Los Angeles, CA - August 4, 2018 --- As controversy swirls around the reunification of immigrant children separated from their families at the Mexican border, ShortsTV™, the world’s only Short Film Channel (www.shorts.tv) and official distributor of the OSCAR® Nominated Short Films is releasing the gripping and timely Icebox. The short film follows a young boy as he is detained by ICE immigration authorities in a warehouse-like center with other children, left to await his fate. Directed by Daniel Sawka, Icebox stars Anthony Gonzales, star of Disney/Pixar’s Oscar-winning animated feature Coco.

ShortsTV will premiere Icebox at 8 pm, Aug. 4. Icebox is also being adapted to a feature film.

Icebox follows a Honduran boy named Oscar (played by Gonzales) who must flee his home after his mother receives death-threats from a local gang. Oscar leaves to find an uncle in Phoenix, AZ but is caught by ICE and held in one of its juvenile detention centers.

The short film was Sawka’s thesis project while at the American Film Institute. He premiered the Icebox short at major film festivals nationwide last year to critical praise and awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for Live Action Short at the Telluride Film Festival and AFI Fest.

“I think short films are a great way that filmmakers can have a voice because many people will see them and will connect, resonate, and want to learn more,” said Gonzalez.

Other official selections include the HollyShorts Film Festival, Seattle Film Fest, Santa Fe Film Festival and Annapolis Film Festival. Icebox caught the attention of Gracie Films executives, who produced the feature version. Sawka is now preparing to direct a second, unnamed Gracie Films project in the near future. Sawka is repped by WME.

About ShortsTV

ShortsTV is the world's first and only 24/7 HD channel dedicated to short movies. It is available across the US on DirecTV (channel 573), AT&T U-Verse (channel 1789), US Sonet (channel 292), CenturyLink (channel 1789), Frontier Communications (channel 1789) and Google Fiber (channel 603) and numerous NCTC member companies. ShortsTV™ is operated by Shorts International, the world’s leading short movie entertainment company with the world’s largest movie catalogue dedicated to short movies. Shorts International also operates ShortsTV®, which is available across Europe. ShortsTV offers hundreds of the world’s best independent shorts for download in 92 iTunes stores across the globe as well as on Amazon Instant Video (UK, US and Germany), Google Play (US and Canada), Verizon and Frontier (US).

ShortsTV is operated by Shorts International Ltd, which is headquartered in London, England and represented in the United States by Shorts Entertainment Networks, a wholly owned subsidiary located in Los Angeles. The company is led by Carter Pilcher, Chief Executive.

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