Christina was a guest on Horror Happens Radio again, this time discussing "Night In," "Enough," crowdfunding, and being back at the Ax Wound Film Festival. Listen to the episode.
Last Tuesday was the January edition of IndieWorks! It was a fun lineup and an exciting way to start 2018. With 4 films, we had 50 people in attendance, made up of a thoughtful and engaged audience. All the films of the evening focused on sex and love, or the lack thereof! The Q&A was filled with great comments and discussions!
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. We know some connections were made! (And shout-out to our guest co-host of the evening Ricki Lynée, who we hope to have back soon!)
And we hope you'll join us again for our February screening on the 13th - featuring films focusing on the quest for intimacy and connection!
See photos from the evening:
The Films of the night:
The Foursome (Written & Directed by Amanda Kendris & Vanessa Bontea)
When all you want for your birthday is to get it on, but sometimes it's just too hard!
Cake (Written & Directed by Anne Hu)
Eliza, a bisexual woman, tries to explore her sexuality within her marriage with her husband Thomas by surprise ordering a seemingly human female sex robot. But the sex robot is not the cure-all she had hoped for. Be careful what you wish for.
Ace and Anxious (Written & Directed by Bri Castellini)
Emma is an asexual graphic designer with generalized anxiety disorder who learns that one of the benefits of sex is lower stress levels. She decides to test this by placing an ad on Craigslist, to see if the one thing she's never tried due to her sexuality might finally "cure" her of her anxiety.
Teufel (Directed by Miguel Garzon Martinez, Written by Denis Ooi)
Watch the heroic story of our protagonist "Insecure Ed" as he dukes it out with his inner demons while going out on a date with the woman of his dreams.
Watch our Q&A Recap (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 rating system of 8 categories: Story, Dialogue/Writing, Direction, Acting, Cinematography, Sound, Editing, and Production Value, along with a nuanced discussion focused on inclusion and originality. 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.
For the January 2018 lineup, our winning films were:
Audience Choice Award: "Teufel"
Silver Whiskers Award: "Cake" (Trailer below.)
Out of nearly 650 submissions, both of our shorts "Enough" & "Arm Bar" are part of the 181 official selections of the Queens World Film Festival; screening in March -- on the 22nd and 25th respectively! We'll be in attendance!
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!
We made About a Donkey!
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!
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!
We screened 5 films at 12 festivals this year. And premiered 3 of them online!
Watch "Hello"
Watch "Two Gays & a Girl"
Watch "Night In"
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!
Last Tuesday was the December edition of IndieWorks! It was a lovely lineup and a wonderful way to celebrate the end of 2017. With 5 films, we had just over 50 people in attendance, made up of a super engaged audience. All the films of the evening focused on women and revolved around similar themes, notably family and choice. Thoughtful conversations were had!
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. We know some connections were made!
Have a happy new year! And we hope you'll join us again for our January screening on the 16th - featuring films focusing on sex & love, or the lack thereof!
See photos from the evening:
The Films of the night:
Family Rewritten (Directed by Yasmin Mistry)
Despite battling Cystic Fibrosis, Camilla, age 16, identifies as a typical middle-class American teenager until the thread that holds her family together suddenly snaps. Just months before her 18th birthday Camilla finds herself in foster care, but instead of being ashamed, she makes a conscious decision to not let her situation define her.
Choices (Written & Directed by Rick Hamilton)
Deborah relies on chance to avoid making any choices in her life, but then faces a decision that can’t be left up to fate.
There For You (Directed by Viktoria King)
Based on a true story, a young woman finds herself torn apart after having to give away her baby to her mother-in-law.
Sundogs (Written & Directed by Elizabeth Chatelain)
A single mother and her 4-year-old daughter struggle to survive a homeless night in the oilfields of North Dakota.
Sibs (Directed by Cyntia Silver, Written by Samantha Slater)
Sophie, a struggling musician in New York, goes home for her father’s funeral and is met with the sudden reality of becoming her 13 year old, now orphaned, half-brother's guardian. A family drama about figuring out how to grow up.
Watch our Q&A Recap (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, along with a nuanced discussion focused on inclusion and originality. 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.
For the December 2017 lineup, our winning films were:
Audience Choice Award: "Sibs"
Silver Whiskers Award: "Sundogs"
