CASSEROLE CLUB dishes out new Independent Vision Awards record and walks off with 5 wins – including Outstanding Production & Direction!

STAGS writer/director, Jamie Greenberg, wins Special Jury Prize; Domani Vision Award for Emerging Talent – Filmmaker of the Year goes to Conrad Jackson for FALLING OVERNIGHT!
Multi-nominated THE ABSENCE crowned as Outstanding Short Subject and Skylar Gordon’s experimental ONTOLOGICA! honored for script and original score.

New York City, (June 27, 2011) – VISIONFEST 11: The Other Festival (VF11), which ran June 22-26, 2011, at Tribeca Cinemas revealed its Independent Vision Award winners last night, during a ceremony, which ran a little over an hour and also unveiled the 5 digital shorts created this year for the festival’s ambitious initiative, the 5x5 NEW YORK STATE OF MIND DIGITAL PROJECT.

Steve Balderson’s THE CASSEROLE CLUB, took home 5 of the 9 statuettes for which it was nominated and managed to break the film festival’s record for most wins ever by a single film, coincidentally held by FIRECRACKER, one of the director’s earlier films, and Nyle Cavazos Garcia’s 2004 drama, CLEAN. The film’s director and producers were recognized for their achievements, with co-producer, Garrett Swann, and one of the film’s actors, Jennifer Grace, on hand to accept the awards on behalf of Steve Balderson, who had to fly back home a day shy of the ceremony. The festival’s social sites were buzzing with activity from Backstreet Boys fan clubs across the country when Kevin Scott Richardson, a former band member, was honored with an award for his stunning performance in the film. Co-star, Susan Traylor, took home one of two awards handed out in the female acting category, with Anna Moore landing the other statuette for her brilliant turn in FIGHTING FISH, in what is actually the festival’s only ‘tie’ since 2002, but the first ever in the acting categories. Rounding out the CLUB wins was Mr. Balderson’s achievement in Production Design, which gave the ‘60s period piece its uniquely elegant and colorful visual glory. Festival co-director, Frank Lewallen, described the film as “an amazing motion picture… looks like it was made for millions of bucks.”

The Domani Vision Film Society, the festival’s organizing entity, bestowed a Special Jury Prize award, which was co-sponsored by InkTip.com, on the film STAGS and its writer-director, Jamie Greenberg, whose audience-pleasing comedy was also the festival’s fastest selling screening, ultimately reaching ‘standing room only’ in both screening rooms of the Tribeca Cinemas. A second special award, not included in the categories with nominations, went to Daniel Stine’s short subject, GOD AND VODKA, which was singled out as the Audience Favorite, based upon a sampling report of the reactions and comments coming back from festival goers, as collected by specifically assigned fest reps and Domani Vision associates. The multi-award nominated, THE ABSENCE, by Alex DeMille, was chosen as the year’s Outstanding Short Subject, and two other short subject contenders, FLAGPOLE, by Matt Kazman, and AFTER-SCHOOL SPECIAL, by Jacob Chase, picked up wins for Most Promising Filmmaker and Best Short Form Screenplay respectively, with the latter going to acclaimed playwright Neil LaBute. The short doc BELOW NEW YORK by Matt Finlin was cited as the top of its category, and the experimental epic, ONTOLOGICA! by Skylar Gordon nabbed two awards: Writing & Original Score.



The festival’s Domani Vision Award for Emerging Talent – Filmmaker of the Year was assigned to Conrad Jackson for his narrative feature, FALLING OVERNIGHT, which also won the Jack Nance Breakthrough Performance Award for its lead, Parker Croft. Tech awards went to: VIRGIN ALEXANDER’s Charlotte Barret & Sean Fallon, for Editing; Michael Fimognari earned this year’s ASC-sponsored Abe Schrager Award for Cinematography for the feature drama, LEAVE; and Josh Roos was singled out for Sound Design on PHAROS. Throughout the evening, the festival’s 5x5 Project shorts were also screened and its authors and respective filmmakers were called up for acknowledgement.

The InkTip.com awards for the top three screenplays in the Feature Screenwriting Competition went to: James Poirier’s THE WHITE DEATH (1^st place); Kevin Brodie’s SEASON OF MISTS (2^nd place); and Nyle Cavazos Garcia’s THE FIGHTING IRISH, rounding out the top three. The 1^st place winner, in addition to goods and services provided by InkTip.com, will receive a staged reading before an audience of industry guests, which will be followed by a gala reception, in Spring 2012.

The evening ended a little after midnight, following a very successful and animated after-party with music by DJ Illegal, organized by the fest’s new events coordinator, Paul Benjamin.


Following, is a complete list of nominees, with winning names/titles in bold italics.

Domani Vision Award for Emerging Talent

Alex DeMille (The Absence)
Conrad Jackson (Falling Overnight)
Skylar Gordon (Ontologica!)
Jamie Greenberg (Stags)
Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon (Virgin Alexander)

Production

The Absence
The Casserole Club
Falling Overnight
Leave
Stags

SPECIAL JURY PRIZE – Sponsored by InkTip.com & ASC.

Jamie Greenberg (Stags)


Directing

Alex DeMille (The Absence)
Steve Balderson (The Casserole Club)
Conrad Jackson (Falling Overnight)
Robert Celestino (Leave)
Jamie Greenberg (Stags)

Writing

Frankie Krainz (The Casserole Club)
Aaron Golden, Conrad Jackson & Parker Croft (Falling Overnight)
Skylar Gordon (Ontologica!)
Jamie Greenberg (Stags)
Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon (Virgin Alexander)


Short Subject Narrative

The Absence
After-School Special
Flagpole
God and Vodka
Quarters

The Jack Nance Breakthrough Performance Award

David Gross (A Bridge to Bourne)
Jennifer Grace (The Casserole Club)
David Thompson (Flagpole)
Parker Croft (Falling Overnight)
Rick Faugno (Virgin Alexander)

Acting (Male Lead)

Kevin Scott Richardson (The Casserole Club)
Val Emmich (Fighting Fish)
Rick Gomez (Leave)
Eric Wheeler (Proposal)
Benim Foster (Stags)

Acting (Female Lead)

Sarah Paulson (After-School Special)
Susan Traylor (The Casserole Club) - tie
Emilia Zoryan (Falling Overnight)
Anna Moore (Fighting Fish) - tie
Jessica Faller (Stags)

The Abe Schrager Award for Cinematography

Dagmar Weaver-Madsen (The Absence)
Steve Balderson (The Casserole Club)
Doug Emmett (Fighting Fish)
Michael Fimognari (Leave)
Logan Roos (Pharos)

Editing

Erin Greenwell (The Absence)
Shanna Maurizi (How To Make It in Filmmaking)
Skylar Gordon (Ontologica!)
Jen Kozlowski (Pharos)
Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon (Virgin Alexander)

Original Score

Jonathan Zalben (The Absence)
Rob Kleiner (The Casserole Club)
Credit to be determined (God and Vodka)
Milosz Jeziorski (Ontologica!)
Jason Cummings & Ian Vargo (Pharos)

Production Design

Michael Bednark (The Absence)
Steve Balderson (The Casserole Club)
Jonathan A. Carlson (Leave)
Mc Graw Wolfman & Logan Roos (Pharos)
Monica Jacobs (Virgin Alexander)

Certificate of Award


Most Promising Filmmaker

Elan Golod (Exclusive)
Matt Kazman (Flagpole)
Daniel Stine (God and Vodka)
Eddie O’Keefe (The Ghosts)
Shanna Maurizi (How To Make It in Filmmaking)

Short Form Documentary

Animation: A Palette of Possibilities
Below New York
Slip Cue

Short Form Screenwriting

Neil LaBute (After-School Special)
Jonathan Lisecki (Gayby)
Eddie O’Keefe (The Ghosts)
Matt Kazman (Flagpole)
Drew Mylrea (Quarters)

Sound Design

Danny Langa (The Absence)
Chris Dickinson (Ontologica!)
Josh Roos (Pharos)
Ronnie Cramer (Sixty in 60)
Ben Wilkins (Waking Wallbauer)

SPECIAL AUDIENCE FAVORITE Award Certificate

Daniel Stine (God And Vodka)


FEATURE SCREENWRITING COMPETITION

1^st Place: THE WHITE DEATH by James Poirier
2^nd Place: SEASON OF MISTS by Kevin Brodie
3^rd Place: THE FIGHTING IRISH by Nyle Cavazos Garcia

Independent Vision Award Nominees for VISIONFEST 11!

VISIONFEST 11 announces Independent Vision Award nominees

CASSEROLE CLUB and THE ABSENCE lead the pack with 9 nominations apiece!

New York City, (June 23, 2011) – VISIONFEST 11: The Other Festival (VF11), June 22-26, 2011, at Tribeca Cinemas (corner of Varick and Laight streets), announced its Independent Vision Award nominees, just moments after its opening night program wrapped up its post-screening Q&A to a capacity crowd in the Tribeca Lounge.

The nominations, which have always been used by the festival’s jury to determine who would take home the VF statuettes, were made public for the first time ever since the inception of the film festival, in 2001.  Coming in with a whopping 9 nominations, including Production and Direction nods, was Steve Balderson’s THE CASSEROLE CLUB, which also landed recognition for its actors, Kevin Scott Richardson, Susan Traylor, and Jennifer Grace, who was singled out for the Jack Nance Breakthrough Performance Award, in memory of the legendary, iconic actor, known best for his work in several David Lynch projects.  Balderson, who wore many hats on this project, was also nominated for the Abe Schrager Award for Cinematography and for his eye-dazzling use of color, as Production Designer of the feature-length period piece. Had he not already won a Domani Vision Award back in 2005 for his critically acclaimed, FIRECRACKER, the director would have been eligible for an award nomination in that category as well.

The short subject film, THE ABSENCE, by Alex DeMille. Which tied with CLUB, for the amount of nominations it received, prompted festival co-director, Bruno Derlin, to define the occurrence as “somewhat surprising,” adding that “it’s very rare that a short subject comes head to head with a feature, but since VF’s method of recognition is to single out outstanding achievement in individual craft categories, then it’s possible for something like this to take place.  Although, I must admit that, even when we were doing the nominations as secret ‘in-house’ ballots, I never saw such a close race between a feature and a short.  I think it’s fantastic.”  

Other contenders with multiple nods include:  Jamie Greenberg’s STAGS  and Conrad Jackson’s FALLING OVERNIGHT, each with 6 nominations;  VIRGIN ALEXANDER, by Charlotte Barrett and Sean Fallon, Skylar Gordon’s controversial experimental feature, ONTOLOGICA!,  and the short subject Student Academy Award contender, PHAROS, all with 5 apiece;  Robert Celestino’s LEAVE and the Annette Apitz VF11 opener, FIGHTING FISH, closing out the feature circle with 4 and 3 nominations, respectively.  Matt Kazman’s Student Academy Award nominated short, FLAGPOLE, also nabbed 4 mentions, and Daniel Stine’s GOD AND VODKA and  Jacob Chase’s AFTER-SCHOOL SPECIAL, each followed with 3.  And finally, Drew Mylrea’s QUARTERS, Eddie O’Keefe’s “THE GHOSTS,” and Shanna Maurizi’s HOW TO MAKE IT IN FILMMAKING, landed 2 mentions. 

VF11 Co-Director Bruno Derlin with Independent Vision Award nominated actress, Anna Moore (from FIGHTING FISH)

The full list of the nominees follows below:

Domani Vision Award for Emerging Talent

Alex DeMille  (The Absence)

Conrad Jackson  (Falling Overnight)

Skylar Gordon  (Ontologica!)

Jamie Greenberg  (Stags)

Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon  (Virgin Alexander)

Production

The Absence 

The Casserole Club

Falling Overnight 

Leave 

Stags

Directing

Alex DeMille  (The Absence)

Steve Balderson  (The Casserole Club)

Conrad Jackson  (Falling Overnight)

Robert Celestino  (Leave)

Jamie Greenberg  (Stags)

Writing

Frankie Krainz  (The Casserole Club)

Aaron Golden, Conrad Jackson, & Parker Croft  (Falling Overnight)

Skylar Gordon  (Ontologica!)

Jamie Greenberg  (Stags)

Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon  (Virgin Alexander)

Short Subject Narrative

The Absence

After-School Special

Flagpole

God and Vodka

Quarters

The Jack Nance Breakthrough Performance Award

David Gross  (A Bridge to Bourne)

Jennifer Grace  (The Casserole Club)

David Thompson  (Flagpole)

Parker Croft  (Falling Overnight)

Rick Faugno  (Virgin Alexander)

Acting (Male Lead)

Kevin Scott Richardson  (The Casserole Club)

Val Emmich  (Fighting Fish)

Rick Gomez  (Leave)

Eric Wheeler  (Proposal)

Benim Foster  (Stags)

Acting (Female Lead)

Sarah Paulson  (After-School Special)

Susan Traylor  (The Casserole Club)

Emilia Zoryan  (Falling Overnight)

Anna Moore  (Fighting Fish)

Jessica Faller  (Stags)

The Abe Schrager Award for Cinematography

Dagmar Weaver-Madsen  (The Absence)

Steve Balderson  (The Casserole Club)

Doug Emmett  (Fighting Fish)

Michael Fimognari  (Leave)

Logan Roos  (Pharos)

Editing

Erin Greenwell  (The Absence)

Shanna Maurizi  (How To Make It in Filmmaking)

Skylar Gordon  (Ontologica!)

Jen Kozlowski  (Pharos)

Charlotte Barrett & Sean Fallon  (Virgin Alexander)

Original Score

Jonathan Zalben  (The Absence)

Rob Kleiner   (The Casserole Club)

Credit to be determined  (God and Vodka)

Milosz Jeziorski  (Ontologica!)

Jason Cummings & Ian Vargo  (Pharos)

Art Direction/Production Design

Michael Bednark  (The Absence)

Steve Balderson  (The Casserole Club)

Jonathan A. Carlson  (Leave)

Mc Graw Wolfman & Logan Roos  (Pharos)

Monica Jacobs  (Virgin Alexander)

Certificates of Merit

Most Promising Filmmaker

Elan Golod  (Exclusive)

Matt Kazman  (Flagpole)

Daniel Stine  (God and Vodka)

Eddie O’Keefe  (The Ghosts)

Shanna Maurizi  (How To Make It in Filmmaking)

Short Form Documentary

Animation: A Palette of Possibilities

Below New York

Slip Cue

Short Form Screenwriting

Neil LaBute  (After-School Special)

Jonathan Lisecki  (Gayby)

Eddie O’Keefe  (The Ghosts)

Matt Kazman  (Flagpole)

Drew Mylrea  (Quarters)

Sound Design

Danny Langa (The Absence)

Chris Dickinson (Ontologica!)

Josh Roos (Pharos)

Ronnie Cramer  (Sixty in 60)

Credit to be determined  (Waking Wallbauer)

  

Awards will be handed out on Sunday, June 26, as the festival also unveils its 2011 5x5 Project.

Complete line-up, show times, and ticket info can be accessed on the festival’s Web site at: www.visionfest.com.  Tickets may be purchased in advance at Tribeca Cinemas or online.

For additional details and/or to request Press Accreditation, please contact Ed West at:

press@visionfest.com   or visit: www.visionfest.com 

Visionfest's New York State of Mind Digital Project - The Update

In rotation:  Images from VF02 - VF04

Back in the spring of 2003, Domani Vision co-founder, Mark Doyle, approached me about creating a filmmaking initiative that would, not only spice up our Visionfest program, but would also provide an opportunity for up and coming filmmakers to strut their goods before a New York audience in a "world premiere" event.  That very year, just as Visionfest introduced its own new moniker, after a brief stint as the Guerrilla Film & Video Festival, the film festival's first edition of the 5x5 New York State of Mind DV Project was presented at the Cantor Screening Room of the U.S.S. Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum, making Visionfest the very first, and to this date, the last film festival to hold its event on the legendary aircraft carrier docked at 42nd Street & West Side Highway.

For the first edition of the 5x5 Project, five filmmakers were selected by a special Domani Vision Committee to write, develop, and ultimately produce a five minute digital short that had to be completed, from start to finish, in just five days.  The filmmakers were a combination of festival alumni and award winning filmmakers coming from recent successes at other U.S. film festivals. 

The guidelines for participation stated that each selected filmmaker would take part in the random selection (literally out of a hat) of a New York City borough in which to set and shoot his or her short.  The initiative culminated in a "standing room only" presentation in the 258 seat Cantor auditorium. 

The success of the first edition immediately catapulted us into a second go-around, which gave the participating filmmakers (again chosen from a pool of VF alumni and award winning directors from the indie circuit) the challenge of having to base their stories on the eve of the 2003 New York City Blackout, using five speaking characters, with one of them falling ill or dying, and with at least two of them referencing current events from that period, which were predominantly infused with events leading to the start of the war in Iraq. 


In 2005, Visionfest brought back the 5x5 Project for another run, with filmmakers being asked to use an apple (the iconic symbol of NYC) as their own McGuffin to propel their stories into action.  The result was not a complete success, as one of the shorts was pulled from the line-up for not being completed, due to a location issue that came about too late in the production process.  This incident and the fact that the initiative was becoming too trying on festival organizers during their very busy prep time for the annual event, caused the 5x5 to take a five year hiatus (ironically enough).

from FAIRIES FATALE - 2010 5x5 Project

 by Ari Taub

For VFX, the festival's tenth anniversary edition, Domani Vision and its Board of Directors decided to bring back their most ambitious initiative, adding a new wrinkle:  each Project short would have to be directed by a filmmaker whose gender was opposite of that of any of the speaking roles in the films.  That 5x5 show, which saw an extended standing ovation for its participating filmmakers, ensured that the 5x5 Project was reborn and in pole position as one of the primary goals of 2011 edition of Visionfest.

MARY'S JOURNAL - 5x5 Project 2010 by Nyle Cavazos Garcia

In keeping with tradition, Domani Vision decided that a new addendum would surface for the 2011 Project:  A call for entries for a brand new Visionfest Short Script Competition was opened and the five digital shorts being presented this year all stem from the top five scripts of that competition.


Production has already wrapped on three of the five shorts; one short is shooting this coming weekend; the other short is doing some pick-ups on Monday evening.  All five shorts will be presented during the 2011 Independent Vision Awards at VF11, on Sunday, June 26th, at 7:30pm - Tribeca Cinemas. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations will be required (and these can only be made in person at Visionfest 11).  Participating filmmakers, writers, and press/industry guests will have priority seating.  The five digital shorts being presented will be:

EASY PREY by Jeremiah Kipp; from a script by Tara Parian.
IT'S NOT SATURDAY by Martha Pinson; from a script by Annette Beatrice
IT WAS A GIRL by Mickey Pacula; from a script by Max King
SANTA'S LITTLE HELPER by Maggie Low; from a script by Sara Bovolenta
SO AWKWARD by Debra Sophia Pingitore; from a script by Matthew Stevens

For more information please visit our Website at: www.visionfest.com