IndieWorks

IndieWorks - March Recap

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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 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 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 - February Recap

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We usually put out recaps the week after IndieWorks, but we've been quite busy at CongestedCat this month. So here it is: two weeks ago was our February edition, and it was a wonderful night. We thought the cold would keep the crowd away but we had over 45 people in house for our 6 women-powered shorts of the night! Some thoughtful, insightful and fun 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 March screening on the 7th. 

See photos from the night:

The Films of the night:

The Perfumist (Directed by Yukari Akaba Rockmuller, Shannon Lee, Daniela Lobo Dias, Sandra Rivero Ortiz)
A dramatic story highlighting the battle of Machine-Equipped Man against Cosmic Nature. Seeking the perfect scent for his perfume, Benedict Malville runs into the consequences of trampling on sacred, natural ground.

What The People Want (Directed & Animated by Kathleen Judge)
This animated music video takes inspiration from the songs lyric and especially the disappearance, murder, and attacks on women around the world. 

America Heard: Refuge of Hope (Directed by Yasmin Mistry, Produced by James Boo)
Syracuse, New York is an unlikely home to over 10,000 former refugees. Two women at the forefront of this community reflect on what their presidential vote means to those whose only true home is the American town that took them in.

Sleeping With Earrings On (Directed by Jaclyn Gramigna, Written & Produced by Stephanie Iscovitz)
A family drama centered around Maggie's marriage to the love of her life, Kyle.The tension is palpable on the morning of the wedding when Georgie misplaces something important that Bridget entrusted to her.

Juice (Written & Directed by Rachel Kessler)
M, a young woman of quiet intensity, has six of her closest friends over to celebrate her sixteenth birthday. 

Great Expectations (Directed by Don Downie, Written by Dorothy Marcic, Produced by/Starring Laura Dowling Shea)
Maribeth just needs some help to finish a big project but ends up with much more than she expected! Sometimes more is less.

We were a bit shorthanded this month but still managed to shoot the Q&A. 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 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 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 February 2017 lineup, our winning films were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Sleeping With Earrings On"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "Juice"

Happy Valentine's Day from CongestedCat!

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Watch Short Films About Love

We're breaking our monthly newsletter formula for this month only because we think sharing and celebrating love is so important right now. Below find four of our favorite shorts about love by local filmmakers that we've screened at our monthly screening series, IndieWorks.

"La Loteria," Written & Directed by Shahir Daud/ Produced by Shivali Gulab

"July," Written & Directed by Jason Latorre/ Produced by Tara Latorre

"The Bureau of Short-Term Affairs," Directed by Bryan Artiles/ Written & Produced by Sissy Denkova

"The Bureau of Short-Term Affairs," Directed by Bryan Artiles/ Written & Produced by Sissy Denkova

"Hungry For Love," Written & Directed by Justin Ambrosino/ Produced by Soojin Chun

And watch "Kelsey," a piece of our own content, our critically acclaimed 10 episode web series about friendship and finding love. Free on our site! 

And lastly, be sure to check out and support our latest creative endeavor, our second feature film, About a Donkey, currently crowdfunding for production funds. We believe this film will combat hate and spread hope. We believe it will invite people to empathize with others who may not necessarily look or live like them because, after all, love is love.  

We hope you feel love today, whether it be romantic, familial, platonic... Just love. 

IndieWorks - January Recap

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Last Tuesday was the January edition of IndieWorks, and what a night it was. We thought the rain would keep people away; but we ended up with 80 people in house to watch our 5 films of the night and spend the evening in thoughtful discussion! Our first two films explored issues of race in contemporary America through very character focused lenses. The last three explored feelings of isolation, discontent and struggling to find fulfillment in all facets of life, with a particular focus on female friendships. Some lovely and insightful 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 February screening on the 7th. 

See photos from the night:

The Films of the night:

The Visit (Directed by Shane Andries, Written & Produced by Vishwas Vishwas)
A 'brown' man with a beard finds himself caught in a dilemma when two men show up to his house looking for answers. Stereotype, victim, or perpetrator? "The Visit" is an upside-down look at present day racial realities.

Privilege (Directed & Written by Berman Fenelus)
A short film that reflects on the epidemic of police brutality in communities of people of color. The audience witnesses the effects of such an encounter when it strikes an affluent African American family who, despite their accomplishments and achievements, realize they can still fall victim to the violent world which they thought they were far removed from.

Happy Here in New York (Directed & Written by Rodrigo Baumgartner Ayres, Written by Caroline Rosalino)
Best friends reunite in New York City but their friendship will never be the same.

Greener (Directed by Alessia Gatti, Written & Produced by Martha Frances Williams, Produced by Laura Vogels)
Three friends ask themselves ' can we have it all?' 

Keep Me Posted (Directed & Written by Hillary Nussbaum)
A biting look at the impact of texting and social media on our closest relationships, told through the lives of 3 female friends trying to grow up without growing apart. In the process, they grapple with everything from career crises, dating, and marriage, to self-doubt, anxiety, and depression.

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 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 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 2017 lineup, our winning films were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Happy Here in New York"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "The Visit"

Watch the Trailer for our Silver Whiskers winner below:

Artists in Action Forum Recap

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After the recent Presidential election, I (Christina) was feeling a need to take action and contextualize my role as an artist in the coming battle against the normalization of hate in our country. I decided the best thing I could do right now would be to use my reach as a leader in the NY film community to create a space where local artists could get together face to face and really brainstorm ways we can use our individual and collective voices to make a difference. I reached out to Nicole Solomon and Sean Mannion of 4MileCircus about this idea, and they really brought it to life - helping organize the event itself and lend their voices to getting the conversation started. Ultimately, we wanted to create an organized but open forum for any artists to share their ideas and offer opportunities to collaborate for the cause.

Overall, we discussed the importance of representation and creating space for marginalized individuals to tell their own stories. We touched on making public commitments to inclusivity and holding each other accountable. For instance, in terms of freelancing, we discussed the power of saying no and of asking questions, and having expectations out of collaborators. That discussion largely revolved around defining your own line -- setting a personal standard and being transparent about that. There was discussion of union organizing, like if Trump were to be on the Jimmy Fallon show again, if the camera crew refused to work, that episode wouldn't happen. That branched off into exploring how we can use our collective power in big and small ways. And we ended talking quite a bit about various outreach opportunities going on.

Below is a video recap of some of the conversation. It was two hours that we turned into 12 minutes. We want to offer a look into what was discussed but also highlight the importance of being in the room and actually showing up, so we won't be releasing the full video.

We'd like to thank everyone who was able to make it and participate in the discussion. We tried to include a snippet from everyone who spoke. Unfortunately, two people weren't caught on camera due to our camera cutting out. We apologize to them. One person who is a union member discussed the importance of who you hire in your crew and making hard commitments to have diverse team members who can rise in their department. Another person spoke about partnering with organizations on an educational level. An example that came up was IndieWorks alum, Foster Care Film project.

Shout-out to CongestedCat team members Kelsey & Ryan for shooting the video and taking notes, and collaborator Kimberly Drew Whiten for editing it. And thank you again to everyone who's taking part in this fight.

If anyone who couldn't make it would like to be added to the listserv for updates about future gatherings or relevant projects that attendees are working on, please send us a message.