New York is about to give a vertical storyteller the same award previously handed to Darren Aronofsky and Michelle Buteau.
ALZA Festival, launching October 16-18 at AMC 19th St. East 6, just announced five NYC-based creators competing for the iconic “Made in NY” honor. It’s the first time the award has gone to vertical filmmakers, and the public gets to vote at nyc.gov/CreatedinNY starting now.
The finalists: Melissa Becraft and Sarah Pribis with *Investigator Investigator*, a comedy about Broadway stars moonlighting as private eyes. Jesse Fisher and Sasha Herman’s thriller *Watch Hill*, where a third date turns dangerous. Kyle C. Mumford’s *Kyle Has Tourette’s*, a heartfelt comedy based on his own life. Christina Richardson’s *Besties*, about platonic friends navigating blurred boundaries. And Romel Rodriguez’s *The Super NYC*, following a superintendent dealing with eccentric tenants.
All five will premiere new work at the festival’s “Created in NY” showcase, presented with the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
“Storytelling is changing, and a new format should mean new recognition for the people creating great work,” says MOME Commissioner Rafael Espinal.
ALZA is the first festival dedicated entirely to microdramas and vertical series. Founder Pete Torres, former COO of Tribeca Festival, is betting that digital-native storytelling deserves real-world celebration. The winner gets announced on the festival’s final day.
A comedy series about magic, demons, and tarot cards just dropped on YouTube, and it’s got Lilly Wachowski’s stamp of approval.
What happens when you throw Monty Python into a blender with Dune? You get The Ludocrats, a completely unhinged new trade paperback from Image Comics that makes being ridiculous a literal virtue.
After Point Blank and Deliverance made him a bankable name, John Boorman got the gig of a lifetime: directing the sequel to The Exorcist for Warner Brothers. What followed became one of Hollywood’s most legendary disasters, a bomb so complete it nearly killed his career and changed how studios greenlit projects.
Benedict Cumberbatch lends his voice to a documentary that traces an extraordinary personal quest.
A birthday gift from Cameo turned into a feature film. Lance Oppenheim’s narrative debut, Primetime, is now in theaters, and the director says it all started with a forty-dollar video from To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen.
Animation Is Film is kicking off its ninth edition with something different: a TV show.