The Independent Shorts Awards is a Los Angeles-based international short film festival that operates with monthly editions, which serve as qualifiers for its Annual Awards event. Each year, the Annual Awards showcase features 70 to 80 outstanding short films selected from the monthly competitions. The festival is known for highlighting independent projects across all genres and from various countries, particularly those traditionally underrepresented in the global film industry. It has been associated with boosting projects that have gone on to receive recognition at prestigious awards like the Academy Awards and BAFTA.