🎬 A Simple Ad Selected for FLIFF: A Quiet Victory for Flash Fiction on Film
In 2019, I wrote a short screenplay inspired by one of literature’s most haunting fragments: “For Sale: Baby Shoes. Never Worn.” Often attributed to Hemingway, the six-word story evokes a universe of loss, memory, and emotional restraint. I wanted to explore that same emotional compression in A Simple Ad, a short film that quietly asks: What do we leave behind when we let go of something once cherished?
Produced by Popcorn Sky Productions—a creative collective I’m proud to be part of—and directed by Juan Carlos Hernández, A Simple Ad tells the story of a couple trying to sell a skateboard. That’s the surface. Beneath it lies a meditation on grief, intimacy, and the unspoken weight of shared history. Shot in a modest NYC apartment, the film stars Adria K. Hernandez and Juan Carlos Hernández, and runs just under four minutes.
This afternoon I learned that A Simple Ad was selected for the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival. It’s a quiet triumph, but a meaningful one. The film was never meant to shout—it was meant to resonate. And now, it will have the chance to do so with a wider audience.
📌 Film Details
- Title: A Simple Ad
- Year: 2019
- Director: Juan Carlos Hernández
- Writer & Producer: Alex Diaz-Granados
- Production Company: Popcorn Sky Productions
- Genre: Short Drama
- Runtime: 3:42
- IMDb Entry: A Simple Ad (2019) on IMDb
🎥 Watch the Film
If you’d like to experience the emotional heartbeat of A Simple Ad, you can watch it here:
📝 Reflections & Reviews
- Kinorium Cast & Crew Listing
- IMDb describes the film simply: “A couple try to sell a skateboard.” But the story lives in the silences, the glances, and the emotional residue left behind.
A Certain Point of View, Too 
Comments
10 responses to “Festival Bound! ‘A Simple Ad’ Selected for the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival”
Congratulations, Alex, and to the others who worked on the film. It is a good short movie.
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Thanks, Thomas!
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How cool! Congratulations!
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Thanks!
Needless to say, I was surprised. This isn’t the first film I’ve worked on that has been chosen for a film festival this year (that’d be “Clown 345”). But it is the first film I ever wrote, and I had no idea that Popcorn Sky Productions had entered “A Simple Ad” for the Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival.
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Congratulations on the selection. Very emotional short, well acted and written. Bravo!
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Thanks, ME!
This was my first-ever produced screenplay, so I’m thrilled that the FLIFF selected it.
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What a cool accolade! Congrats on your selection!
–Scott
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Thanks, Scott!
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Congrats!
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Thanks, Denise!
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