jason hood

IndieWorks: September Recap

Last Tuesday was the September edition of IndieWorks! And it was our annual web series month, where we screen episodes from local series. We screened 6 episodes total and had over 40 people in house. Smaller crowd than usual, but considering the rainy evening, it was quite an impressive turnout! Web series month is always a special one because it's nice getting to meet characters we could tune into over and over again. And web series in general tend to be comedy leaning, so it was an overall fun night filled with a lot of laughs. Unfortunately, one of our filmmakers had to cut out before their Q&A, but otherwise the night was a real success with thoughtful discussions and lots of mingling!

We'd just like to say thank you to everyone who came out to support the filmmakers and spend the evening with us & them. We do hope you enjoyed all the webisodes and the opportunity to network with other filmmakers and film enthusiasts. We know some connections were made! AND we hope you'll join us again for our Halloween Special on October 24th! 

See photos from the evening:

The Series of the night:

Pair of Normals (Created (written & directed) by Jason Hood)
Iris, an anxious Youtube psychic fresh out of a mental hospital, and Betty, a destitute college dropout who makes ASMR videos, meet and bond when they are dragged to a vlogger meetup. When they meet again in a chance encounter after both their lives have worsened significantly, Iris offers Betty a place to stay.

You Only Die Once (Created (written & directed) by Amanda B. Goodman)
A 6 episode modern horror comedy web series that tells the story of three life long best friends and vampire hunters from Astoria Queens as they face the biggest threat to their family yet.

Modern Aliens (Written & Directed by Jordan Jaffe, Produced by Samantha Slater)
The documentary periodical comedy series dedicated to unearthing alien influence in modern society. 

[Blank] My Life (Created & Written by Alex Spieth, Directed by Benjamin Viertel)
In episode 5 of season 2, Susan realizes rape culture isn't that far from home.

Seeking Sublet (Created (written & directed) by Katie Tibaldi)
A new comedy web series about two roommates in search of the perfect third roommate in New York City. Think you've had bad roommates? Tune in. Commiserating begins here.

Keep Me Posted (Created (written & directed) by Hillary Berkowitz)
WA biting look at the impact of texting and social media on our closest relationships.  

Watch our Q&A Recap (shot & edited by Kimberly Drew Whiten). The perk of web series month is that the episodes can be watched online NOW to offer context to the Q&A! Find most on Youtube!

 

The award goes to...

At the end of the evening, we announced our winning filmmaker of the Audience Choice Award. We've realized from past years that web series episodes always feel a bit confusing alongside all standalone films at Best of Fest, so we decided moving forward that at our specialty months we'll just award one audience-selected winner all the monetary prizes. The winner receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform and a free Social Media audit ($200 value) from 4MileCircus

For the September 2017 lineup, our winning series was:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Modern Aliens"

Join us next month for our Halloween edition on the 25th! 

IndieWorks: September (Web Series) Screening Recap

Last Tuesday was the September edition of IndieWorks, and our annual Web Series special! We screened 6 episodes of locally made web series and had over 50 people in house! Web Series Month is always extra special because we find the creators and actors tend to already know each other, so there are even more supportive & collaborative vibes in the crowd throughout the night. Some wonderful conversations came out of the lineup, and we can't wait to see more episodes of everything we screened!

We'd just like to say thank you to everyone who came out to support the filmmakers and spend the evening with us & them. We do hope you enjoyed all the films and the opportunity to network with other filmmakers and film enthusiasts, and we hope some connections were made! AND we hope you'll join us again for our Halloween Special on October 25th. 

The Series of the night:

Six Windows (Ep. 1 - Lucy) (Directed by Brandon Taylor)
"Six Windows" peeks into the lives of people, as they face the unique ambience and drama of living in New York City. Each episode focuses on a moment in time for a single soul, a snapshot of their life. 

Pair of Normals (Pilot - WWYD?) (Created by Jason Hood)
Betty is an overworked college student plagued by high expectations, cramming in the library for finals. After a horrifying revelation, she asks herself the age-old question, What Would Yeezus Do?.

Blank My Life (Ep. 10 - Ending) (Created by Alex Spieth)
Susan and Ryan go on a date, just in time for the holidays.

Redheads Anonymous (Ep. 4) (Created by Elisabeth Ness/Directed by Daniel Seth)
To win a Redhead Scholarship, Molly and her three ginger pals must find out: what does it mean to be a redhead?

Working On It (Created by Marzy Hart)
"Working on It", follows four couples as they wait in the therapist's office to begin their session.

Growing Down (Created by Jessica Henderson/Directed by Jeff Davis)
Three NYC women try to navigate their 20s and all the problems presented by attempting to make something happen.

Watch our Q&A Recap. *Please know that all series are available online - feel free to watch them on a computer screen near you & then come back to see what the creators have to say!

The awards go to...

At the end of the evening, we announced our winning filmmakers for bothAudience Choice Award & Silver Whiskers Award. The Audience Choice Award is voted upon by all those in attendance, and the Silver Whiskers Award is judged by the CongestedCat Team based on a system rating 8 categories of StoryDialogue/WritingDirectionActingCinematography,  SoundEditing, and Production Value. (In the case of Web Series Month, we watch & score the full season of each series.) The Silver Whiskers winner goes on to screen again at our end of year Best of Fest screening next April. 

The Silver Whiskers winner also receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform and a free Social Media audit ($200 value) from4MileCircus. And both winners received a free 2016 subscription to Bright Ideas Magazine.

For the September 2016 lineup, our winning films were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Six Windows"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "Blank My Life"

Watch both winners below:

Join us next month for our Halloween Special on October 25th!