2017, What A Year!
We as collaborators have a lot to be grateful for and proud of -- largely thanks to many of you.
It'd be insincere to pretend 2017 hasn't been a devastating and terrifying year for the world at large, and for us personally, as well. We're believers in art as activism; and we don't want to lose sight of progress made in telling inclusive stories and supporting other artists in finding their voice and audience. So we're recapping our greatest accomplishments of the year, and we hope you enjoy this bit of holiday cheer!
Our Second Feature Film
We made About a Donkey!
Our second feature film is currently in post-production. Follow along for updates: https://www.seedandspark.com/fund/about-a-donkey#updates.
About a Donkey is about growing up & growing old, and finding love & laughter along the way. The film follows the Owens family: Ann & Tim, their 3 adult children, Cecilia, Burgh, and Annie (and her husband Paul), and matriarch Farrah. When Tim brings home a donkey in a mixture of wanting to rescue both it and himself, things are shaken up in each of the characters' lives.
The film's quirky but relatable nature has been referred to as a little Little Miss Sunshine meets Gilmore Girls, but with a donkey, and a strong focus on inclusion (both in front of and behind the camera)! We're strong believers in being the change -- reflecting the world as we want to see it. With this film, our mission is to combat hate with humor and heart. Our film is made up of an inclusive cast of characters - both within the film and behind the scenes, but predominantly featuring women. In our film, love is love, people's lives and desires are relevant no matter their age, and struggling with depression is acceptable and normal.
We shot the first scene of the film in January.
Crowdfunded the full feature in February!
And shot the rest throughout March!
Then locked picture in September!
A frame for every shot of principal photography for our upcoming feature film, About a Donkey. https://www.seedandspark.com/fund/about-a-donkey
We're still making adjustments to our sound mix, but the film is 99% complete. We can't wait to share the film with an audience next year!
Short Films
We screened 5 films at 12 festivals this year. And premiered 3 of them online!
Watch "Hello"
A lonely soul attempts to make a connection with a visiting stranger, but her intentions don't quite match his interpretations.
Director Statement:
For two years, I was an Instructor for a mobile film workshop, which meant spending one week out of every month in a hotel room. I was always very aware of how alone I was despite being surrounded by strangers in other rooms. I was never personally lonely, but there's a certain loneliness to hotel rooms that you can just kind of feel. People pass through, never settling in, never making it a home. I often found myself thinking about all the stories that passed through; all the strange, unsettling, hopefully sometimes wonderful memories made there, and the potential 'ghosts' that lingered. This combined with my tendency to wonder about my room possibly being haunted led to the inspiration for "Hello."
One night after a long day at the workshop, when I couldn't sleep and found myself paying very close attention to the silence, the almost eerie silence of the room, I started freaking myself out with the possibility of not being so alone after all. In an attempt to appease my growing trepidation, I started pondering about ghosts; what would make them linger, what they could really want from a living person. I started entertaining myself with the notion of a ghost simply being lonely & bored -- especially having to watch all the people pass through the room they may haunt, and just wishing to make a connection with someone. As a huge horror film fan, I thought of all the cliche things that often happen as signs of a haunting and tried to find a funny, sweet or mundane explanation for them on the part of a ghost. Soon I was writing the script; and though I didn't get any sleep that night, I started the next morning very excited about this new script I had just written. I shot the film on no budget two months later and am very pleased with the final product, thanks to my small but mighty team of talented collaborators.
Official Selections:
2016 Horrible Imaginings Film Festival
2016 Coney Island Film Festival
2016 Ax Wound Film Festival
2017 Macabre Faire Film Festival *Nominated Best Lead Actress in a Short
Watch "Two Gays & a Girl"
When life gives you roommates, make friends. From the creators that brought you 'Kelsey, the webseries,' comes a comedy pilot about Timothy, Amy & Denise. Read about the decision to cut this down from a pilot to a short: http://www.congestedcat.com/blog/2017/3/21/revisiting-making-two-gays-a-girl-festival-recaps.
The idea for this pilot (turned short film) came about one day when CongestedCat team members Christina, Kelsey, and Chris were hanging out doing a promo shoot for an upcoming project. At the time, Christina and Kelsey were coming off the heels of critically acclaimed web series, "Kelsey," and one of them made a joke that their next series should be a play on the three of them and their friendship. Who actually said the title first is debatable, but "Two Gays & a Girl" came out of someone's mouth and they immediately fell in love with it and the idea of a series about a lesbian, a gay guy, and a straight girl as best friends and roommates. Soon enough Christina and Kelsey were mapping out the characters, the pilot and where the series could potentially go.
We feel it's a fun spin on the typical roommates sitcom sub-genre, while being more true to life and representative of real contemporary groups of friends, especially living in New York (countering the heteronormative, whitewashed version mainstream media continues to perpetuate). We hope this no-budget pilot will garner enough interest to allow us to reboot it as a web series with a real budget and audience-driven momentum at some point in the future.
Watch "Night In"
During a quiet night in, a young woman knows she's not so alone.
*Watch through the credits!
Director Statement:
This film originally came about because I wanted to shoot one final (fourth) short in my apartment at the time before moving. I challenged myself to come up with something that could be shot in one night, on no more than $100, with a skilled skeleton crew and without dialogue; but still be something that's fun & compelling, and worth everyone's time & talent. From there, "Night In" was born.
SPOILERS BELOW
If I get very specific about this piece, though, I'd have to say the real inspiration for what I ended up making out of that decision to just make something is rooted in the fact that in August 2016, when this was shot, Donald Trump was polluting the airwaves. Blatant misogyny (along with racism, xenophobia, homophobia, toxic masculinity and a general entitlement-fueled bigotry) was not only being tolerated but accepted and excused at an alarming rate. I found myself feeling anxious and angry and wanting to take some sort of action that felt like I was slashing the patriarchy -- so I made this film. Considering where we are now, it feels even more cathartic being able to share it with an audience.
I've learned that fun & humor will always be my go-to though, even when rooted in darkness. I'm a huge horror fan and often enjoy subverting genre tropes, especially in terms of gender. I mainly set out to play with audience expectations and conditioning with this piece. I feel it could equally be examined for commentary or just enjoyed as a small kernel of fun. (Pun intended.)
Official Selections:
2017 Horrible Imaginings Film Festival
2017 Ax Wound Film Festival
2017 Nightmares Film Festival
2017 Sick Chick Flicks Film Festival (Award Nominee)
2017 Chain NYC Film Festival
Slaughter Movie House (October 2017 Screening)
IndieWorks, Monthly Screening Series
We kicked off Year 5 of IndieWorks with a bigger team, additional sponsors, and with more thematic programming focused on representation & unique stories. It has been better than ever at supporting & highlighting local independent filmmakers each month.
And we look forward to finding new ways to increase its visibility and support-capabilities in 2018!
Check out the monthly Recaps from this year, including last week's screening!
