Atlanta-based writer and director Omar Derby is closing out the summer festival circuit on a high note. His short film The Good One recently won Best Dark Drama at the 2026 Georgia Shorts Film Festival.

Launching with students from Clemson University’s film and television program, the credit-bearing residency places students in the Town at Trilith, where they live, study and create within one of North America’s largest purpose-built production ecosystems.

When Alexxiss Jackson was little, she loved playing with Polly Pockets. But God help you if you touched those dolls. “It was a soap opera, and nobody else could touch it. It was this whole elaborate set-up on my two dressers in my room, with a little paper bridge connecting the two parts of the town,” she remembered. “Nobody could touch it, because they had to be in their places for the next episode of the soap opera.” 

AFM’s 47th edition will take place November 10–15, 2026, in Los Angeles, with headquarters at the Fairmont Century Plaza and screenings held at AMC Century City 15.