IndieWorks: Insider Series w/ Mark Nickelsburg

April 24, 2015 in IndieWorks

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 IndieWorks co-host Lauren A. Kennedy in our series titled "IndieWorks: Insider Series".

Mark Nickelsburg screened his film "Harry Grows Up" in January 2014 and won the Audience Choice Award. His film is very creative and technically impressive, as well as just a ton of fun. We invited him over to chat with Lauren about his approach to making the film and what else he's been working on (including a project for which he found his crew through IndieWorks).

Mark Nickelsburg:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marknickelsburg
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/marknickelsburg

Most of our CongestedCat Productions team, alongside Heinz & Al of our venue PEOPLE's Lounge & Erica of our sponsor Seed&Spark. — Most of our **CongestedCat Productions** team, alongside Heinz & Al of our venue **PEOPLE's Lounge** & Erica of our sponsor Seed&Spark.

IndieWorks: Best of Fest Year 2 Recap

April 09, 2015 in IndieWorks

INDIEWORKS: BEST OF FEST

WOW! We cannot get over how amazing last night was! Between the 11 phenomenal films, the brilliant filmmakers and the wonderful audience (of over 115 people), we had so much fun and made so many new connections! We hope everyone that was part of it enjoyed the night as much as we did!

THANK YOU.

To all of the incredible people involved in this community who submit their work, attend our monthly series, follow our content and spread the word of anything IndieWorks... we truly thank you. It's been another great year of fantastic films and talented filmmakers.

Two years ago, Christina decided she wanted to create a monthly film series for local independent filmmakers to showcase their work for an audience and connect with their (our) peers in a friendly, supportive, engaging and still encouragingly competitive environment. Sure enough, she made it happen pretty quickly and it has grown to something so wonderful, more so than we could have imagined, in just two years. It's been a real passion project from our team, and we hope it has stayed true to the ideals of helping independent filmmakers find an audience and build a network & community of likeminded, productive & talented individuals. Thank you all for being part of it! We're honored to screen & support your work!

The lineup & list of filmmakers can be found in our previous post.

Photos of the night include Step & Repeat coverage by resident photographer Chris Carroll & floor/stage coverage by our friend Alyssa Meadows. See all the fun we had below! Big thanks for their time & talent all night!

Sissy Denkova, the producer of the film "Bureau of Short-Term Affairs," requested we mention that she's looking for scripts to produce. So, reach out to her if you're interested!

THE AWARDS GO TO...

Audience Choice Award

Golden Whiskers Award

Hye Yun Park for "Hey Yun"

Brittany Fennell for "Q.U.E.E.N."

Sponsor Prizes:

PEOPLE Lounge: an evening of bottle service at their venue (gratuity not included).

Seed&Spark: a copy of Bright Ideas Magazine & $200 toward a crowdfunding campaign if funded on Seed&Spark.

Sponsor Prizes:

PEOPLE Lounge: 1 free 8-hour day of shooting a film project at their venue during off hours.

Seed&Spark: a copy of Bright Ideas Magazine, $200 toward a crowdfunding campaign if funded on Seed&Spark & "Q.U.E.E.N." has optional online distribution in Seed&Spark's Cinema.

Watch "Hey Yun"

Watch the "Q.U.E.E.N." Trailer

THat's a wrap!

Check out the recaps from ALL 10 SCREENINGS of Year 2 of IndieWorks.

As we take next month as an opportunity to go out and make things, we hope you will too. Our third year of IndieWorks kicks off in June -- so keep in touch & stay up to date through our social media accounts. We want to see YOU at the next screening!

Be sure to submit your films on our IndieWork page, and watch episodes of our Insider Series with the Silver Whiskers Award Winners of both years to get more insight into their screened films & upcoming work.

Discover Shorts. Find an Audience. Build the Community.

2nd Annual IndieWorks Best of Fest!

April 06, 2015 in IndieWorks

Celebrating another amazing year of films & filmmakers!

~~~

IndieWorks screens short films every month produced by emerging filmmakers throughout New York. It provides a platform for those filmmakers to showcase their work in front of an audience and to network with individuals in the local film community.

Wednesday night, all 10 Silver Whiskers Award winners of the year, along with 1 lucky Audience Choice winner, will screen and be eligible for monetary prizes through winning either the Golden Whiskers Award or Ultimate Audience Choice Award! As always, we'll be screening at the wonderful People Lounge in the Lower Eastside, but this time with the 2nd floor & a 3rd screen.

There's no entry fee, so bring all your friends and film enthusiasts. We're even giving out a prize to an audience member through a free raffle, and every single person that attends will receive 250 free sparks on Seed&Spark - enough to watch a feature film! The evening is sponsored by Seed&Spark & the People Lounge.

Evening's Line-up (screening order subject to change):

The Bureau of Short-Term Affairs (15:00) Directed by Bryan Artiles / Written & Produced by Sissy Denkova (October Winner)

Mating (15:45) (February Winner)
Directed by Chris Ungco

Hey Yun (8:15) (September Winner)
Created by Hye Yun Park

Money Box (4:00) (August Winner)
Directed by Muzappar Osman

Wormbug (14:40) (Halloween Winner)
Directed by Arlen Konopaki

Zerogon (4:00) (Audience Winner)
Directed by Joshua Planz
& John Mattiuzzi

Molly's Method (15:00) (November Winner)
Directed by Gabriela Revilla Lugo

The Visit (8:30) (June Winner)
Directed by Lawrence Horwitz

Q.U.E.E.N. (16:25) (January Winner)
Directed by Brittany M. Fennell

Lolotte (14:55) (March Winner)
Directed by Felix Thompson

Boy on a Bike (2:25) (July Winner)
Directed by Casey Stein

SPONSORED PRIZES

People Lounge

Golden Whiskers Award: 1 free 8-hour day of shooting a film project at their venue during off hours.
Audience Choice Award: 1 free night of bottle service at their venue (gratuity not included).

Seed&Spark

Golden Whiskers Award: Winning film gets distribution in the exclusive Seed&Spark Cinema and the winner gets $200 toward a future crowdfunding campaign should they choose Seed&Spark as their platform.
Audience Choice Award: Also $200 toward a crowdfunding campaign should they choose Seed&Spark as their platform.

NOW WHAT?

RSVP for Best of Fest on Facebook
Read about & see photos from the year in our monthly Recaps.
Watch interviews with the winning filmmakers throughout the year(s) in our Insider Series.
Submit your film for free for Year 3 (also can submit on FilmFreeway).

IndieWorks Best of Fest in 1 week!

April 01, 2015 in IndieWorks

You won't want to miss it!

Vote for the 11th Film at IndieWorks: Best of Fest

March 25, 2015 in IndieWorks

March 11th concluded our monthly screenings for the 2nd year of IndieWorks, and our Best of Fest is just around the corner on April 8th. The event will feature the 10 Silver Whiskers Award Winners of the year, plus an 11th Audience Chosen film.

Before each Best of Fest, we select three films to compete for the 11th spot at the screening and encourage the audience to choose the winning film. This allows the community to participate in our selection process and the public to see a few of the best films screened this year building up to our celebratory screening!

All three did exceptionally well in the Audience Choice voting and were high contenders for the Silver Whiskers at their respective screenings. We also feel that they reflect the diverse variety of genres and stories that we aim to support and showcase at IndieWorks.

Please watch all three films and VOTE BELOW for the ONE you'd like to see screen with the Silver Whiskers Award winners of the year at Best of Fest.

A Girl and A Gun

Zerogon

Walls

and the winner is...

"Zerogon" will go on to screen again at Best of Fest! It will not be eligible for the Golden Whiskers Award or the prizes associated with it, but will be eligible for the Audience Choice Award and its prizes. The filmmakers will be interviewed for our Insider Series.

Our sponsors for Best of Fest are the People Lounge & Seed&Spark.