Haydenfilms 2.0 Film Festival culminated in the presentation of a $10,000 prize to John Burgess for The Powderpuff Principle at New York 's Director's Guild Theatre on Jan 11.

Writer-director Burgess graduated in 2005 from USC 's School of Cinema-Television then worked in sales and marketing and as a producer before going on to co-found LA-based production company The CinemaFactory. His fourth short, The Powderpuff Principle (2006) stars veteran character actor Clint Howard (How The Grinch Stole Christmas) and Linda Blair (The Exorcist), and is about a high-school principal who seeks vengence on a prankster.

Other festival finalists included New York 's Dana Palmer for Facing East, Melbourne 's Sarah Lambert for Photograph and Washington DC 's Josef Wladyka for The Rebel.

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