Congratulations to all the recipients of the 2025-26 Inwood Art Works Filmmaker Fund. These are their stories that we’re helping bring to the screen.
The Fund was created to financially support and encourage the creation of locally-made independent cinema in the Inwood NYC community, which includes Inwood, Washington Heights, Harlem, Marble Hill, Kingsbridge, and Riverdale. Now in its seventh year, the Fund has persisted to “green light” the visions of 10 local filmmakers with awards totaling $50,000 – a new record. More than 70% of the grant money this year was awarded to women and minority filmmakers as part of our goal to reflect the diversity of New York City and the Uptown (Manhattan/Bronx) community in our programming.
This award not only functions as an unrestricted production grant for the creation of new work by New Yorkers, but also funnels capital into our local artistic economy. Thus far, IAW has provided almost $200,000 in grants to 50 local filmmakers.
More information about the Fund submission criteria can be found on our Filmmaker Fund information page.
Project Title: Madame X
When renowned portraitist John Singer Sargent sparks controversy with his painting, Madame X, at the Paris Salon of 1884, the subject of the painting must come to terms with her ruined reputation and figure out how to move on with her life.
Roxy Arecco is an NYC-based actor, writer, and director from Westchester, New York. She holds a BFA in Theater from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and has trained at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, Stonestreet Studios, and The Upright Citizens Brigade. Roxy is a co-founder of All You Can Eat Productions, which offers entertainment across multiple mediums, from theater to film and everything in between. Her web series, Filthy Rich, which she co-wrote, co-directed, and starred in, is available for viewing on Amazon Prime Video. Most recently, she directed a staged reading of her play, Stop Haunting Us, Thomas Paine! We’re Trying to Sing Sondheim, as well as the one-man show, Chess Story, which she also adapted for the stage from Stefan Zweig’s novel.
Project Title: Snatched
When an out-of-order restroom forces Soleil to use a dingy Porta Potty, her designer jumpsuit adds unforeseeable complication to the seemingly simple act of peeing.
Eric Cheung grew up in San Francisco and is an actor/filmmaker now based in NY. He loves farmers markets, great food, and long walks in nature, which is what brought him to Inwood. He was recently seen on Dexter: Resurrection and in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway. As a filmmaker and storyteller, he is interested in simple but impactful stories that amuse, stick with audiences, and question societal norms/structures.
Project Title: A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching
Often dismissed as “flying rats”, New York City’s pigeons are, in fact, resilient survivalists, and deeply connected with the city’s history and culture. “A Pocket Guide to Pigeon Watching” takes viewers on a journey into the hidden lives of our closest avian neighbors, exploring their surprising intelligence, their centuries-old relationship with humans, and the vital role they play in the city’s ecosystem. Through the perspectives of bird enthusiasts and everyday New Yorkers, this documentary challenges our perceptions and asks us to see pigeons not as nuisances, but as kindred neighbors, and New Yorkers in their own right.
Adam Elliott is a New York City–based filmmaker and actor whose work has screened across the U.S. and internationally. His short documentary and directorial debut, David Again, premiered at Tribeca Festival 2024 and received a Special Jury Mention at Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia in Japan. His credits include the award-winning web series The Age of Insecurity and Little Italy, Los Angeles, and the shorts Harv, Adam Adamson: Licensed Realtor, and A Best Man. A proud member of the Northern Manhattan creative community, Adam’s work has also appeared online on Omeleto, NOWNESS, and Switchboard Magazine.
Project Title: Work of Art
Tim’s desire to commemorate his 6th month anniversary with a portrait of himself and Emily does not go as expected.
Bambi Everson is an actor, teaching artist and the author of over 30 plays, many available in paperback at The Drama Book Shop. Her full-length, The Thin Man in the Cherry Orchard had a sold out run at the 2019 New York Fringe Festival. Her work has been produced at The Juilliard School, Emerging Artists Theatre, Manhattan Rep, The Hudson Guild, and The Little Theatre of Alexandria, VA. The daughter of film historian William K. Everson, her work often incorporates oddball characters and situations, from murderous love triangles amongst octogenarians in an assisted living facility, to blind dates with bearded ladies. Follow her adventures at her website, bambieverson.com.
Project Title: Make a Move on Me
Sky Lilyfield, a recently out and freshly divorced middle aged transfemme, navigates their new life as they bridge betweenthe cis world and the queer world as their incessantly haunted by the Sky creature, a mirror demon that is manifestation ofSky’s dysphoria, shame and childhood trauma.
Angela Fellows is a trans actor, filmmaker, and musician. Angela grew up in Baltimore and trained in musical theater before moving to NYC. Her acting career spanned from extra castings in the 90s to being featured in the A24 film Marty Supreme, starring Timothee Chalamet. Beyond acting, Angela held many positions, including rock star, recording studio owner, movie theater manager, Saturday Night Live scenic carpenter, music video director, and more. She is the creator of the surrealist, multi-media YouTube series The Anarchy Funhouse, which tackles the world’s most intractable issues through animation, music and puppets. Now, Angela is using her depth and breadth of experience to direct an upcoming feature film.
Project Title: Uprooted
Betsy, a Dominican teen from Dyckman, decides to run away after a heated fight with her mom. Upon arriving to Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, however, she realizes how many resources she previously had available to her in NYC, and how difficult it can be to get by without them.
Hannah Gonzalez is a filmmaker and video producer who aims to tell stories about how easily people can be left behind in society, due to a lack of social programs, familial support and/or institutional guardrails. In 2022, she won a grant from CNY Arts to direct Dread Count, a short film dissecting patriarchy through Phentin, a man in college who identifies as a ghost. Draped in a blue bedsheet, he finds his perfect victim to haunt – the nonreciprocal Lisa. Hannah has also produced videos for PBS, including packages for WCNY’s Syracuse Challenger Baseball series which won the 2025 New York State Broadcaster’s Association Excellence in Broadcasting Award for best series or documentary. Growing up in Inwood, Hannah fondly remembers bachata and reggaeton playing in the streets, frio frio shaved ice in the hot summers and everyone knowing each other like family. Returning after years upstate, she wishes to capture the essence of what made her childhood in Inwood special through her films and writing.
Project Title: Tallahassee Twin
A mattress salesman feels threatened when a competitor sells a mystical type of bed.
Andrew Kaberline is a writer and producer, based in Washington Heights. He writes high-concept, low-budget films that sit between surreal horror and existential dread – often with an undercurrent of absurdist comedy. His short horror script Dummy won the HollyShorts Screenwriting Competition, was produced, and debuted on opening night of HollyShorts 2023 at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood. Dummy is currently available for streaming on Omeleto. He’s also won the ScreenCraft Animation and ScreenCraft Short Screenplay competitions (the latter, with Tallahassee Twin), and placed in the Academy Nicholl Fellowship. He was the creator and co-writer of the Serling-Award winning anthology podcast The Grayscale.
Project Title: Dani’s Inferno
Abandoned by her ex after a head injury at a Dante’s Inferno–themed party, a young woman wanders through a surreal night that blurs love, delusion, and myth—discovering that heartbreak can feel like its own descent into hell.
Katherine Leidlein is a New York City based actor, writer, and filmmaker. Dani’s Inferno is the first short film they have both written, produced, and starred in. Throughout their acting career, Leidlein has appeared in leading roles in several feature films, including as Anna in Anna’s in the Woods (AMC release, May 2027), and Mackenzie Murphy in Grounded. Additionally, they were in the feature film No Place (shot on location in Albuquerque, New Mexico) and played Miss Milla in New Neighbors – a recipient of the 2024 Inwood Art Works Film Fund. Leidlein has also performed Off-Broadway, toured internationally in China, and appeared in commercial campaigns for brands including Puma and Preservision, among others. In addition to their acting work, Leidlein has written and produced the web series American Outliers and has spent several years working as a ghostwriter on various projects. Dani’s Inferno marks the first time their writing appears on screen under their own name, and they are honored to be making a film with their name credited under “Written by”.
Project Title: The Art of Connection
A modern twist on the classic rom-com: a queer, non-monogamous couple dares each other to ask out their crushes by week’s end – but for one anxious overthinker, making the first move might just be harder than love itself.
Anna Mayo is an award-winning actor and filmmaker, profiled for “shaping indie cinema with raw emotion and vision” (FilmmakerLife). Her performance in “Even Monsters Sleep” won ‘Best Actress’ at the Jim Thorpe Independent Film Festival, and their director, AD and crew portfolio includes projects with Disney, Canon and ABC News. Mayo produced and co-directed “Devils,” earning her Awards of Merit for Directing and Script Writing (INDIEfest) and an Honorable Mention for Best Directing (Athens International Monthly Arts Film Festival).
Project Title: So, You’re Dying
Based on real events, “So, You’re Dying” is a dark dramedy about Kyle, who has just found out that he is going to die soon… but not soon enough to be able to quit his job. Part instructional video – Part memoir, we follow Kyle as he returns to his job, informs his friends, and hardest of all… breaks the news to his partner. It’s awkward.
Geoffrey Allen Murphy is a Washington Heights based Filmmaker, Actor, and Screenwriter. Originally from State College, Pennsylvania, Geoffrey moved to New York City in 2002 to pursue acting training at NYU-Tisch School of the Arts. After graduating with his BFA, Geoffrey continued his training at the prestigious Juilliard School. As an actor, he has been seen on Broadway in War Horse, The Nance, and To Kill a Mockingbird, as well as performing Off-Broadway and theaters around the country. On TV he has appeared in such shows as “Elsbeth”, “Law & Order: SVU”, “The Gilded Age”, and “Orange is the New Black” among others. “So, You’re Dying” is his directorial debut, and is based on his own experiences. www.geoffreyallenmurphy.com.