"Hello" at Coney Island Film Festival Recap

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Last Saturday was the first festival screening of "Hello" that I was able to attend. Matt Gershowitz, the AD/Editor, and Alexandra Kalinowski, the Composer/Sound Designer, were also in attendance; and we each had a friend or loved one come out to support us. In total there were about 40 people in the audience. We screened in an eclectic block of 6 shorts, mostly about chance encounters and reconnecting. "Hello" was the only one with a supernatural spin on the theme but still seemed to fit in well enough with the others. It also seemed to be a big hit! Coney Island does a kind of rushed, generic Q&A, so no real discussion was had with the audience. But we got a lot of compliments after the screening, and I could tell it was enjoyed by the crowd during it. I'm always nervous when I screen new work for the first time, unsure of whether or not it'll resonate with the audience. But the nerves are sort of worth it for the payoff of the huge feeling of relief and exhilaration when the first laugh or gasp happens across the crowd (assuming the laughs and/or gasps are wanted, which is usually the case with the genre work I do.) This screening was full of laughs and gasps in all the right places, and it was a real joy to experience.  

We've heard back from one other festival that I can't mention publicly yet, but the screening will be in November and I will be attending. And we're waiting to hear back from 2 more festivals. I'm aiming for releasing it publicly online in late November.

Also, the first screening was at the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival in San Diego, which I unfortunately couldn't attend. However, I got some unexpected feedback from some in attendance. It's always especially exciting when strangers reach out after a screening. Screenshots included below. 

-Christina

IndieWorks: September (Web Series) Screening Recap

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Last Tuesday was the September edition of IndieWorks, and our annual Web Series special! We screened 6 episodes of locally made web series and had over 50 people in house! Web Series Month is always extra special because we find the creators and actors tend to already know each other, so there are even more supportive & collaborative vibes in the crowd throughout the night. Some wonderful conversations came out of the lineup, and we can't wait to see more episodes of everything we screened!

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 our Halloween Special on October 25th. 

The Series of the night:

Six Windows (Ep. 1 - Lucy) (Directed by Brandon Taylor)
"Six Windows" peeks into the lives of people, as they face the unique ambience and drama of living in New York City. Each episode focuses on a moment in time for a single soul, a snapshot of their life. 

Pair of Normals (Pilot - WWYD?) (Created by Jason Hood)
Betty is an overworked college student plagued by high expectations, cramming in the library for finals. After a horrifying revelation, she asks herself the age-old question, What Would Yeezus Do?.

Blank My Life (Ep. 10 - Ending) (Created by Alex Spieth)
Susan and Ryan go on a date, just in time for the holidays.

Redheads Anonymous (Ep. 4) (Created by Elisabeth Ness/Directed by Daniel Seth)
To win a Redhead Scholarship, Molly and her three ginger pals must find out: what does it mean to be a redhead?

Working On It (Created by Marzy Hart)
"Working on It", follows four couples as they wait in the therapist's office to begin their session.

Growing Down (Created by Jessica Henderson/Directed by Jeff Davis)
Three NYC women try to navigate their 20s and all the problems presented by attempting to make something happen.

Watch our Q&A Recap. *Please know that all series are available online - feel free to watch them on a computer screen near you & then come back to see what the creators have to say!

The awards go to...

At the end of the evening, we announced our winning filmmakers for bothAudience 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. (In the case of Web Series Month, we watch & score the full season of each series.) 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) from4MileCircus. And both winners received a free 2016 subscription to Bright Ideas Magazine.

For the September 2016 lineup, our winning films were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Six Windows"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "Blank My Life"

Watch both winners below:

Join us next month for our Halloween Special on October 25th!