Two movie buffs turned their love of short films into the internationally known San Jose Short Film Festival.

“We want our films to speak to as many people as possible.”

Bill Hargreaves and Sinohui Hinojosa had no idea they would start a film festival the first time they talked. Introduced to each other by a mutual friend, the two met for coffee at Philz to discuss their shared interests of film and filmmaking. They talked about their love of movies for three hours that day. “We found out we had a little bit more in common than that,” Hargreaves says. At the end of their conversation, The San Jose Short Film Festival was born.

“We hammered out all the logistics of the festival that day,” says Hargreaves. “I knew the marketing and business development side of a festival, but production-wise, I can’t do any of that.” Luckily for Hargreaves, Hinojosa is a producer and filmmaker who could. The two had the perfect match of skill sets to put on a film festival. The first year, they held it at Camera One in downtown San Jose. The event has grown exponentially since then and is now held at Santana Row’s Cinemark Theater.

SAN JOSE SHORT FILM FESTIVAL
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Full article originally appeared in Issue 5.3 “Act”
(Print version is SOLD OUT)