J.T. Tepnapa and award presenter Rebecca Wood tussle over the Best Short Film award on Hollywood's Biggest Night™.

In this funny and poignant intersection between fiction and reality, J.T. Tepnapa’s film, Masturbation, is nominated for Best Short Film on Hollywood’s biggest night. But beneath all the ‘thank yous’ and lies on stage, is the true Hollywood story — just how do you make a film, and what must you be willing to do to make it in this cruel industry?

And the Award Goes to … gives J.T. Tepnapa a chance to revisit, in a documentary format, his most renowned film, Masturbation: Putting the Fun into Self-Loving, with a wacky comedy about what goes on beyond the sight of the public, and what it sometimes takes to get to the award ceremonies.

This 6-minute film, released in 2007, is available for purchase on the Begging for Shorts DVD.

DESPERATE TIMES call for desperate measurements. Bobby (J.T. Tepnapa) and Jared (Dennis Garcia) work out their relationship troubles while committing robbery.

Another festival winner, Drag Queen Heist picked up Best Gay Short Film at Q-Cinema, Fort Worth’s Gay and Lesbian International Film Festival, and was a semifinalist at the NowCasting Film Festival.

Drag Queen Heist is an action-comedy about the desperate attempts by two hopeless romantics, Bobby and Jared, to make some quick cash by robbing a local bank. Jared comes up with an “infallible” plan for the pair to rob the Second Fidelity Bank … in drag.

Regrettably, Jared’s boyfriend and co-conspirator, Bobby, is anything but infallible. Each step Bobby takes is a step in the wrong direction. Watch these two as their plan unravels like a cheap weave!

Watch the Drag Queen Heist trailer

This 19-minute film, released in 2004, is available for purchase on the Begging for Shorts DVD.

JEEPERS! Billy (Adam Browne) gets sound advice on self-loving from the eminent Dr. Sigmund Winston (Travis Michael Holder).

One of the funniest shorts of 2002, Masturbation: Putting the Fun into Self-Loving became an instant classic in the world of independent short films, winning multiple festival awards including PlanetOut’s Best Comedy Short.  Featured in documentaries, sex education classrooms, and part of TLA’s Men’s Mix One, Masturbation has taken on a life of its own.

This 1950s-style mockumentary chronicles the teachings of Dr. Sigmund Winston, who with the help of his trusty young sidekick, Billy, teaches the students of America’s Innocent Age how to put more excitement into self-loving.

Boys from the local YMCA, along with hilarious retro visual aids, give the audience a simple and wacky, step-by-step approach to the joys of masturbation.

This 8-minute film is featured on the Begging for Shorts DVD, available for purchase.