Behind the Whiskers
CongestedCat Productions is an award winning narrative production company that is very active in the New York independent film scene. We produce shorts, features and web series; primarily focusing on comedy and horror content, using genre as a lens to explore social structures and shine light on underrepresented perspectives. As a multicultural and queer-founded team, we're especially interested in representing intersectional identities. Challenging industry exclusion is a driving force for our team and the work that we do together. Our monthly screening series IndieWorks, which wrapped up its seventh and final year in 2020, screened nearly 400 shorts and provided a platform to over 300 local filmmakers. We aimed to create an inclusive, accessible and inspiring environment that sparked thoughtful discussion and future collaboration and support. The screenings were always free to attend and our Q&As were always highly personalized.
In addition to programming and organizing IndieWorks every month, CongestedCat produced and released multiple new projects per year. We’re most known for critically-acclaimed web series Kelsey, and our latest releases include short horror “Affliction” and feature film About a Donkey. See our blog for the latest news.
Meet the Production Team
Christina Raia
Founder: Writer, Director, Producer
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
Kelsey Rauber
Co-Owner: Writer, Producer
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
Ryan Kramer
Writer, Director
Pronouns: He, Him, His
Matt Gershowitz
Editor, Assistant Director
Pronouns: He, Him, His
Extended IndieWorks Team
Dani Thomas
IndieWorks Host, Actor
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
Ricardo Manigat
IndieWorks Host, Actor
Pronouns: He, Him, His
Kimberly Whiten
IndieWorks Videographer/Editor
Pronouns: She, Her, Hers
How We Started
CongestedCat was originally founded by filmmaker Christina Raia & photographer Chris Carroll in 2011. Christina & Chris grew up together and stayed friends into adulthood, largely bonded by their mutual aspiration to work in the arts. When Christina began pursuing independent filmmaking with full force while still in college, Chris proposed they collaborate and establish a production company that would bring a fresh perspective to the art of filmmaking. Christina's classmates Kelsey Rauber, Ryan Kramer, and Matt Gershowitz were immediately brought in as core members. Soon after shooting our first feature film, Summit, Chris moved on to focus on fashion photography (though still an honorary member and go-to photographer) and Kelsey became Christina's main collaborating producer for the company.
Where We're Headed
In 2020, we set some ambitious goals, all of which were derailed by COVID-19. We still managed to have a (virtual) festival run for our short “Affliction,” and do some remote production to keep creativity flowing even in quarantine via “Feline Fables.” And even though IndieWorks had to go on indefinite hiatus, we tried to maintain momentum through curated playlists of alumni shorts on our social media channels. In 2021, we hit the festival circuit with our newest shorts “Shadows” and “Game Brunch,” while 2022 through 2026 have been devoted to writing new projects and planning for ways to collaborate in the future with our new norms: an ongoing pandemic, some team members navigating parenthood, and our company leaders moving Upstate. Stay tuned.