brandon taylor

IndieWorks - October (Halloween Special) Recap

Happy Halloween! Last Tuesday was the October edition of IndieWorks, and our annual Halloween special! We screened 6 genre shorts, and had almost 50 people in house despite the jarring chill in the air! The films ranged in sub-genre throughout the night, but all had a macabre spin and really put us in the Halloween spirit. Some wonderful conversations came out of the lineup; we hope connections were made, as well!

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 hope you'll join us again for our November screening on the 22nd. After two months in a row of speciality screenings, we'll be back to our usual diverse lineups through the rest of Year 4. 

The Films of the night:

Arts & Crafts (Directed & Written by Nina Gielen)
When Misha was small, he and his mother would spend hours creating their own toys and animals out of sticks and leaves. It’s been over a year since Misha’s mother died, and he now lives alone with his dad. Still hoping she might come home eventually, Misha leaves the door unlocked for her every night, much to his father’s consternation.

Burnt Popcorn (Directed & Written by Rafael De Leon)
When a naive young woman is reluctant to break away from an unfulfilling dating situation, her father convinces her to handle it in an extreme way and complete her transition to adulthood.

The Price of Bones (Directed by Brandon Taylor, Written by Samantha Kolesnik)
Caprice and Heather go to extreme lengths to be thin.

Stitched (Directed & Written by Heather Taylor)
A sheltered woman, reeling from the death of her mother, shows her sister how far she will go to be heard.

The Grind (Directed & Written by Christian LaMorte & Alejandro Veciana)
A mini web series satirizing modern movie cliches with absurd, surreal humor.

Sticks (Directed & Written by Mark J Parker)
Four college students reunite on a summer night at a house in the woods. As they tell scary stories around the campfire, the line between imagination and reality blurs, and they get the feeling they may not be alone on the property.

Watch our Q&A Recap (shot & 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!

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 StoryDialogue/WritingDirectionActingCinematographySoundEditing, and Production Value. 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 onSeedandSpark.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 October 2016 lineup, our winning films were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "The Price of Bones"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "Arts & Crafts"

Watch the Trailer for both winners below:

IndieWorks: September (Web Series) Screening Recap

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 StoryDialogue/WritingDirectionActingCinematography,  SoundEditing, 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!