A Review of SUMMIT!

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In my recap of the Scare-A-Con screening, I wrote that we noticed an audience member taking notes and assumed he was writing a review. Well, we were right! He tweeted at us with a link. Here it is: https://theindiehorrorreview.blogspot.com/2015/09/summit.html

It's pretty revealing of the plot, but I'm okay with sharing it because it's really nice being able to share an unbiased perspective on the film, and I appreciate what he had to say about it! I hope you enjoy the review too, whether you've seen the film already or not. Hopefully there will be more to come!

-Christina

SUMMIT at Scare-A-Con Recap

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Saturday evening, Summit screened at Scare-A-Con. Matt (AD & Edior), Ryan (Actor) & I decided to make a day of it. We drove up in the morning and arrived around 3pm. I had never been to a fan convention, so was excited to see what it'd be like. We walked around a bit. There were maybe 200 people there at any given time (don't know if they were the same 200-ish or if people were in and out throughout the day). Getting autographs and pictures with b-movie celebrities wasn't really our thing, but it was fun seeing all the people in costumes and references to some of our favorite movies. We decided to check out the rest of the Turning Stone (a place I had been once before for my fiancé's cousin's wedding). Matt had never been in a Casino, so decided to try his luck at the slots and poker machines. It was silly fun. He walked away having made 50 cents. Then we grabbed dinner at a restaurant in the hotel, had some coffee and made our way to the Summit screening. 

I thought the convention itself was really well done and clearly enjoyed by the horror fans in attendance, but the film festival aspect was kind of an afterthought. There were no signs advertising the films and, unless I wanted to rent a both (which I did not), no opportunity to plug any individual film or screening. Also, there were a bunch of signs pointing to the convention, but the film screening rooms were in the opposite direction. On top of that, the room Summit was screening in was incorrect on all the schedules handed out and only mentioned on a sheet posted outside the correct room (there wasn't even a sheet on the wrong room telling people where to go instead). AND, even on top of that, they scheduled a party at the same time as the Summit screening. I was fairly certain that we wouldn't have any convention goers there. But I didn't mind. It was a fun day with the guys regardless and I had family coming, my fiancé's extended family. They had been eager to see the film since supporting it on Kickstarter and I was happy they'd get to see it out at more of an event rather than just on their TV's at home. To my surprise though, there were 12 other people that showed up to the screening! It was cool that some strangers were interested enough in seeing the film just based on the title or maybe the poster & synopsis they may have seen on the website. So in a room of 50 seats, we had 23 filled, including the 3 of us, my 7 family members, the projectionist and the 12 randoms (one of whom I think was a reporter or blogger because he was taking notes, and thankfully seemed to like the film). The picture, though smaller, was way better than at Manhattan Film Festival. The quality and dynamic coloring of the film were really evident on screen. The sound, though, was a disappointment. The film is mixed in surround sound & kind of meant for that set up. It was a little low in the room with just one speaker at the front. But more than that, the speaker had this awful tinny feedback that would happen after every line and occasionally last a few seconds through multiple lines. Ryan heard the speaker make the sound before the screening started, so we prepared ourselves for hearing it during the film. But it made it no less frustrating to sit through. Regardless though, the film seemed to be enjoyed by the audience. My family orchestrated their own Q&A and were clearly very engaged with the film. Others in the room seemed to like it as well. It didn't get laughs at all the staple lines I've come to expect laughs, but the general reactions throughout were consistent with what I'd hope for. Overall, it was a good experience. Seeing my family and having their support was wonderful. They were so excited about the film and that made me excited about it too, which is kind of hard to be after having seen it hundreds of times and only being able to notice the aspects I'm not happy with. It's impossible to know what a first time viewer is experiencing, so my family's comments and observations were great to hear. Having them there & just spending the day with Matt & Ryan made the screening a success, regardless of tech issues. However, I do hope the third festival screening will be technically sound. It'd be nice to have a public screening where the audience gets to experience the film at its best because we put a lot of work into it. 

Some photos from our day below. 

Additional photos from the actual convention can be found on Scare-A-Con's Facebook page. 

The next screening of Summit is October 5th at 7pm at the Unreal Film Festival in Memphis, TN. I probably can't go, but hope they can skype me in for a Q&A. In any case, I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on more festival news for the film. Our plans right now are to release it on VOD in January. Then everyone will get to see it!  

-Christina

P.S. I came across this tweet shortly after writing this. Pretty sure it's by the guy who was taking notes. 

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!