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IndieWorks - September Recap

Last Tuesday was the September edition of IndieWorks! And it was our annual web series month, where we screen episodes from local series. We screened 5 episodes total and had 35 people in house. Smaller crowd than usual, but considering the pouring rain all day, it was quite an impressive turnout! Web series month always plays a little different because we can’t fully program thematically, the way we would other months. We only showcase web series once per month, so we have to be extra selective based on what we get, while also making it a point to highlight the different styles, genres, and unique stories being told in the local episodic space. So, it ends up being a very eclectic night where the only thing fully tying the lineup together is the fact that the stories are all ongoing rather than standalone. It seems this audience was onboard for the ride and enjoyed the different series highlighted.

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 webisodes and the opportunity to network with other filmmakers and film enthusiasts. We know some connections were made! AND we hope you'll join us again for our Halloween Special on October 30th! (We’ll be in costume and it’s going to be super spooky & fun!) 

See photos from the evening:

The Series of the night:

Open Mic (Creator, Writer: J. Martin Raider, Director: Larry Alan Rosenzweig)
David hosts an open mic and struggles to survive while raising his son in New York City.

Split (Creator, Writer: Yael Shavitt, Director: Molly McGaughey)
After auditioning for a drama high school, 13-year-old Sammy makes a crucial choice that splits the path of her life in two. Flash forward twelve years: in one world, Sammy’s grown into Sam, a confident up-and-coming actress in a turbulent relationship with her girlfriend. In another world, she’s Samantha, an eager assistant director living a life of routine with her longtime boyfriend.

Hidden Guardians (Creator, Writer, Director: Daniel Armour)
Held hostage by her abusive father Albur, sixteen year old Zadie Emerson desperately fights to get free and start a new life. When she awakens a mysterious power within her, however, she must decided between using it to runaway or exacting her revenge. 

Queer & Down (Creator, Writer, Director: Jamie DiNicola)
Noah and Julia have never felt like they belonged; aside from with each other.

"Queer & Down" is the story of a young queer couple navigating their love for one another, and their sexualities. Noah, a queer transgender man, hopes to find belonging in a world that denounces his unique masculinity. Julia tries to find her place in a world that invalidates feminine queerness. 

Adult (Creator, Writer: Tatienne Hendricks-Tellefsen, Director: Cynthia Silver)
Two unlikely friends with a ten year age gap, Clementine (19) and Allison (29), face problems from the harsh, judgmental world, and find solace in their weird, but loving friendship.

Watch our Q&A Recap. The perk of web series month is that the episodes can be watched online NOW to offer context to the Q&A! Find most on Youtube!

The award goes to...

At the end of the evening, we announced our winning filmmaker of the Audience Choice Award. We've realized from past years that web series episodes always feel a bit confusing alongside all standalone films at Best of Fest, so we decided moving forward that at this specialty month we'll exclude our Silver Whiskers pick and just award one audience-selected winner all the monetary prizes. The winner receives $50 towards a crowdfunding campaign on SeedandSpark.com should they use the platform and and 50% off 4MileCircus' post-production audio cleaning service for a future project. 

For the September 2018 lineup, our winning series was:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Adult"

Join us next month for our Halloween edition on the 30th! 

(The deadline to submit for consideration is September 29th.)

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IndieWorks: January Recap

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!

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 rating system of 8 categories:   StoryDialogue/WritingDirectionActingCinematographySoundEditing, and Production Value, along with a nuanced discussion focused on inclusion and originalityThe 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.)

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IndieWorks - March Recap

Last Tuesday was the March edition of IndieWorks and our last of Year 4 before Best of Fest! We only screened 4 films this month (instead of our usual 5) and it was quite a cold night, but we still had an engaged and thoughtful audience of over 40 people. Insightful conversations came out of the lineup, and we hope valuable 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 to watch our Best Films of Year 4 on April 18th! (More on that soon!) Save the date!

See photos from the night:

The Films of the night:

Runners (Directed by Liam Billingham, Written by Victoria Negri)
A frustrated female runner has a casual encounter with a middle-aged, aspiring skateboarding dad, leading to self-reflection and new discoveries.

Twinsburg (Written & Dreicted by Joe Garrity)
Jerry, sentimental about his fading twin identity, reunites with his reluctant brother Paul for a weekend of revelry at the world’s largest congregation of twins.

Between Seconds (Written & Directed by Nora Jaenicke)
The story of two musicians who have grown out of sync with their music and ultimately themselves.

The Tramcar Girl (Directed by Gerard Zarra, Alex Tymchak & Daniel Lewinstein)
A young woman rescues a man buried up to his neck in sand on the beach. She is immediately smitten, but he runs away before she can say anything.

Check out the quick Recap to see what the filmmakers had to say about their films. *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 in 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 March 2017 lineup, our winning films were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Between Seconds"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "Twinsburg"

Watch the trailer for the winning film below:

IndieWorks - November Recap

Last Tuesday was the November edition of IndieWorks! Due to the weather, it being 2 days before Thanksgiving and only 2 weeks after the terrifying and devastating election results, we expected a smaller crowd. Thankfully, we still had 40 people in house for our screening of 5 shorts. And even more thankfully, we were able to enjoy an evening of celebrating expression and local filmmaking/filmmakers even amongst such uncertainty. The first half of the lineup was a series of animated films (the third mixed with live-action in documentary form), and all addressed trauma or anxiety but with resolutions of hope. The second half was more lighthearted with fun genre twists and turns. Some lovely 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 on December 13th, where we'll take a break from our usual screenings to have a filmmaker focused forum on how artists can use our reach and creative content to organize against the normalization of hate.) 

The Films of the night:

Trauma (Directed & Written by Brett Moody)
Matt, an ageless male in a spacesuit, wakens on the floor of a massive, pitch-black cavern. He is lost, and a meter on his suit warns him that he is running out of oxygen.

Bloop (Directed & Written by Joshua Planz)
A visual poem depicting the last three years of internal thoughts.

Suffering is the Easy Part (Directed by Jaime Ekkens)
A short, partially animated documentary about trauma, trauma's aftermath, depression and the healing process.

The Suitor (Directed & Written by Alvaro Congosto)
October 30th, 1938. During Orson Welles' infamous radio broadcast of War of the Worlds, a lonely man tries to bond with a panicked young woman as they fearfully wait for the end of the world together.

Mantis (Directed by Christian LaMorte, Written by Dylan Gantz)
A young man and a young woman watch TV together.

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 November 2016 lineup, our winning films were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Mantis"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "The Suitor"

Watch the audience winner and trailer for the Silver Whiskers winner below:

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: