Trapped Wins Big at HollyShorts from Oscar-Nominated Cutler-Kreutz Brothers

Oscar-Nominated Cutler-Kreutz Brothers Win HollyShorts Top Academy Awards Qualifying Prize

Los Angeles, CA (September 27, 2025). Trapped is written, directed and produced by duo Sam & David Cutler-Kreutz. The film has taken home the top Oscar-qualifying prizes at the 2025 HollyShorts Film Festival. It cements its path toward Academy Award consideration. Trapped which had its world premiere in the SXSW 2024 Narrative Shorts Competition. There it won the Special Jury Prize, has quickly emerged as one of the year’s most celebrated shorts. It went on to win Best U.S. Short at Palm Springs ShortFest. And, its triumph at HollyShorts now positions it firmly in the race for the upcoming Academy Awards.

Logline: Trapped follows a high school janitor who runs into a set of unexpected obstacles one night on the job. Told through the lens of a taut thriller, the film explores themes of privilege, class, and survival in moments of escalating tension.

Sam & David Cutler-Kreutz are an Oscar-nominated writing, directing and producing team. The duo are based between New York and Los Angeles. They grew up making films together. The brothers first gained international recognition with their short Flounder. Which premiered in the Clermont-Ferrand International Competition in 2022. Their sophomore short, A Lien. executive produced by Adam McKay, was in nomination for the 97th Academy Awards. Trapped marks their third short, building on a body of work that has been showcased at SXSW. Palm Springs, Clermont-Ferrand, and SIFF. Also at Hamptons, Vancouver, HollyShorts, and Oldenburg. Champs-Élysées, Flickerfest, and Festival Regard among others. Their projects have been highlighted by Vimeo Staff Picks, Short of the Week, Director’s Notes, and Director’s Library, and the brothers were recognized as Vimeo Breakout Creators of 2024.

The powerhouse producing team behind Trappedincludes Tara Sheffer. A Sundance Producers Lab fellow. And the producer of the Academy Award–nominated shorts A Lien and The Letter Room. Alex Morsanutto, founder of Silvermine Productions and producer of the SXSW Special Jury Award-winning TRAPPED as well as the Oscar-nominated A LIEN; and Silvia Chen, an international producer whose award-winning work spans commercials, music videos, and films across Asia and the U.S., including the Golden Melody Award-winning “Slow / Oriental.”

The film features a formidable ensemble cast, including Javier Molina (Co-Artistic Director of The Actors Studio), Matt Woodward (NYU Tisch), Ethan Jones, Aedan Jayce, and Joel Meyers, best known for his performance as Albus Potter in Broadway’s Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Behind the camera, the creative team includes Caitlin Carr, editor of A LIEN; Karen Boyer, a costume designer with credits across film and performance; Matthew Glasner, an Artios Award-winning casting director; and Gabriel Crawford Connelly, a cinematographer whose work has been featured at SXSW and Palm Springs.

With Trapped victory at HollyShorts, the Cutler-Kreutz brothers and their collaborators continue to solidify their reputation as some of the most exciting emerging voices in cinema. The film’s momentum, paired with its prestigious Oscar-qualifying wins, makes it a strong contender in the upcoming awards season.

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