IndieWorks

IndieWorks: July Recap

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Last Tuesday was the July edition of IndieWorks, and what an eventful night it was! We had some unexpected mishaps of the night, from one of our hosts having a last minute emergency, as well as one of our filmmakers of the night having a last minute emergency, to our venue being double booked! However, despite all that, the night went smoothly (and everyone is okay)! We screened 3 films and had over 40 people in house. Our first film was an effective, dramatic piece that explored the coming of age of a young woman in an unfortunate situation. The second and third films were comedies that took stylistically different, but tonally similar, satirical approaches to complicated subjects. All the pieces of the night resonated with the audience differently, and some thoughtful discussions were had. Overall, the night was a big success!

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 on August 15th. 

See photos from the evening (by Carlos Molina)

The Films of the night:

Portrait of a Young Woman (Directed & Written by Grecia Aguilar)
Sonia is a typical sixteen year old with a love for music and an extensive curiosity for boys. She has fun but no girl is ever the same when she falls in love for the first time.

Death of a Vacuum (Directed by Simone Kisiel/Written by Adriana Jones)
AA short, dark comedy about a young woman who comes home to find that her parents are working on a fun new project together – a divorce.

Covered (Directed & Written by Tawny Sorensen & Colin Fisher)
When Anders Anderson buys a new house, he discovers that he needs insurance and visits Assuring Insurance to make sure that he is covered. 

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 award goes to...

At the end of the evening, we announced our winning filmmaker of the Audience Choice Award. Due to our shortened lineup, we made some changes this month and just awarded one winner all the monetary prizes. The Audience Choice Award is voted upon by all those in attendance; they receive $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 July 2017 lineup, our winning film was:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Death of a Vacuum"

Join us next month for our August edition on the 15th!

IndieWorks: June (Year 5 Kickoff) Recap

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Last Tuesday was the June edition of IndieWorks, and our first of Year 5! We screened 5 films and had over 40 people in house. Smaller crowd than usual, but considering it was the hottest night of the year so far (97 degrees!), it was quite an impressive turnout! Our first two films were dramatic pieces that explored racial and ethnic oppression in different ways. They were beautifully shot, heartbreaking and thought provoking. The second set of films were slightly more hopeful, all exploring the pain but promise of romantic relationships. The styles and genres of those ranged in eclectic and wonderfully enjoyable ways. All the pieces of the night resonated with the audience differently, and some lovely discussions were had. We had some sound snags throughout the night due to how cranked up the air conditioner needed to be for the weather (something we will work to fix for next month). But overall, the night was a big success!

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 on July 18th. 

See photos from the evening (by Carlos Molina)

The Films of the night:

The Orange Story (Directed by Erika Street Hopman, Produced & Co-Written by Eugene Sun Park)
February 1942. President Roosevelt signs Executive Order 9066, which authorizes the forced “relocation" of 120,000 ethnic Japanese from their homes and into incarceration camps throughout the U.S. Koji Oshima is the proud owner of a small corner grocery store, but he must now abandon everything and report to an assembly center.

Penalty (Directed by Aldo Iuliano/Written by Severino Iuliano & Alessandro Giulietti, Produced by Andrette Lo Conto)
A group of guys plays football in the middle of nowhere. At stake is much more than a simple victory.

The 3rd Try (Directed & Written by Alfonso Rodriguez, Represented by Actor Imana Breaux)
A lesbian couple tries to find solace after experiencing a traumatic loss.

Date & Time (Directed & Written by Craig Nobbs)
A young couple, awash in the glow of new found love, find their fragile bond tested as they go back in time and find that memory is imperfect and they may not be who they thought they were.

Sonnet 23 (Directed by Rebecca Shoptaw)
A modern reimagining of "Sonnet 23" by William Shakespeare.

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, along with a nuanced discussion focused on inclusion and originality. 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 June 2017 lineup, our winning films were:
    Audience Choice Award:  "Date & Time"
    Silver Whiskers Award:  "The Orange Story"

Join us next month for our July edition on the 18th!

Vote for the 10th Film to Screen at IndieWorks Best of Fest (Year 4)!

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March 7th concluded our monthly screenings for the 4th year of IndieWorks; and now our Best of Fest is just around the corner on April 18th! The event will feature the 9 Silver Whiskers Award Winners of the year, plus a 10th Audience Chosen film.

Before each Best of Fest, we select three films to compete for the last spot at the screening and encourage the audience to choose the winning film. This allows the community to participate in our selection process and the public to see a few of the best of the total 47 films screened this year, building up to our celebratory finale! 

All three of these selected films did exceptionally well in the Audience Choice voting and were high contenders for the Silver Whiskers at their respective screenings. We also feel that they reflect the diverse & innovative approach to visual storytelling that we aim to support and showcase at IndieWorks.

Please watch all three films and VOTE BELOW for the ONE you'd like to see screen with the Silver Whiskers Award winners of the year at Best of Fest.

THE CONTEST HAS ENDED.  

The winning film announced HERE. Feel free to watch the trailers for the selected films below. See you at Best of Fest!