HBO Partners With PlanetOut.com.

PlanetOut Partners, Inc. announced that HBO has signed on as the presenting sponsor of the 3rd annual PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards, hosted by the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. The PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards (http://movieawards.planetout.com) are the largest online awards honoring film and video shorts by, about and of interest to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender audiences.

“HBO has been a leader in creating programming of interest to gay and lesbian viewers,” said PlanetOut Partners director of entertainment and e-commerce Jenni Olson. “We are thrilled that HBO is joining us as the presenting sponsor and are excited that emerging filmmakers participating in the awards will benefit from exposure to an entertainment industry powerhouse.”

“We are proud to join PlanetOut Partners in sponsoring the PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards,” said HBO director of segment marketing Maria Weaver. “HBO has a long tradition of encouraging up and coming talent in the industry such as those participating in the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.”

PlanetOut.com’s 1.4 million members will have an opportunity to screen and vote for their favorite entries during the Audience Awards in April. Twenty-five finalists will be selected by the PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards jury to compete in the Audience Awards. The jury will also select cash prizewinners, including one $2,500 Grand Prize winner and five $1,000 First Prize winners in the categories of drama, comedy, documentary, experimental and animation. The cash prizewinning films will be screened at a special program and awards presentation at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

Members of this year’s jury are: Emmy(R) winner Robert Rosenberg, the Director of the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and independent filmmaker whose work includes the classic documentary “Before Stonewall”; Aaron Spina, Manager of Original Programming for HBO; Martha Gever, long-time film writer, co-editor of “Queer Looks: Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Film and Video,” and Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at Florida Atlantic University; and Juan Mendez, former film editor for “Latina Magazine” and critic for “El Diario.”

In addition to HBO, sponsors of this year’s PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards are the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and Paper magazine.

Over 300 total entries were submitted to the 1st and 2nd PlanetOut.com Movie Awards. Previous entries included Emmy(R) award-winning filmmaker Andy Abrahams Wilson, Oscar(R) winner Kathy Bates and acclaimed British actress Susannah York. Select entries are featured in the Picture This! Entertainment DVD release “The First Annual PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards Highlights” and on the Sundance Channel.

The final date to submit entries to the PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards is January 28, 2002. Entry fee is $35. Films and videos are automatically eligible for the PlanetOut.com Short Movie Awards when submitted to the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, as long as they are in English and are no longer than 20 minutes in length. An official submission form and detailed guidelines are available on the Web at http://www.miamigaylesbianfilm.com or by contacting the Miami Gay & Lesbian Film Festival at 1521 Alton Road, #147, Miami Beach, FL 33139, by phone at (305) 534-9924, by fax at (305) 535-2377, or by e-mail at fe*********@*******ch.net. Additional rules and regulations are available at http://movieawards.planetout.com.