professionals who demonstrate exceptional achievement in craft and creativity.  Each year thousands of entries are received and are judged by highly qualified professionals in the film and television industry including Emmy, Telly and Communicator Award winners and nominees.

In winning “Best of Show” Michael Easton joins the ranks of other high-profile winners of this internationally respected award including The Weinstein Company, Disney Interactive and the Oscar winning production Mr. Hublot by Laurent Witz from Luxembourg.

Rick Prickett, who chairs The Best Shorts Competition, had this to say about the latest winners, “Best Shorts is not an easy award to win. Entries are received from around the world from powerhouse companies to remarkable new talent. The Best Shorts Competition helps set the standard for craft and creativity. The judges were pleased with the exceptional craft and storytelling of Ultraviolent.”

The Best Shorts Competition is unique in the industry.  Attracting both established companies as well as talented new filmmakers it is a truly international awards competition, not a traditional film festival – which allows filmmakers from around the world to enter their films in this prestigious competition.

Courtesy/BestShortsCompetition

Currently in its 5th year, Best Shorts strives to give talented directors, producers, actors and creative teams the positive exposure they deserve. It discovers and honors talent and is often one of the first competitions entered by the filmmaker and a frequent indicator of future success.

The Best Shorts Competition is international in scope and has granted awards to producers in Australia, Bahrain, Bali, Brazil, Canada, China, Columbia, Cuba, Denmark, France, Germany, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, New Zealand, Norway, Paraguay, Philippines, Poland, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Slovenia, Spain, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States and more!

For Easton’s film Ultraviolent to win Best In Show, quality and creativity are an important component to the judging. The judging takes place by in-house staff and a committee of industry professionals including Emmy, Telly and Communicator award nominees and recipients. As with the Tellys and regional Emmy Awards, entries do not compete against each other. Instead, entries are judged against a high standard of merit and are scored accordingly. Judges score entries on a performance scale and winning entries are recognized and awarded as Awards of Excellence, Awards of Merit, Award of Recognition or no award.  “Best of Show” honors are granted to the top scoring entry for each season.

What do you think about Michael Easton winning top honors for directing “Best of Show” for his film Ultraviolent starring Trevor St. John?  Would you love to see the film as much as we do?  Comment below!