PlanetOut Inc. Announces 2005 PlanetOut Short Movie Award Winners

PlanetOut Inc. Announces 2005 PlanetOut Short Movie Award Winners

Leanna Creel's Comedy 'Prom-troversy' Earns Top Honors in This Year's Awards

SAN FRANCISCO, March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PlanetOut Inc. (NASDAQ:LGBT), a global online media company serving the gay and lesbian market, today announced the winners of the 6th Annual PlanetOut Short Movie Awards, presented by Scion and hosted by the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

The Grand Prize Winner

Leanna Creel's "Prom-troversy", a hilarious look at a lesbian's life at an all-straight high school, takes the top honors in this year's edition of the PlanetOut Short Movie Awards. In this fresh and biting short comedy, Cassie Stephenson, Sherman High School's only lesbian student, gets invited to the prom by a popular girl who is determined to win the title of prom queen. To do so, she enlists Cassie as her candidate for the school's prom king. When "concerned" community members strike out at them, Cassie and her date become overnight gay activists and household names, until the fame fades away.

"Prom-troversy's" director, Leanna Creel, will be awarded a $10,000 cash prize which will be collected on her behalf by actor Jane Lynch, star of TV's "The L Word". The short was produced by non-profit women's media organization POWERUP, which has produced the grand prize-winning short for four consecutive years. Honey Labrador, of "Queer Eye for the Straight Girl" fame, was one of the winning short's producers.

In addition to the cash prizes, the PlanetOut Short Movie Awards winners will have their work screened in a special showcase at the famed Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on Sunday April 24th 2005, which will be followed by a reception at the National Hotel for all the prize-winning filmmakers. Full details can be found online at the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival's website at: www.mglff.com.

"We at PlanetOut are consistently impressed with the quality of the submissions that we receive year after year, and this year was no exception," said Beth Callaghan, senior director of Programming and editor-in-chief for PlanetOut. "This year's winners should be an inspiration to LGBT filmmakers who are just starting out."

In the various competition categories, the winners are:

First Prize, Comedy: Feltch Sanders, directed by Abe Sylvia. First Prize, Documentary: Irene Williams ... Queen of Lincoln Road, directed by Eric Smith. First Prize, Animation: Listen, directed by Susan Justin. First Prize, Drama: starcrossed, directed by James Burkhammer. First Prize, Experimental: Solitude, directed by Jesus Rodriguez.

This year carmaker Scion is the presenting sponsor for the awards, which boast a six-year history of recognizing extraordinary gay and lesbian filmmakers.

"Scion is always happy to lend its support to endeavors that recognize up and coming artistic talent," said Brian Bolain, National Sales Promotions Manager for Scion. "Scion salutes all of the winners for their persistence, dedication, and commitment to their craft."

Winners of the PlanetOut Short Movie Awards were determined by a distinguished jury of industry professionals: Carol Coombes, program director, Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival; Kelly DeVine, supervisor, Film Acquisitions, Independent Film Channel (IFC); Jonathan Ferrantelli, head of Development & Production, Ross Katz Productions ("Lost in Translation"); Joseph LaPolla, vice president, Programming & Acquisitions, HD Cinema 10 (VOOM); Shannon Kelley, senior programming consultant, Sundance Film Festival, and programming director, Mexico's Morelia International Film Festival; Marc Leonard, vice president, Programming and Scheduling, LOGO, and co-founder, Out in Television and Film; Mark Reinhart, executive vice president, Acquisitions & Distribution, here! Films; Jenny Stewart, entertainment editor, PlanetOut.com and Gay.com.

About the PlanetOut Short Movie Awards

The PlanetOut Short Movie Awards is the largest online awards honoring film and video shorts by, about and of interest to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) audiences, and has been an international platform for top gay and lesbian filmmakers.

About PlanetOut Inc.

PlanetOut Inc. is a leading global online media company offering consumer services, news and entertainment to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. The company serves its growing base of more than 3.4 million active members worldwide through a comprehensive group of branded businesses featuring diverse chat, news, entertainment, travel, dating, personal finance, career, shopping and community services at Gay.com, PlanetOut.com and Kleptomaniac.com. PlanetOut, based in San Francisco, offers FORTUNE 1000 advertisers access to what it believes to be the most extensive network of gay and lesbian people in the world. Gay.com ranked number one, among all websites measured, for average time spent per visitor in September, October and December 2004, according to Nielsen//NetRatings' Loyalty Stickiness Report for at-home visitors in the U.S.

Source: PlanetOut Inc.

CONTACT: Jennifer Woodard of PlanetOut Inc., +1-415-834-6354, or jennifer.woodard@planetoutinc.com

Web site: http://www.planetout.com/

Web site: http://www.gay.com/

Web site: http://www.mglff.com/

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