Hannah Leshaw

IndieWorks: February Recap

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Last Wednesday was the February edition of IndieWorks, and our first time trying out the Stone Creek Lounge's back room. We're so grateful to them for letting us use their space but, unfortunately, it was a bit smaller than suitable for our needs. We screened 5 films instead of our usual 6, but still over 60 audience members showed up and about 12 to 15 ended up leaving because the room really capped out at 45 to 50 people. Because of this, we'll be testing out another TBA venue next month, which should fit 60 people more comfortably. We then will let our audience tell us their preference between the 2. Depending on the results, we may trim our monthly lineup to 4 films so people can confidently show up knowing they'll have a comfortable seat and view!

Anyway, aside from the room size issue, the night was lovely. The small room led to a nice intimate vibe, which led to a lot of audience interaction in the Q&A (which we love)! Everyone in attendance seemed to enjoy the films and the night as a whole. 

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! 

See photos from the evening (by guest photographer Grayson Davis):

The Films of the night:

Milan's First Day (Directed by Laura Fielder)
A young girl's first day at a new school.

America 1979 (Directed by Lila Yomtoob)
The Iran Hostage Crisis is in full effect, and even though Regina's parents are Iranian, she was raised to be American. When political tensions create problems for her at school, Regina's confusion about her identity causes a crisis at home.

Write With Me... (Directed by Hannah Leshaw)
A woman longs for a songwriting partner but, terrified of the vulnerability inherent in the act of creating, retreats into the safety of her mind.

Iris & Betty (Directed by Jason Hood)
Betty is Iris's new roommate. When Iris can't sleep, Betty offers to help her sleep through ASMR relaxation.

Emilia ( by FatChix Films)
Emilia is single. Scratch that: Emilia is dating Pinot Noir. Like most romantics, she wants to be swept off her feet while wearing a skirt that delicately disguises her cellulite. When she receives a call from THE guy, surprise quickly turns to panic as insecurities threaten to ruin her 'happy' before the ending.

The awards go to...

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 event in April!

The Silver Whiskers winner also receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform, and both winners received a free 2016 subscription to Bright Ideas Magazine and have the opportunity to be interviewed for our Insider Series. 

For the February 2016 lineup, our winning films were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "America 1979"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "Write With Me..."

See trailers for the winning films below: 

IndieWorks: November 2014 Recap

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Wednesday was the November edition of IndieWorks. We were worried the cold would keep the crowd away, but we had over 40 people in house. We screened 6 original and riveting films by talented local filmmakers, and the night was a big hit. Thank you everyone who came out to support the filmmakers and spend the evening with us. We hope you enjoyed all the films and the opportunity to network with other filmmakers and film enthusiasts!

Also, a huge thank you to Alyssa Meadows for filling in for Chris as the photographer of the night!

See the photos from the evening:

 

The films of the night:

BLISS (Directed by Hannah Leshaw)
A woman tries to intimately connect with her partner but ends up feeling more alone.

Moving On (Directed by Andrea Fumagalli)
Two girls in Brooklyn deal with the end of their relationship. Are they ready to move on?

Molly's Method (Directed By Gabriela Revilla Lugo)
Molly Mayer, famous marriage counselor, finds herself in hot water when a tryst with her patient leads to surprisingly positive results.

i Hate being Black (Directed by Kevin Craig West)
a conversation amongst buppies.

Darling Can You Answer The Door (Directed by Tomer Adorian)
A story about the nuances in a relationship between a struggling artist and the man who loves her.

A Good Fish (Directed by Nicholas Santos)
Left with nothing by their recently deceased father, two aimless brothers head home to face his funeral. 

The awards go to...

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 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 at our end of year Best of Fest event in April, while both winning filmmakers have the option to be featured in our Insider Series. 

The Silver Whiskers winner also receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform, and both winners received a free subscription to Bright Ideas Magazine. (If YOU would like a subscription for 40% off, feel free to sign up with promo code indieworks.) 

For the November 2014 lineup, our winning filmmakers were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Darling Can You Answer The Door"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "Molly's Method"

IndieWorks: Insider Series w/ Hannah Leshaw

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Each month we're bringing local indie filmmakers to the spotlight on our bi-weekly "Insider Series". Guests are primarily winning filmmakers who've submitted films to our IndieWorks monthly film series, though every now and then we'll be bringing on a couple of special guests to highlight specific local filmmakers. Hannah was the October 2013 Audience Choice winner for her film "Fictional Me, Fictional You."

Part of our effort for IndieWorks is to help indie filmmakers outside of our monthly screenings. Each month we're bringing our winning filmmakers to chat with IndieWorks host Lauren A. Kennedy for a bi-weekly series titled "IndieWorks: Insider Series". Back in October, 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."

Hannah can be reached via her vimeo page here. 

IndieWorks: October Recap & Upcoming Halloween Series

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This October, we decided that one IndieWorks event just wasn't enough! Take a look at October 2nd's recap and more. In the spirit of the season, we have another screening at the end of this month on Oct. 30th! Check out the details below.

 

 

The awards go to...

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 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. It goes on to screen at our end of the year Best of Fest event.

For the October 2013 lineup, our winning filmmakers were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Fictional Me, Fictional You" Directed by Hannah Leshaw.

    Silver Whiskers Award:  "The Secret Friend" Directed by Flavio Alves.

Check out the trailers to both films here:

 

Special Halloween Series - Oct. 30th

Our next upcoming event is coming up in just two weeks on October 30th! The night is going to feature six films themed in horror, thrillers, dark tones, and gore! The event begins at 7:30 at People's Lounge & Bar in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Doors open at 6:30, so stop in early to grab a drink and mingle with other filmmakers enjoying the evening. 

Official Summit Teaser Trailer, Too.

We're planning to reveal a new teaser trailer of the film at the next IndieWorks event on Oct. 30th, as well.

Over a year ago, we were in pre-production of our first feature film, "Summit". Since then, we succeeded in a crowdfunding campaign led by Christina, who wrote/directed/produced the film. We then spent two long, dedicated weeks on-location in upstate New York and Massachusetts during production with an amazing cast & crew. It's currently still in post-production and we'll be keeping our friends & followers up to date online at www.summitthemovie.com.

Be sure to be at the event on the 30th to get an early peek at the trailer before anyone else!