Yale in Hollywood will present its fourth global virtual film festival, Yale in Hollywood Fest, from December 7 to 9, 2023, with a three-day line up of feature and short films. This year's esteemed alumni jury consists of actress Robinne Lee, YSD graduate actress Elizabeth Greer, and last year’s festival winners and directors Chris Burke and Donna Ong.
Yale in Hollywood Fest showcases features and short films that include at least one Yale student, alumnus or current staff in the starring, producing, writing or directing chair. All events, including screenings and live streams, will be available directly from Yale in Hollywood Fest’s official website.
Submissions are now open on Filmfreeway.com and the deadline for submissions is October 18, 2023. To submit or for more information, please visit Yale in Hollywood Fest.
Founded and headed by Kevin Winston, Yale in Hollywood is a volunteer run organization based in Los Angeles that connect Yale students and alumni to the entertainment industry. Yale in Hollywood’s Social Chair Quentin Lee is the festival director for Yale in Hollywood Fest 2022. Hannah Ruth Earl and Melissa Johnson are short films and features programmers respectively.
“Yale in Hollywood Fest is growing strong in our fourth year. Melissa Johnson, Hannah Ruth Earl and I started Yale in Hollywood Fest as a platform to showcase feature and short films made with a significant Yalie’s participation and cinematically uplift the Yale spirit. Although we have also decided that it is important for the festival to be virtual so that Yale alums, students and friends can access the content worldwide, we are planning some in-person hybrid events this year at Yale.” said Festival Director Quentin Lee. “Joining the executive team of the festival is Associate Programmer Tina Huang who is currently a Yale student.”
Yale in Hollywood Fest encourages diverse, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ submissions. All events of Yale in Hollywood Fest 2023 are available free and open to the world via its official website.
Meet the 2023 Alumni Jury
Robinne Lee
Heading features jury is Robinne Lee, a Jamaican-American writer, actor, and producer. A graduate of Yale University and Columbia Law School, Robinne has accrued numerous acting credits in both film and television over the past two decades, most notably in “Hitch,” “Seven Pounds,” “Hotel for Dogs,” “13 Going on 30,” “Being Mary Jane,” and the “Fifty Shades” franchise. Her debut novel, The Idea Of You, originally published by St. Martin's Press in 2017, is now an international bestseller, with over a dozen foreign translations. Dubbed “the sleeper hit of the pandemic,” by Vogue Magazine, The Idea Of You film is currently being produced by Amazon Prime Studios with Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway in the lead role. Robinne is attached as a producer. An inactive member of the New York Bar, Robinne has also produced various independent films. She regularly speaks on panels and writes for trade magazines regarding the roles of women and actors of color in the industry. Robinne can currently be seen in Netflix’s hit limited series “Kaleidoscope,” opposite Giancarlo Esposito. She lives in Paris with her husband and two children.
Elizabeth Greer
Heading shorts jury is Elizabeth Greer, an awarded actor and acting coach, who earned an MFA from the Yale School of Drama, and a BFA from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She works regularly in episodic television, with guest spots and recurring on many shows such as "Succession", "The Morning Show," "Ray Donovan," and many more. She started her acting career on many New York and east coast stages such as Lincoln Center, Ensemble Studio Theatre, American Jewish Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre.
Chris Burke
Yale College graduate Chris Burke is a veteran of documentary, tv and commercial production across numerous genres, winning an Emmy for directing the PBS doc BLOODY THURSDAY about the hard-fought struggle of Pacific Coast longshoremen to unionize in Depression-era San Francisco. He has created shows for networks including Discovery, A&E, Turner and Food Network, and produced content for Showtime Sports, FOX Sports and more. His feature documentary No Ordinary Campaign won Best Documentary Feature at Yale in Hollywood Fest 2022.
Donna Ong
A graduate of Yale College, Donna Ong is an academic turned filmmaker based in Hong Kong. Her short film “Karma’s Meth Nightmare” won best experimental short in last year’s YIH film festival. She produced and directed a ViuTV commissioned docuseries Expatations and a forthcoming feature length documentary about the life and times of a Hong Kong film critic Law Kar.
Photo clockwise from top left to bottom left: Robinne Lee, Elizabeth Greer, Chris Burke, Donna Ong, Kevin Winston, Hannah Ruth Earl, Melissa Johnson, Quentin Lee and Tina Huang.
