IndieWorks: Insider Series

Each month we're bringing local indie filmmakers to the spotlight on our "Insider Series". Guests include winning filmmakers who've screened films in IndieWorks, our monthly film series. 

Episode 78: Year 7 March Screening Featuring TJ Choi of “Devotion,” Evalena Marie of “While Fay’s Away,” Stacey Maltin & Margarita Zhitnikova of “Jones,”and Paul Robinson & Sashia Dumont of “The Gaffer”  from our March 2020 screening.

Episode 77: Year 7 February Screening Featuring Luke Harlan of “White Flags,” Nora Jaenicke of “Proof,” Ellie Gravitte of “Day One,” Meredith Dobbs of “Bath,” and Nathalie Frederick of “Stuck”  from our February 2020 screening.

Episode 76: Year 7 January Screening Featuring Eurica Yu of “Empty,” Elisabeth Tsubota of “Eugene,” Jack Beck of “Stari Grad,” Daniel C Rodriguez of “Abuelo,” and Luke-Yao Chang of “A Poem in Bamboo”  from our January 2020 screening.

Episode 75: Year 7 December Screening Featuring Rachel Pearl & Ben Myers of “Power Out,” Gayatri Patel Bahl of “Tin,” Julia Parrott of “Krampusnacht,” and Tom Cassese of “Zoul”  from our December 2019 screening.

Episode 74: Year 7 November Screening Featuring Sai DiOrio of “Deep Sleep” Benjamin Stillerman of “I'm Scared But I've Been Here Before,” Erica Mann of “State of Independence,” Cynthia Silver of “The Shallow End,” and Kara Grace Miller of “Cheer Up Charlie” from our November 2019 screening.

Episode 73: Year 7 October (Halloween) Screening
Featuring Michael Dimitroulakos of “Jack and the Box,” AK Espada of “Laundry Night,” Sean Mannion & Latresa Baker of “It’s Normal,” Manny Serrano of “Matryoshka,” Clayton Dean Smith of “Too Late,” Beth Fletcher & Michael Calciano of “Come Be Creepy With Us”  from our October 2019 screening.

Episode 72: Year 7 September Screening
Featuring Joey Schweitzer of “Jane,” Serena Kuo of “End of Summer,” Jimmy Caputo & Maria Scenna of “Canceled,” and Lindsay Serrano of “MissUnderstood Monster”  from our September 2019 screening.

Episode 71: Year 7 August Screening
Featuring Daniel Burity of “¡Hola Kitty!,” Tanmaya Shekhar of “Reflections at 29,” Ben Garchar of “Neighborhood,” Tawny Sorensen & Craig Nobbs of “As One,” and Kesav Wable of “Closet Supes”  from our August 2019 screening.

Episode 70: Year 7 July Screening
Featuring Cynthia Silver of "Chemistry" Julia Ngeow of “Eudaemonia,” Sydney Clara Brafman of “The Only Thing I Love More Than You Is Ranch Dressing,” and Grace Kim, Victor Cruz & Schann Mobley of “Loveseat” from our July 2019 screening.

Episode 69: Year 7 June Screening
Featuring Rebecca Shoptaw of "The Flickering Forest" Andrew K. Meyer & Lauren Flack of “Like Glass,” Rick Hamilton of “Seeing Glory,” and Jamie DiNicola of “Will I Say So” from our June 2019 screening.

Episode 68: Year 6 Best of Fest
Recap of our Season 6 Finale Screening, including filmmaker testimonials.

Episode 67: Year 6 March Screening
Featuring Lauren Cheung of "Bloom," Mara Bush & Carrie Ferrante of “A Thousand Words,” Alex Mallonee of “Man’s Best Friend,” Michael Goldburg & Janelle Tedesco of “The Break", and Cary Patrick Martin of “Coffee and a Donut” from our March 2019 screening.

Episode 66: Year 6 February Screening
Featuring Joe Foley & Kristy Hasen of "The High Wire," Colin Buckingham of “Committed," Natalie Harris of "Metamorphosis," Lea Pfandler of “Fork in the Road” and Adam Griffith of "Cake" from our February 2019 screening.

Episode 65: Year 6 January Screening
Featuring Séamus Scanlon of "The Long Wet Grass," Orges Bakalli of "My Name is Somebody," Jennifer Dean & Eric Rice of "Still Life," Adam Volerich of “Cheese Shop” and Makeba L Ross & Victoria Bermudez of "Future Unknown" from our January 2019 screening.

Episode 64: Year 6 December Screening
Featuring Nina Gielen of "The Mole," Yasmin Mistry & Kimberly DePersia of "For a Better Life," Amy DePoala of "AMYDEE," Noah Marthaller of “Encore,” and Nikolai Basarich of "Unfinished Business" from our December 2018 screening.

Episode 63: Year 6 November Screening
Featuring Michela Monte of "The Method," Ida Theresa Myklebost of "Unwelcome," Martha Frances Williams of "Oatmeal," Claire Brooks of “The Fifth Date,” and Taishon S Black of "The Rocket Ship" from our November 2018 screening.

Episode 62: Year 6 October (Halloween) Screening
Featuring Kyle I. Kelley & Adam R. Brown of "The Music Lesson," Vinny Sacchetti of "Broad Paws," Rafael De Leon Jr. of "Goodbye Old Friend," Manny Serrano of “I Waited For You,” “Brian Ratigan of “Dull Hope",” and Lindsay Serrano of "Beneath" from our October 2018 screening.

Episode 61: Year 6 September (Web Series) Screening
Featuring J. Martin Raider & Larry Alan Rosenzweig of "Open Mic," Yael Shavitt & Molly McGaughey of “Split,” Daniel Armour of "Hidden Guardians," Jamie DiNicola of "Queer & Down," and Tatienne Hendricks-Tellefsen & Cynthia Silver of "Adult" from our September 2018 screening.

Episode 60: Year 6 August Screening
Featuring Andrea Ashton & Anneliese Lee-Reid of "Greater Good," (Lincoln) Yufeng Li of "Androktasiai," Sean Mannion & Tara Cioletti of “Rubber Ducky,” and Stephen Rutterford & Brenden Savi of "Back Page Ripper" from our August 2018 screening.

Episode 59: Year 6 July Screening
Featuring Kathryn Rhoads & Elisabeth Ness of "En Route," Adam Volerich of "Tyrannosaurus Death!," Charlotte Purser of "Rockaway Moon," and Duane Cooper & Marquis Wood of "We Were Kids" from our July 2018 screening.

Episode 58: Year 6 June (Pride Kick-Off) Screening
Featuring Ellie Gravitte of "Her Being Home," Jeanette Sears & Nicole Solomon of "Sanctuary," Jamie DiNicola of "Spot," Ezra Ray of "Living Waters" and Tony Clemente of "Hopelessly" from our June 2018 screening.

Episode 57: Year 5 Best of Fest
Recap of our Season 5 Finale Screening, including testimonials.

Episode 56: Year 5 March Screening
Featuring Vinny Sacchetti of "Small Fish/Missing People," Jaime Ekkens of "The War," Victoria Negri & Marzy hart of "Paralysis," Olga Nikulina of "Underneath the Sound" and Ford of "Chocolates" from our March 2018 screening.

Episode 55: Year 5 February Screening
Featuring Jaclyn Gramigna & Stephanie Iscovitz of "Faithful as Salt," Ricki Lynée & Ashley Denise of "Secret Admirer," Tanmaya Shekhar & Aurora Heimbach of "The Origin of Fantasies," and Maya Jasmin & Terence Schweizer of "Rooftop of My City" from our February 2018 screening.

Episode 54: Year 5 January Screening
Featuring Amanda Kendris & Vanessa Bontea of "The Foursome," Anne Hu of "Cake," Bri Castellini of "Ace and Anxious," and Dennis Ooi, Mitch Roberson, and Pete Dorton of "Teufel" from our January 2018 screening.

Episode 53: Year 5 December Screening
Featuring Yasmin Mistry of "Family Rewritten," Rick Hamilton of "Choices," Viktoria King of "There For You," Elizabeth Chatelain of "Sundogs," and Samantha Slater & Cynthia Silver of "Sibs," from our December 2017 screening.

Episode 52: Year 5 November Screening
Featuring Jason Guzman of "Rudy's Hobby Shop," Harrison Heller of "Runaway," Catya Plate of "Meeting MacGuffin," and Brandon Buikema of "Block," from our November 2017 screening.

Episode 51: Year 5 October (Halloween) Screening
Featuring Heidi Kikel & Kitty Ostapowics of "The Run-In," Nicole Solomon & Sean Mannion of "Mare," Samantha Kolesnik of "I Baked Him a Cake," Patrick Clement of "Through the Wide Gate," Nicholas Santos of "Holiday Fear," and Ginny Leise of "Smile," from our Halloween 2017 screening.

Episode 50: Year 5 September  (Web Series) Screening
Featuring Jason Hood of "Pair of Normals," Amanda B Goodman of "You Only Die Once," Jordan Jaffe & Samantha Slater of "Modern Aliens," Alex Spieth of "Blank My Life," and Hillary Berkowitz of "Keep Me Posted," from our Web Series 2017 screening.

Episode 49: Year 5 August Screening
Featuring Mateo Marquez of "Santi," Tae Jung Choi of "Madness," Richa Rudola of "Fresh Blood," and Jeremiah Kipp and Mandy Evans-Brown of "Pickup," from our August 2017 screening.

Episode 48: Year 5 July Screening
Featuring Grecia Aguilar of "Portrait of a Young Woman," Simone Kisiel & Andriana Jones of "Death of a Vacuum," and Tawny Sorensen and Colin Fisher of "Covered" from our July 2017 screening.

Episode 47: Year 5 June (Kick-Off) Screening
Featuring Eugene Sun Park of "The Orange Story," Andrette Lo Conto of "Penalty," Imana Breaux of "The 3rd Try," Craig Nobbs of "Date & Time," and Rebecca Shoptaw of "Sonnet 23" from our June 2017 screening.

Episode 46: Year 4 Best of Fest
Recap of our Season 4 Finale Screening.

Episode 45: Year 4 March Screening
Featuring Liam Billingham, Victoria Negri & Ben Jaeger-Thomas of "Runners," Joe Garrity of "Twinsburg," Nora Jaenicke, Lizzie Beth Elkins & Edan Jacob Levy of "Between Second," and Gerard Zarra, Alex Tymchak & Daniel Lewinstein of "The Tramcar Girl" from our March 2017 screening.

Episode 44: Year 4 February Screening
Featuring Shannon Lee & Daniela Lobo Dias of "The Perfumist," Kathleen Judge of "What The People Want," Yasmin Mistry & James Boo of "America Heard: Refuge of Hope," Jaclyn Gramigna & Stephanie Iscovitz of "Sleeping With Earrings On,"  Rachel Kessler of "Juice," and Laura Dowling Shea of "Great Expectations" from our February 2017 screening.

Episode 43: Year 4 January Screening
Featuring Berman Fenelus of "Privilege," Shane Andries & Vishwas Vishwas of "The Visit," Rodrigo Baumgartner Ayres & Caroline Rosalino of "Happy Here in New York," Alessia Gatti, Martha Frances Williams & Laura Vogels of "Greener," and Hillary Nussbaum of "Keep Me Posted" from our January 2017 screening.

Episode 42: Year 4 November Screening
Featuring Brett Moody of "Trauma," Joshua Planz of "Bloop," Jaime Ekkens of "Suffering is the Easy Part," Alvaro Congosto of "The Suitor," and Christian LaMorte of "Mantis," from our November 2016 screening.

Episode 41: Year 4 October (Halloween) Screening
Featuring Nina Gielen of "Arts & Crafts," Rafael De Leon Jr of "Burnt Popcorn," Michael Sherry of "The Price of Bones," Heather Taylor of "Stitched," Christian LaMorte & Alejandro Veciana of "The Grind," and Mark J Parker of "Sticks" from our October (Halloween) 2016 screening.

Episode 40: Year 4 September (Web Series) Screening
Featuring Brandon Taylor of "Six Windows," Jason Hood of "Pair of Normals," Alex Spieth of "Blank My Life," Elisabeth Ness & Daniel Seth of "Redheads Anonymous," Marzy Hart of "Working On It," and Jessica Henderson & Jeff Davis of "Growing Down" from our September (Web Series) 2016 screening.

Episode 39: Year 4 August Screening
Featuring Nicholas Santos of "Break," Mateo Marquez of "The Blood in Our Veins," Tom Rizzuto of "Plus-Plus," Tanmaya Shekhar of "Marcela's Tale," and Aubrey Smyth of "Ginger with a Snap" from our August 2016 screening.

Episode 38: Year 4 July Screening
Featuring Yasmin Mistry of "My Identity," Andrew Fixell of "The Firmest Friend," Chris Carfizzi of "White Privilege Frankenstein," Stephanie Iscovitz & Sarah DuRivage-Jacobs of "Catslaughter," and Michael Goldburg of "What's Eating Dad?"  from our July 2016 screening.

Episode 37: Year 4 June (Kick-Off) Screening
Featuring Johnny Sanchez of "Muscle," Tawny Sorensen of "The Cat's Cradle," Jeanette Sears of "Happenstance," Jessica Kingdon of "Clippings," and Alex Spieth of "Blank My Life" from our June 2016 screening.

*With Year 4, we've transitioned away from our one on one Insider Series and have started shooting and sharing the Q&A's from our screenings so that all filmmakers and their work get highlighted. 

Episode 36: Cristhian Andrews
Cristhian Andrews screened his short "Before We Lose" with us at our August Screening in 2015 and won the Silver Whiskers Award. He screened another film "Najmia" with us in November, as well, and it won the Audience Choice Award that month. "Before We Lose" went on to win our Best of Fest 'Golden Whiskers Award' at our Year 3 Best of Fest! We used our Best of Fest screening to chat with her a bit about the inspiration behind and making of the film.

Episode 35: Arilyn I Martinez Cora
Arilyn I Martinez Cora screened her short "The Texture of the Light" with us at our October Screening in 2015 and won the Silver Whiskers Award. She also went on to win Best Director at our Year 3 Best of Fest! We used our Best of Fest screening to chat with her a bit about the inspiration behind and making of the film.

Episode 34: Tanmaya Shekhar
Tanmaya Shekhar screened his short "The Fragrance Thief" with us at our March 2016 screening and won the Silver Whiskers Award. We used our Best of Fest screening to chat with him a bit about the inspiration behind the very whimsical & colorful film, and what his plans are for the feature version.

Episode 33: Matthew John Lawrence
Matthew John Lawrence screened his short "Larry Gone Demon" with us at our Halloween screening in 2015 and won the Silver Whiskers Award. It also went on to win Best Editing at our Year 3 Best of Fest! We used our Best of Fest screening to chat with him a bit about the inspiration behind and making of the film.

Episode 32: Robin Takao D'Oench
Robin Takao D'Oench screened his short "Tadaima" with us in June 2015 and won that month's Silver Whiskers Award. "Tadaima" also went on to win Best Cinematography at our Year 3 Best of Fest! We used our Best of Fest screening to chat with him a bit about the inspiration behind the film.

Episode 31: Lisa Hammer & Levi Wilson
Lisa & Levi screened an episode of their web series "Maybe Sunshine" with us at Web Series Month in September 2015 and won the Audience Contest Award. We got to chat with them about the real-life inspiration behind the series and what we can expect from other episodes.

Episode 30: Adam Volerich
Adam Volerich screened his short, "Rolling," with us in June 2015 and took home the Audience Choice Award. We invited him over and got a chance to chat with him about what it was like pulling from personal experience for this film and what else he's got going on.

Episode 29: Ben Jaeger-Thomas
Ben Jaeger-Thomas screened his web series "Stay At Home" with us at all 3 of our Web Series Screenings and his third episode took home the Silver Whiskers Award in our latest year in September 2015. We invited him over and got a chance to chat with him about how his real life as a voice over actor and father inspired the series, and what he learned from the experience.

Episode 28: Chris Ungco
Chris Ungco screened his short film "Mating" with us in February 2015 at our Valentine's day themed screening. It won our Silver Whiskers Award and went on to screen at Best of Fest. We got a chance to have a really lovely conversation with him, but unfortunately our files were corrupt and we were only able to salvage the first few minutes of it where he discussed his film. We're really bummed and sorry about this. But we hope you enjoy what he has to say about the film, which can be watched on Vimeo.

Episode 27: Patrick Mandeville
Patrick Mandeville screened his short film "Walls" with us in January 2015 to a lot of positive audience feedback. We invited the film to be part of our Online Contest for an 11th film to screen at our Year 2 Best of Fest. We finally got a chance to sit down with him to discuss the inspiration behind the film, why he transitioned to filmmaking from a previous career and what he's got going on next. *We apologize for the lack of a master shot through most of the episode. Unfortunately, two of our episodes shot on the same day had some corrupt files.

Episode 26: Sissy Denkova
Sissy Denkova screened her short "The Bureau of Short-Term Affairs" with us in October 2014 and won our Silver Whiskers Award. It went on to screen  at Year 2 Best of Fest. We got to chat with her about adapting the original play to a screenplay, what the collaborative filmmaking process was like, especially as the actor/producer, and what's next for her.

Episode 25: John Mattiuzzi & Josh Planz
John & Josh screened their short "Zerogon" with us in January 2015 and then went on to win our Online Audience Contest for an 11th film to screen at Year 2 Best of Fest. We got to chat with them about the inspiration behind their unique and fun film and how their collaboration worked in such a post-production heavy process.

Episode 24: Brittany Fennell
Brittany Fennel screened her short "Q.U.E.E.N." with us in January 2015 and she took home the Silver Whiskers Award. The film then won our top award of the year, the Golden Whiskers, at our 2nd annual Best of Fest. We absolutely love this film and are so proud to have screened it and played a small role in helping the film and Brittany as a filmmaker reach an audience. We got to chat with her about the inspiration behind the film and her broader mission statement as a filmmaker. 

Episode 23: Gerard Zarra
Gerard Zarra screened his short film "John Dablovski: Reality TV Star" with us in January 2015 and he took home the Audience Choice Award. We got to chat with him about his inspiration behind the film and why he loves being a New Yorker. 

Episode 22: Katie Carman-Lehach
Katie Carman-Lehach screened her short film "The Sucker" with us at our very first screening in June 2013; she was our first Silver Whiskers Award winner. She screened and won again at our Year 3 Halloween screening with her episode of the web series "Disturbances," which took home the Audience Choice Award. We finally got a chance to chat with her about both projects and her interest in genre filmmaking. 

Episode 21: Pablo Bonelli
Pablo Bonelli screened his short film "GASMASK" with us in October 2014 at our Halloween Screening and won the Audience Choice Award. We invited him over to chat with Lauren A. Kennedy about the film, what his extended plans are for it and what other projects he's got going on right now (including a new film related podcast). 

Episode 20: Esteban Uribe
Esteban Uribe screened his short film "Schlock Fish" with us in August 2014 and he won the Audience Choice Award. We invited him over to chat with Lauren about the off-beat feel of the film, how he went about casting it and what other projects he's got going on right now. 

Episode 19: Randy Wilkins
Randy Wilkins screened the pilot of his web series "Docket 32357" with us at Web Series Month in September 2014 and he won the Audience Choice Award. We invited him over to chat with Lauren about the inspiration behind the series, his other projects, including working as an editor for Spike Lee, and why he loves being in New York. 

Episode 18: Hye Yun Park
Hye Yun Park screened the first episode of her web series, "Hey Yun," with us at Web Series Month in September 2014 and won the Silver Whiskers Award. The episode is clever and relatable, and incredibly well done. She not only screened with us again this past February with her excellent short "Sumi," but "Hey Yun" went on to win the Audience Choice Award at Year 2's Best of Fest!  We invited her over to chat with Lauren about the making of the episode and the series as a whole, including the second season, which just premiered last month. 

Episode 17: Mark Nickelsburg
Mark Nickelsburg screened his film "Harry Grows Up" in January 2014 (Year 1) and won the Audience Choice Award. His film is very creative and technically impressive, as well as just a ton of fun. We invited him over to chat with Lauren about his approach to making the film and what else he's been working on (including a project for which he found his crew through IndieWorks).

Episode 16: Shahir Daud
Shahir Daud screened his fantastic film "La Loteria" in February 2014 (Year 1) and not only won that month's Silver Whiskers Award, but also took home the Audience Choice Award at our 1st Best of Fest last year. We invited him over to chat with Lauren about the romantic true story that inspired the film and the new projects he's been working on since last year's screening.

Episode 15: Dani Tenenbaum
Dani Tenenbaum screened his film "Guides" with us in November 2013 (Year 1) and not only won that month's Silver Whiskers Award, but also the exclusive Golden Whiskers Award at our 1st Best of Fest in 2014. To see "Guides," is to remember it. It's truly a visceral film that stays with you. We invited him over to chat with Lauren about the inspiration behind his film and what else he's got going on.  

Episode 14: Nicholas Santos
Nicholas Santos won our Silver Whiskers Award in March 2014 (Year 1), the last screening before our 1st Best of Fest, for his moving short film "Worlds We Created." He has screened 5 of his films with us, and we hope to continue screening his future work because he's a real local talent that we're proud to showcase. We invited him over to discuss his style & production company BullMoose Pictures.

Episode 13: Lawrence Horwitz
Lawrence Horwitz won our Silver Whiskers Award in July 2014 (Year 2) for his relatable short "The Visit." We invited him over to talk about his film, hear what it was like getting back into production after a long hiatus and what's next for him. 

Episode 12: Casey Stein
Casey Stein first screened with us in Year one, then submitted another short "Boy on a Bike" for Year 2. His charming short-short won our Silver Whiskers award in June 2014. We invited him over to get to know him, learn about the inspiration behind his film and how he's advancing in the industry with his blend of skills .

Episode 11: Flavio Alves
Flavio Alves screened his short "The Secret Friend" in October 2013 (Year 1) and won our Silver Whiskers award. We invited him over to get to know him, and hear about his interest in portraying elderly characters and how he's navigating the industry.

Episode 10: Gabriella Moses
Gabriella Moses screened her short "Las Mañanitas" in March 2014 (Year 1) and won the Audience Choice award. We invited her over to get to know her and her work a bit more, and talk about her other role in film as a Production Designer.

Episode 9: Mike Dimitroulakos
Mike Dimitroulakos screened his dark slapstick satire "Do It Yer'self" in November 2013 (Year 1) and won the Audience Choice award. We invited him over to get to know him and his work a bit more, and talk about any other button pushing films he's got in the works.

Episode 8: Christian LaMorte
Christian LaMorte is a filmmaker who has screened with us 3 times now, including at our very first screening in June 2013. His film "Bless Me" won the Audience Choice award at the July 2014 (Year 2) screening. We invited him over to get to know him and his work a bit more, as well as any future projects he's got cooked up.

Episode 7: Nelson Isava
Nelson Isava's film "La Solitaria" won the Silver Whiskers Award at January 2014's IndieWorks screening (Year 1). We invited him over to get to know him and his work a bit more, as well as any future projects he's got cooked up.

Episode 6: Rafael De Leon
Rafael De Leon won our Audience Choice Award on October 30, 2013 during our (Year 1) Halloween-themed IndieWorks series, for his film "Birthday Boys." Lauren sat down with him to learn a bit about the film and some of his other recent projects.

Episode 5: Ashley Denise & Ricki Lynee
Back in September 2013, 'Anthology' won our Silver Whiskers Award during our (Year 1) Webseries themed IndieWorks. This winter, we sat down with Anthology's director, Ashley Denise, and actor, Ricki Lynee, to hear about the project, its unique approach to direction for the series, and some of their upcoming work.

Episode 4: Hannah Leshaw

Back in October 2013 (Year 1), our Audience Choice Award was won by Hannah Leshaw, for her short film "Fictional Me, Fictional You." We invited her to speak with us about her piece and her upcoming projects, including a new short on the horizon, titled "Bliss."

Episode 3: Steven Cartoccio
Steven Cartoccio's webseries submission, "Concrete Jungle," won the Audience Choice award in September 2013 (Year 1). The submission is the first episode of the upcoming series, which will be an instant hit with fans of FOX's Animation Domination and Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. We spoke to him about where his background in animation started, the webseries, and where he wants to take all of his efforts.

Episode 2: Felix Thompson
Felix Thompson won our Silver Whiskers Award in July 2013 (Year 1) for his film, "The Third One This Week". A Vimeo Staff Pick, the film has nearly 30k views. It's a beautiful four minute short film that we're sure you're going to enjoy if you haven't checked it out already. We invited Felix to speak with us this month to get to know a bit about his background, what contributes to his work, and his team over at Buffalo Picture House. 

Episode 1: Molly McGaughey
Molly McGaughey was one of the filmmakers for June 2013's IndieWorks lineup (our very first screening!). Her experimental short, "5 in 3", won the evening's Audience Choice award among the eight films screened. We sat down with her to learn more about her, what she's working on, and some advice for budding indie filmmakers.