IndieWorks

IndieWorks: October Recap

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Wednesday was the October edition of IndieWorks, and it was a lovely evening! We had a smaller crowd than usual of about 30 people (we think because we have 2 screenings this month), but the audience was in no way lacking. Whenever we have smaller crowds, we tend to have a little more audience engagement during the Q&A's. That was certainly the case here, and the discussions had and stories told were just amazing. 

We'd like to say thank you to everyone who came out to support the filmmakers and spend the evening with us & them. We hope you enjoyed all the films and the opportunity to network with other filmmakers and film enthusiasts, and we hope some connections were made!

We'd also like to say a big thank you to our new guest hosts who filled in as MC's of the evening (and who we'll definitely have back again), Ricardo Manigat & Shelby Zoe Coley. Also, a thank you to our intern Flavio Barreiro for covering photography of the evening.

See photos from the night:

The films of the night:

 

Araignee (Directed by Jeremy Jensen)
Two talented spiders compete against each other. Who will be the best weaving master? 

Coffee Shop Conversations (Directed by Kimberly DiPersia)
A comedic series of vignettes in a coffee shop, capturing moments in the lives of patrons and employees. 

Introducing Parker Dowd (Directed by Lauren Ashley Carter/ Written & Produced by Rebecca Blaine Carton)
A dark comedy about a struggling actress who loses a role to her dog and must watch him skyrocket to celebrity as she descends into vengeful madness.

The Texture of the Light (Directed by Arilyn I. Martinez Cora)
A single mother is forced to revisit her past when she desperately needs the stem cells of her ex-boyfriend Javier to help improve her son’s eyesight 

Feeling Wanted (Directed by Yasmin Mistry)
Charell, age 6, woke up to find herself alone. She made breakfast, dropped her baby sister off with a neighbor, and walked to school. With a dad incarcerated for murder, a mom on drugs & a childhood in foster care, Charell knew it was time to break the cycle.

 

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 Award 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 again at our end of year Best of Fest event in April! 

The Silver Whiskers winner also receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform, and both winners received a free 2015 subscription to Bright Ideas Magazine and have the opportunity to be interviewed for our Insider Series. 

For the October 2015 lineup, our winning films were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Feeling Wanted"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "The Texture of the Light"

See trailers for the winning films below: 

IndieWorks: September (Web Series Month) Recap

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Wednesday was the September edition of IndieWorks, and it was a fun night! We were inspired to do web series month every September because we released our own web series in September of 2013 (the same year we started IndieWorks) and felt it'd be a great way to celebrate new media and the various ways filmmakers have been adapting to how viewers watch content. It's been a real success over the years and last night was no exception. We had a smaller crowd than we've had for Year 3 so far, but still a solid 50 people in house with a nice amount of support for the series. 

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 hope you enjoyed the diverse group of episodes and got a taste of the innovative things content creators are doing on the web. 

See photos from the evening:

 

The series of the night:

 

 

59 Days in New York (Created by May-Elise Martinsen)
A musical webseries. It follows a young singer-songwriter trying to make it in NYC with only 59 budgeted days before running out of money.  

Mybnb (Created by Pearson Jenks/Bioux Comedy)
About a Brooklynite running an airbnb out of his apartment. 

Stay At Home (Created by Ben Jaeger-Thomas)
A character based comedy 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. As if that wasn’t enough, there are three rather peculiar roommates who complicate the situation. 

 

Life After Fat (Created by Julia Pugachevsky)
A comedy-drama web series focusing on Maddie, a 24 year old thrift store employee who loses 90 lbs over the course of a year. For the first time in her life, she feels noticed, and attractive, which ends up being far more complicated than she thought.   

Maybe Sunshine (Created by Lisa Hammer & Levi Wilson)
A "coming-of-middle age" story about a 40 something rock queen who builds a new band from scratch after the disastrous break-up of her last band a decade earlier. She was a big deal in the 90’s, but now she is 20 years older, 40 pounds heavier, and divorced.

Kyle's Closet (Created by Shelby Zoe Coley)
A fashion film for young people with old souls. Kyle's Closet, the docu-web-series, features NYC vintage enthusiast Kyle Craft as he muses on his recent acquisitions, his thoughts on tasteful living and fashion in general. 

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 Award 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 again at our end of year Best of Fest event in April! 

The Silver Whiskers winner also receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform, and both winners received a free 2015 subscription to Bright Ideas Magazine and have the opportunity to be interviewed for our Insider Series. 

For the September 2015 lineup, our winning series were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Maybe Sunshine"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "Stay At Home"

Fun fact, Stay At Home has screened an episode with us all three years! Check out the recaps of Year 1 & Year 2 to see other web series to watch, including past winners Anthology & Hey Yun. 

See the Maybe Sunshine trailer & Stay At Home episode below: 

Join us next month for our October edition on October 7th!     
    Also, save the date for our Halloween Special on October 28th!