IndieWorks: Insider Series W/Ben Jaeger-Thomas

Part of our effort for IndieWorks is to feature & support indie filmmakers outside of our monthly screenings. We bring our winning filmmakers to your screen for a chat with one of our IndieWorks hosts in our series titled "IndieWorks: Insider Series". congestedcat.com/indieworks/

Ben screened his web series "Stay At Home" with us at all 3 of our Web Series Screenings and his third episode took home the Silver Whiskers Award in our latest year in September 2015. We invited him over and got a chance to chat with him about how his real life as a voice over actor and father inspired the series, and what he learned from the experience. 

Ben Jaeger-Thomas:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JaegerThomas
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/jaegerthomas

IndieWorks: September 2014 Recap

Last week was Webseries month at IndieWorks, and it was such a success! Webseries month is pretty special to us because we came up with the idea last year when Christina & Kelsey's webseries 'Kelsey' was premiering online in September. We decided to devote that month of IndieWorks to webseries' and we ended up realizing how much of a community exists around webseries, and how much they allow indie filmmakers to have a gradual and substantial build around their work. So we decided to make every September Webseries month at IndieWorks! This year we had our biggest turn out of Year Two with 70 people in house! 

Thank you everyone who came out to support the filmmakers and spend the evening with us. We had a great time. We hope you enjoyed all the episodes and the opportunity to network with other filmmakers and film enthusiasts. 

See our photos from the evening:

The series' of the night:

Docket 32357 - Pilot
Lois and Valerie have a chance meeting in a courtroom hallway and discover their meeting is anything, but chance.

NYC Raw - Episode 2
NYC RAW documents outspoken voices within the five Burroughs of New York City. This episode features Michael Day, an Iraq War Veteran, who speaks about the difficulties of engaging in a meaningful relationship while struggling with the exacerbation of PTSD symptoms.

Anthology - Episode 3
"Anthology" follows six 20-somethings trying to function as adults living in New York Ctiy. In Episode 3 of the pilot season, meet Ashley R.

Henry - Pilot
When meeting with an old high school friend, Henry finds himself roped into a sticky situation and is reminded of why he stopped hanging out with him in the first place.

Just Sayin' - Episode 1
A web series about what it is to live with roommates. Thin walls and passive aggression included.

No Method - Episode 2
No Method is a semi-autobiographical dark comedy about the unraveling of aspiring actress and native Brooklynite Caitlin as she skids toward rock bottom. In this episode, Caitlin contemplates quitting her mind-numbing day job and meets a troubled musician. 

Stay at Home - Episode 2
Stay at Home is a character based comedy web-series that follows main character Ben through his day to day routine as he tries to make a living, be creative, and keep his sanity, all while raising two small children in one of the most expensive and competitive places in America. 

8 for Vegas - Pilot
A pool team in NYC is followed by a documentary crew as they try and reverse 10 years of bad luck. 

Hey Yun - Episode 1
In the first episode of Hey Yun - this angry yet whimsical Korean woman gets a side of hipster racism at a brunch party. 

The awards go to...

At the end of the evening, we announced our winning filmmakers for both Audience Choice Award & Silver Whiskers Award. The Audience Choice Award is voted upon by all those in attendance, and the Silver Whiskers is judged by the CongestedCat Team based on a system rating 8 categories of Story, Dialogue/Writing, Direction, Acting, Cinematography, Sound, Editing, and Production Value. The Silver Whiskers winner goes on to screen at our end of year Best of Fest event in April, while both winning filmmakers will be featured in our Insider Series. 

For the September 2014 lineup, our winning filmmakers were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Docket 32357" Created by Randy Wilkins & Eljon Wardally.
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "Hey Yun" Created by Hye Yun Park.

Check out the following videos below for both of the winning episodes.

We have two screenings next month, one with our usual diverse monthly line-up on October 8th, and another special Halloween themed screening on the 29th! Both line-ups are already full, but you can always submit your film for future screenings through our submission form.

We hope to see you at the next IndieWorks!