Congratulations to all the recipients of the 2020-21 Inwood Art Works Filmmaker Fund. These are their stories that we are helping bring to the screen.
The Fund was created to financially support and encourage the creation of locally-made cinema in the Inwood NYC community, which includes Inwood, Washington Heights, Harlem, Marble Hill, Kingsbridge, and Riverdale. Now in its second year, and despite the global pandemic, it has grown to support eight filmmakers (up from five in 2019) and more than 60% of the grant money will this year be awarded to minority filmmakers as part of our goal to reflect the diversity of New York City and the Uptown (Manhattan/Bronx) community in our programming.
More information about the Fund submission criteria can be found here.
Project Title: Karen
In confusing times, we can all get confused. Sometimes “Karen” describes someone. Sometimes it’s just a name. When we reach out and help each other, we define who we are and keep hope alive.
Jim Bradley has directed commercials and corporate video projects in various countries around the globe. He is currently finishing editing on a documentary short he has directed about New York called “Open All Night” that features the workers (including the men and women who print The New York Times) and entertainers (including the Tony winner LaChanze) that make NYC the city that never sleeps. He has worked in all areas of film from development, to production and post production. One of his proudest moments was working with legendary filmmaker Albert Maysles on one of his last (and never completed) projects. He has a degree in Theatre from The Ohio State University and lives in Riverdale with his wife and two children.
Project Title: Beautiful Strokes
Washed up tennis player Pete Sampers rediscovers his dream of defeating tennis legend Pete Sampras, by playing against a poster on a wall.
Steven Burneson is a videographer and the head of post production for Red Summit Productions in New York City. He has created video content for the likes of PayPal, Mount Sinai, Walmart, and Mars. His independent film work has received awards at film festivals across the east coast. Most recently, his short film “Don’t Blink Twice” won best narrative short at the 2020 Splice Film Festival. He is currently enrolled in a writing fellowship with Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, and Steven’s first play, “Cross Stitch Bandits,” is set for its world premiere in 2021 (COVID permitting!)
Project Title: The Other Side Of Broadway
Two teenagers find young love, crossing the cultural divide that is Broadway.
Born in New Haven, Connecticut to Sri Lankan immigrants, Dileepan Ganesan is a filmmaker based in Inwood. With a love for the great auteurs of the sixties and seventies, as well as independent greats of the nineties and today, Ganesan brings a fresh perspective to his films. Infused with comedy and cultural commentary, his films share a common thread: humanism and love struggling to prevail in an often unforgiving society. Ganesan attended NYU as a music major, but learned several tricks of filmmaking from roommates who studied film. He also spent a majority of his free time between classes in the library renting out films from their massive library, learning from the greats.
Project Title: Quico
“Quico” is an emotional portrait of a young Latino boy navigating his youth in white suburban America.
Carlos Hiciano was born and raised in the NYC tri-state area where he had an affinity for both film and music. He went on to achieve his Bachelors’s degree in Multimedia Studies from CUNY- Lehman College. Carlos’ films have been recognized and well-received in multiple film festivals including, the Tunxis Short film festival, Chicago Horror Film Festival, and the Dominican Film Festival. He freelances in both production and post-production in Film, Television, and also the music industry. He is often working alongside fellow filmmaker and cousin Alfonso Rodriguez.
Project Title: Asian Persuasian
A fistfight, ugly cries, betrayal, coming out, unrequited love, lovers spat, what else can happen during a public marriage proposal between a couple in front of their closest friends?
Michael Manese was born in the Philippines, moved to the US with his family when he was 10 and grew up in Passaic, NJ. He went to school at Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ where he studied film and video production. His last short film “The Pleasure of Being Served” screened at the Inwood Film Festival in 2018 and eventually would screen in 19 festivals (so far).
Project Title: Giant
Maddie just moved to the small city of Leith, where she begins to interview a famous hundred-foot giant who lives there, but the job soon turns into an obsession as Maddie battles with her own sense of size.
Brian Miller has been a video producer and cinematographer for over ten years. He has worked on videos for companies such as Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, GE, McDonald’s, and Sony, and also works regularly for Columbia University, creating video content for the School of International and Public Affairs. In addition to his non-fiction and commercial work, Brian has collaborated on several short films as a cinematographer, such as Adam Toback’s recent film A Best Man (supported by last year’s Filmmaker Fund Grant) as well as Dylan Tuccillo’s films The Tunnel, The First Time I Saw You, and Josh and Lyla Go to Dinner. Brian and Dylan have been collaborating for years as they develop their creative ideas together.
Project Title: GET-OUT! Gentrification: Good, Bad or Ugly?
What impact is gentrification having on the NW Bronx? View gentrification from the perspective of the 2020 business owner, as well from the vantage point of the new neighborhood tenants.
Geoffrey Smith was born and raised in the Bronx, and was educated at local public schools P.S. 78, I.S. 144 and Evander Childs High School. He did his undergraduate work at Baruch College (CUNY) and graduate school at the New School for Social Research. He has taught psychology and sociology at Monroe College for the past 20 years, and has volunteered and served on various community boards and churches from 1993-2017. His latest film is Stop the Madness, a comedic/dramatic look at the absurdity of racism in our society.
Project Title: Where the Rivers Meet
Where the Rivers Meet is a new stop-motion film that celebrates the history and community of Inwood, placing historical events at the center of the narrative to learn from the past and create a better future.
Libby Stadstad is an Inwood, New York based filmmaker, art director and scenic designer working in theatre, opera, dance, film, television and immersive installations. Her work has been presented by the Guggenheim Museum’s Works & Process Series, New York City Center, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, Fox Theater (Atlanta), Auditorium Theater (Chicago), Williamstown Theater Festival, 59E59, The New School, The Cell, Ramapo College, Luna Stage, Clarence Brown Theater (Tennessee) and the Children’s Theater of Charlotte. In 2019, Ms. Stadstad made her debut with the highly acclaimed Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater at New York City Center featuring new choreography by Jamar Roberts. Stadstad’s work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Live Design Magazine and Lighting and Sound America Magazine.
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