Four knuckleheads, an artist couple from Lawrenceville and a New York City-based film editor won the latest round of Steeltown Entertainment's "Film Factory" filmmaking competition on Saturday.

"Knuckleheads" was the affectionate nickname judge Jamie Widdoes gave to the four comedians from the local troupe Hustlebot, who wrote the short "Roll the Dice," about four comedians who win a film contest.

After pitching their film ideas before a live audience to Mr. Widdoes (the director of TV's "Two and a Half Men") and two other judges -- "Avatar" virtual production manager Heide Waldbaum and documentary film producer Lisa Smith -- they and two other writing teams were chosen to go on to the next phase of the competition, which includes $25,000 to produce a film.

The other winners were Lawrenceville's Randy Kovitz and Deborah Hosking, for their screenplay "Lightweight," about a woman going through life changes who learns she can float, and Sewickley native Ross Thomas for "Anywhere But Here," about a 6-year-old boy's relationship with his warring father and grandfather.

The next round of competition is March 27 at Point Park University when judges will pick one film (or even all three) to be made in Southwestern Pennsylvania and screened at the Three Rivers Film Festival. The films will be up to 12 minutes long. (Timothy McNulty, PG staff writer)

On Thursday, you can see both halves of the Oscar-nominated shorts for $10, attend a reception in between and have the chance to win prizes related to the Cleveland International Film Festival.

The event will start at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Regent Square Theater, 1035 S. Braddock Ave. Single tickets are $8 ($6 for students and seniors) and available at the box office, while CIFF-sponsored double feature tickets are $10.

Patrons will have a chance to win a pair of Cleveland festival all-access passes and an overnight stay at Cleveland's Ritz-Carlton. They also will get copies of the program guide for the event showcasing 300-plus features and shorts from 80 countries March 18-28 at Tower City Cinemas in Cleveland.

RSVPs for Thursday are encouraged. Send an e-mail with the subject line "RSVP Pittsburgh" to regional@clevelandfilm.org.

In related news, the Oscar shorts will move to the Harris Theater, Downtown, on Friday to make way for "The White Ribbon" at the Regent Square Theater.

• Brace yourself for Team Twilight at the 82nd Academy Awards. Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart will present at the March 7 show, as will Miley Cyrus and Zac Efron.

• "Please Vote for Me," part of the "Asia Unreeled" documentary festival, has been rescheduled for 2 p.m. March 14 at Winchester Thurston School, 555 Morewood Ave. It was snowed out Feb. 6. The series continues at 2 p.m. Sunday with "Wings of Defeat."

• "The Hurt Locker," "Up in the Air" and "The Cove" were big winners at the Writers Guild of America awards. (Barbara Vancheri, PG movie editor)

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