We've finally released one of our new short films, "Not Our Living Room" online.
This short was part of a challenge we gave ourselves, a pair of sibling pieces (contrasting "We Had Plans," premiered a few months ago) - to tell a story in one room, between siblings that explores their relationship, and ends in a way that could be a beginning. More of what inspired this particular story can be found here: http://www.congestedcat.com/not-our-living-room.
Last Tuesday was the August edition of IndieWorks. We screened 5 films and had over 60 people in house! Our first two films were intimate dramas. The second set of films were comedic pieces. Some wonderful conversations came out of the lineup. Overall, the evening was full of fun and supportive vibes!
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 Web Series month on September 13th.
The Films of the night:
Break (Directed by Nicholas Santos)
A young couple's relationship changes forever after an encounter with a local contractor.
The Blood in Our Veins (Directed by Mateo Marquez)
When Daniel Royas decides to take his ill mother, Alejandra, to be seen at a local clinic on his birthday, little do they know the terrible news that lies ahead.
Plus-Plus (Directed by Tom Rizzuto)
An ace salesman tries to sell a car to a reluctant customer with a secret.
Marcela's Tale (Directed by Tanmaya Shekhar)
In the middle of the worst day of her life, Marcela is struck by an abandoned package.
Ginger With a Snap (Directed by Aubrey Smyth)
Centers around the city life of Ginger, a woman in her 20’s with a mane of red hair. Her alias is Gingersnap, a shock jock with an eponymous call-in sex and love advice radio show along with her sidekick and producer Rhymin' Simon.
Watch our Q&A Recap (shot & edited by Kimberly Drew Whiten). *Please know there are some film spoilers - feel free to look for an opportunity to catch the films at a festival or computer screen near you & then come back to watch!
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 screening next April.
The Silver Whiskers winner also receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign onSeedandSpark.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 August 2016 lineup, our winning films were:
Audience Choice Award: "Ginger With a Snap"
Silver Whiskers Award: "The Blood in Our Veins"
Watch the Trailer for our Silver Whiskers winner below:
Last night I shot a new short titled "Night In." This film originally came about because I wanted to shoot one final (fourth) short in my current apartment before moving in the Fall. I challenged myself to come up with something that could be shot in one night, on no more than $150, with a key skeleton crew and without sync sound (since the elevated train a block away has posed production problems in the past), but still be something that's fun & compelling, and worth everyone's time & talent. From there, "Night In" was born.
It was shot by the brilliant Jeanette Sears, who I'm happy to have finally collaborated with as Director/DP & am looking forward to doing so again. And same goes for lead actor Dani Thomas. And then we rounded out our small team with usual suspects Matt (AD/Gaffer) and Ryan (Scripty/Supporting Actor). (Oh and my cats were there, too, of course!)
We're really excited to get this short into post and eventually share it with the world. In the meantime, check out the behind the scenes photos we got below, and a few raw stills below that!
BTS
STILLS
Last Tuesday was the July edition of IndieWorks. We screened 5 films and had over 70 people in house! Our first two films were moving documentaries. The second set of films were in the horror-comedy realm - a couple of which used genre to explore important or thought-provoking issues. Overall, the night was full of thoughtful conversations and wonderfully supportive vibes!
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 on August 2nd.
See photos from the evening (by Grayson Davis):
The Films of the night:
My Identity (Directed by Yasmin Mistry)
Ashley, a young Native-American girl, converts to Islam in hopes of finding structure in a life where it never existed.
The Firmest Friend (Directed by Andrew Fixell)
In August 2014, filmmaker Andrew Fixell ventured into New York City's Tompkins Square Park to interview four homeless youth about their transient lifestyles and their relationships with the pit bulls who travel with them.
White Privilege Frankenstein (Directed by Chris Carfizzi)
When an angry mob comes for Frankenstein's Monster, Victor Frankenstein must find a way to get him off the hook.
Catslaughter (Directed by Humberto Guzman, Written & Produced by Stephanie Iscovitz & Sarah DuRivage-Jacobs)
In the case of catslaughter, everyone is a suspect.
What's Eating Dad? (Directed by Michael Goldburg)
When Chloe meets her boyfriend's parents for the first time, what's really for dinner is something she never imagined.
Watch our Q&A Recap (shot & edited by Kimberly Drew Whiten). *Please know there are some film spoilers - feel free to look for an opportunity to catch the films at a festival or computer screen near you & then come back to watch!
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 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) from 4MileCircus. And both winners received a free 2016 subscription to Bright Ideas Magazine.
For the July 2016 lineup, our winning films were:
Audience Choice Award: "The Firmest Friend"
Silver Whiskers Award: "What's Eating Dad?"
Watch the Trailers for both winners:
The Queens Tribune covered the Queens World Film Festival encore screening of "We Had Plans" last week and did a nice piece on it. Read HERE.
