
WarnerMedia OneFifty Acquires Oscar-Nominated Live Action Short Please Hold for HBO Max
WarnerMedia
PLEASE HOLD is the first Live Action Short Film Oscar-nominee this season to land with a major streamer. Following a successful festival run, the film was acquired by WarnerMedia OneFifty to stream exclusively on HBO Max, where it will launch on March 17. It is directed by KD D vila, who also wrote the film along with Levin Menekse.
Set five minutes into the future, PLEASE HOLD is a sci-fi dark comedy that follows Mateo Torres (played by Erick Lopez), a young man who is erroneously arrested by a police drone. Mateo finds himself trapped in a fully automated jail, where he must fight his way through the Kafkaesque labyrinth of a privatized justice system to find a human being who can set things right.
The idea for the film came to us after I read this article about a Latino man who got arrested and jailed by mistake because he had a common Spanish name. He was unable to convince anyone that they had the wrong guy. Even his public defender didnt believe him. Its not unusual for people of color to fall through cracks in the justice system, and we wanted to look at this all-too-common story through a sci-fi and dark comedy lens. PLEASE HOLD explores what it means for people of color when the remaining human element in our justice system slowly gives way to automation and privatization, filmmaker KD D vila says.
This film exemplifies what WarnerMedia OneFifty is all about: It is a powerful, unique, and bold vision from a talented creative team and an innovative filmmaker that perfectly juxtaposes art, science and culture, said Axel Caballero, Head of WarnerMedia OneFifty & Vice President, Artistic and Cultural Innovations.
KD D vila also wrote the feature film EMERGENCY which premiered at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews. The film earned D vila a Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award, the festival's highest award for screenwriting. PLEASE HOLD was produced by Entertainment 360's Marc Mounier, along with Diego Najera, and writer Levin Menekse, in association with the Australian VFX firm Last Pixel.
Negotiations for PLEASE HOLD were finalized by Amanda Trokan, Director of Content Acquisitions for HBO Max.
KD D vila is represented by Management 360 and WME. Levin Menekse is represented by Lit Entertainment and Verve. Both are represented by attorney Stephen Clark. WME and Management 360 brokered the sale to WarnerMedia OneFifty for HBO Max. Joshua Jason Public Relations /JJPR oversees awards publicity for the film.
About WarnerMedia OneFifty
WarnerMedia OneFifty represents the natural complement to the industry-leading work of WarnerMedia and its brands HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros., TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN, DC Entertainment, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, and others. Inspired by the nearly 100-year tradition of innovation at our company, WarnerMedia OneFifty is the content elevation brand for WarnerMedia, and the artist studio where content innovation happens. The brand seeks to amplify the best, most compelling untold and artist-forward stories to audiences. https://onefifty.com/
About HBO MAX
HBO Max is WarnerMedia's direct-to-consumer streaming platform, offering best in class quality entertainment. HBO Max features the greatest array of storytelling for all audiences from the iconic brands of HBO, Warner Bros., DC, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies and more. The platform launched in the United States in May 2020 and introduced a lower priced, advertising-supported tier in June 2021. HBO Max began its global rollout launching in markets across Latin America and the Caribbean last summer, followed by its first European launches in the Nordics and Spain in the fall. Currently available in 61 countries, there are plans for continued expansion of HBO Max in 2022.
About WarnerMedia
WarnerMedia is a leading media and entertainment company that creates and distributes premium and popular content from a diverse array of talented storytellers and journalists to global audiences through its consumer brands, including HBO, HBO Max, Warner Bros., TNT, TBS, truTV, CNN, DC, New Line, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, and others.
WarnerMedia is part of AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T).
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Live production in the cloud is a growing trend across the industry, and Major L...
04/08/2026
LAFC co-managing owner will succeed Don Garber on Jan. 1, 2027, as league prepar...
04/08/2026
In 2022, when the PGA TOUR was breaking ground on its new, state-of-the-art broa...
04/08/2026
Provided by POVORA, the new camera angle offers a dealer's-eye view of the c...
04/08/2026
Spiideo will provide the camera setup, with NEP handling broadcast integration and off-site video operations...
04/08/2026
Production team streamed more than 750 youth rugby matches using ATEM switchers,...
04/08/2026
Agreement gives KTC early access to NDI's Advanced SDK for integration across commercial displays, digital signage, and interactive panels...
04/08/2026
Twelve projects across four categories recognize collaborative work in productio...
04/08/2026
Multi-year agreement will introduce SkeleTRACK, semi-automated offside, automate...
04/08/2026
Three mc 56 consoles, dual A__UHD Core engines, RAVENNA networking, and HOME management supported live sound, monitoring, and international broadcast production...
04/08/2026
New contribution products support ultra-low-latency video transport across fixed, remote, and mobile production environments...
04/08/2026
Company will showcase updates across PRIME, Chyron LIVE, Paint, virtual production, newsroom workflows, and venue control...
04/08/2026
Exhibit will feature SilverBack, VersaBrix, VersaFrame, VF-9100, and FiberSaver-10G platforms...
04/08/2026
Platform updates target cloud-based production, high-density ST 2110 monitoring,...
04/08/2026
LMG will take control of Gravity Media's U.S. mobile-unit fleet as the compa...
04/08/2026
Amp-modelling rigs get major upgrade
HeadRush have recently released a major firmware update that brings some powerful new features to their Prime, Core and...
04/08/2026
Generate a choir from a single voice track
Following years of development, Am I Audio have just officially launched their debut plug-in. Created in collabor...
04/08/2026
Official EMT-endorsed reverbs now available to all
Two more of Universal Audio's renowned UAD plug-ins have just gained new native versions that can be ...
04/08/2026
SBS helps Australians understand why every Census counts
Media releases
As Australia prepares for the 2026 Census on Tuesday 11 August, SBS is helping ensur...
04/08/2026
Canada invests in the future of HF communications with Rohde & Schwarz solutions After selection by the Canadian Department of National Defence (DND) as the p...
04/08/2026
Blendkit Expands Beyond Blender
Brie Clayton August 4, 2026
0 Comments
Popular 3D Asset Library Launches Alpha Plugins for Maya, Godot, and Rhino
Blend...
04/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/08/2026
Ikegami has chosen the 11-14 September 2026 International Broadcasting Convention in Amsterdam as the European market launch venue for additions to its UNICAM p...
04/08/2026
Appear (IBC2026 booth 1.C61) will showcase new X & VX Platform capabilities that extend broadcast-grade performance from venue to cloud
Appear ASA (OSE: APR), ...
04/08/2026
LiveU, the global leader in live IP-video solutions, today highlighted the crucial role its EcoSystem played in Broadcast Management Group's (BMG) successfu...
04/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/08/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/08/2026
Homecoming Artist Spotlight: Dreion The singer, songwriter, and producer talks about finding his village at Berklee ahead of his Homecoming performance on Sep...
04/08/2026
Tuesday 4 August 2026
Sky Sports agrees deal with SANZAAR for international rugby rights 2026 - 2030
The deal means Sky will have exclusive rights to the inau...
04/08/2026
Kill Tony Launches on Supercast, Giving Fans Premium & Ad-Free Access to Comedy&...
04/08/2026
More details coming soon....
04/08/2026
More details coming soon....
04/08/2026
More details coming soon....
04/08/2026
Surging AI demands are driving the need for massive datasets and context windows that burst past the confines of system memory.
But rising needs aren't me...
04/08/2026
For robotaxis and other autonomous vehicles (AVs), the hardest problems aren'...
04/08/2026
Members of the Open Secure AI Alliance - now more than 120 organizations strong - are developing new guidelines to strengthen agentic AI cybersecurity as the an...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
03/08/2026
SVG's annual TranSPORT conference returns to New York City for a full day of sessions focused on the current state of live-sports-transmission technology. S...
03/08/2026
A five-time Emmy winner, this esports vet has built a production career on live storytelling, audience connection, and meeting viewers wherever they are
The sp...
03/08/2026
Live production in the cloud is a growing trend across the industry and Major Le...