Hold Up
TITLE
Hold Up
DIRECTOR
Alex Rollins Berg
COUNTRY
USA
YEAR
2021
DURATION
15′
GENRE
Fiction
Overview
Hold Up
Graham (Philip Ettinger) is in a rush to get home. But when Hashim (Renrick Palmer), a homeless East African man, approaches him on the subway platform, his night takes an unexpected turn.
DIRECTOR BIOGRAPHY - Alex Rollins Berg
ALEX ROLLINS BERG is an award-winning writer and director, specializing in visceral character-driven thrillers and dramas. The son of two journalists, Alex is drawn to contemporary stories that explore uncomfortable truths in order to humanize, not moralize. Based in New York City, Alex is a director in residence at NYU Tisch studio Stonestreet, where he has written and directed 24 new short films since January 2022. Alex received the Blacklist and Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Fellowship for social commentary. His feature screenplay, i, placed in the top 50 of the Academy Nicholl Fellowships and was a winning finalist in the BlueCat Screenplay Competition. As a director, he has made commercials for some of the world’s top brands, including Nokia, Smirnoff, Procter & Gamble and McDonald’s. His previous short film, Ruth, features a stunning final performance by Lynn Cohen (Munich, The Hunger Games). It screened at the New Renaissance Film Festival in London, where it won a Best of Fest award and was nominated for Best International Short. Alex started his film career annotating the script for the Academy Award-winning film Capote. He has since worked as a storyboard artist, title card designer, cinematographer, editor and agency producer. An enthusiastic explorer, he shot helicopter search-and-rescue missions with the Coast Guard in Alaska, and is currently developing projects in Brazil and Nepal. Last year, he co-produced an ambitious feature film, I’m An Electric Lampshade, shot in Mexico and the Philippines, which KQED San Francisco called “one of the more jaw-dropping debuts you’ll ever see” and On Magazine named “easily one of the best documentaries of the year.” It is currently on the festival circuit. Alex is represented by Greenberg Traurig and managed by the Muraviov Company.
Credits
- Director Alex Rollins Berg
- Screenplay Alex Rollins Berg
- Cinematography Sean Patrick Kirby
- Editing Alex Rollins Berg, Clarissa Lyra-Salles
- Cast Philip Ettinger, Renrick Palmer
- Producer/s Victor Bonini, Clarissa Lyra-Salles
- Production Company Pisces Virgo Rising
- Distributor/s
Specifications
- Project Title Hold Up
- Project Type Fiction
- Completion Date August 20, 2021
- Country of origin United States
- Country of filming United States
- Language English
- First-time Filmmaker No
- Student Project No
Alex Rollins Berg
ALEX ROLLINS BERG is an award-winning writer and director, specializing in visceral character-driven thrillers and dramas. The son of two journalists, Alex is drawn to contemporary stories that explore uncomfortable truths in order to humanize, not moralize. Based in New York City, Alex is a director in residence at NYU Tisch studio Stonestreet, where he has written and directed 24 new short films since January 2022. Alex received the Blacklist and Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Fellowship for social commentary. His feature screenplay, i, placed in the top 50 of the Academy Nicholl Fellowships and was a winning finalist in the BlueCat Screenplay Competition. As a director, he has made commercials for some of the world’s top brands, including Nokia, Smirnoff, Procter & Gamble and McDonald’s. His previous short film, Ruth, features a stunning final performance by Lynn Cohen (Munich, The Hunger Games). It screened at the New Renaissance Film Festival in London, where it won a Best of Fest award and was nominated for Best International Short. Alex started his film career annotating the script for the Academy Award-winning film Capote. He has since worked as a storyboard artist, title card designer, cinematographer, editor and agency producer. An enthusiastic explorer, he shot helicopter search-and-rescue missions with the Coast Guard in Alaska, and is currently developing projects in Brazil and Nepal. Last year, he co-produced an ambitious feature film, I’m An Electric Lampshade, shot in Mexico and the Philippines, which KQED San Francisco called “one of the more jaw-dropping debuts you’ll ever see” and On Magazine named “easily one of the best documentaries of the year.” It is currently on the festival circuit. Alex is represented by Greenberg Traurig and managed by the Muraviov Company.
SELECTIONS & AWARDS
Romford Film Festival
Audience Award for Best Short Film, 2022
Ignite Film Festival
Best Short Film, 2022
New Renaissance Film Festival
Best International Short Film, 2022