The 2023 Art of Brooklyn Film Festival
Our 13th Annual festival (June 1-12) continued our hybrid model, with a full slate of in-person screenings and events, plus streaming encore screenings and panels.
- 22 in-person events (film screenings, parties, and our awards ceremony)
- 22 online events (encore screenings of in-person films and 3 interviews/discussions.)
- We programmed a total of 53 films and selected 46 scripts for our Screenplay Competition.
Read More: Festival Wrapup - We welcomed over 1,000 guests throughout the festival.
2023 Funders and Partners:
2023 FUNDERS:
The Art of Brooklyn's programs made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.
2023 SPONSORS & PARTNERS:
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For 2023, we expanded our signature Guest Festival Director Program to work with 3 women and a non-binary filmmaker to curate the 13th annual AoBFF.
Read More: Blog Post |
Our 2023 Festival Trailer:
2023 TV Commercial:
In 2023 we were able to air our first-ever 30-second TV commercial for local cable audiences. We shot an opening and used a montage of clips from our 2023 films under a voiceover. We paid Brooklyn musician Brian Bonz to use his music in the video. We worked with media company NY Interconnect to maximize our budget and reach the most potential audience members. Our spot had over 60K impressions across 3 weeks, and the unique promo code we included was used to purchase tickets.
2023 Poster and Branding:
For 2023, we commissioned NYC artist Ian Cinco to interpret our “Cameranaut” character in his own unique style. We used this image across all marketing efforts for our 13th annual festival.
In-Person Events:
Opening Night, Launch Party, Screenings and More
- For our opening night, we returned to Brooklyn's Cobble Hill Cinemas to screen the sold out World Premiere of the 'musical dramedy' MOTHER OF ALL SHOWS, directed by Toronto team Melissa D'Agostino and Matt Campagna. The film's star, TV legend Wendie Malick was in attendance and we were able to book her on NY1 to promote the premiere.
- Our 2023 Launch Party took place at Chilo's Greenwood. We supported this local business by providing free drinks and free tacos to our guests, who were able to meet and network in this amazing outdoor space.
- For the first time, the bulk of our festival took place at the beautiful AbelCine screening room in Industry City. Because the total rate to rent the space was out of our budget, AbleCine brought in SONY as a sponsor to pay half the fee across 5 days of the festival. Filmmakers and audiences absolutely loved the space, where we also held our awards ceremony. We hope to return there in 2024.
- We rented the independently-owned Stuart Cinema and Cafe in Greenpoint for 2 nights, each for sold-out premieres. We hope to return there in 2024.
- We were able to return to the Katharine McKenna theater at Pratt Film/Video for the first time since the pandemic. We screened there during both Saturdays of our schedule to great crowds, including a sold-out documentary premiere. We hope to return there in 2024.
- We produced our popular free outdoor screening again, which we've held on the main lawn of Sunset Park in partnership with the NYC Parks Dept. since 2016. We screened a block of family-friendly short films for over 300 people, and invited our filmmakers to socialize and network. And for the first time in 2023, our partnership with NYC Parks allowed us to add a second free outdoor screening for over 100 people at Owl's Head Park in Bay Ridge.
- We had after parties at Congress Bar in Cobble Hill, which we packed for our opening night, at Minnie's, a local bar in Sunset Park after our AbelCine screenings, and The Emerson in Clinton Hill after our Pratt screenings. They all provided drink specials, and great spots for our filmmakers and fans to celebrate and socialize.
Virtual Screenings, Panels and More
- We employed the Eventive Virtual Festival Platform to screen Encore Presentations of all our features and shorts, increasing accessibility for non-local audiences. All virtual tickets were at a discounted price.
- We conceived and produced an interview between Janet Kim and pioneering Asian American filmmaker Christine Choy we called "Talking With An Icon." We partnered with Manhattan Neighborhood Network to film it in their new studio. It streamed during AoBFF and is now free to watch anytime.
- AoBFF co-founder Joseph Shahadi talked with award-winning filmmaker and author Eric Trenkamp about his new book, ‘Race, War and the Cinematic Myth of America: Dust That Never Settles’ which explores how genre films — from early Westerns, through the action films of the 80s and 90s to the current crop of superhero films — perpetuate ideas about what it means to be an American. This discussion streamed during AoBFF is and is now free to watch anytime.
- AoBFF co-founder Anthony DeVito (SAG-AFTRA) talked with writer/actor Sean Crespo (WGA, SAG-AFTRA) and writer/director Carol Ray Hartsell (DGA) about the WGA Strike. It streamed during AoBFF and now free to watch anytime.
Original Video Content
- In 2023 we created over 50 pieces of video content, including festival promos, trailers, filmmaker interviews, and award acceptance videos.
- We shot and edited a new "Sizzle Reel" of our 2023 highlights. Watch it below
- Our Program Manager Johanny Mota created a "movie trivia gameshow" that she shot during the festival, using filmmakers as contestants. We posted them on social media to generate more excitement and interaction.
Promotion and Marketing
- In addition to video content, we created a range of posters and graphics to highlight individual screenings and special events. We do this to keep our social media networks excited and engaged with new visuals, and to emphasize how much we have going on during the festival.
- We created film poster collages for each screening so each event had a unique image for our schedule and social media.
- We boosted posts to local geography to maximize awareness among potential audience members.
Press and Industry
- We were able to get Wendie Malick booked on Pat Keirnan's morning show on NY1 to promote the world premiere of MOTHER OF ALL SHOWS.. Watch segment HERE.
- We created press releases for the festival and paid for Premium Distribution to increase their reach.
- Our Exec Director Joseph Shahadi met with Gravitas Ventures, who asked us to recommend some of our feature films for potential distribution deals.
- The New York City Center for Media Education held a panel to discuss the current and future state of independent film as part of the 2023 CME Winter Media Summit. AoBFF's Joseph Shahadi was a guest on the panel. LISTEN HERE
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"I was fortunate enough to have the World Premiere of my film, Mother of All Shows, at the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival and I couldn't have asked for a better experience!
Joseph, Anthony, Johanny and the rest of the staff were welcoming, communicative and enthusiastic. The programming team, Stacey and Mars, really championed our film and curated a thoughtful program of great films from around the world. The venues are lovely and the community they've built in Brooklyn is fabulous. I couldn't recommend this festival more.
In a sea of corporate/studio festivals, this is a truly independent, filmmaker-run festival that wants to celebrate your film and help it find its audience. Thanks, Art of Brooklyn!"
— Melissa D'Agostino (Toronto, Canada)
Joseph, Anthony, Johanny and the rest of the staff were welcoming, communicative and enthusiastic. The programming team, Stacey and Mars, really championed our film and curated a thoughtful program of great films from around the world. The venues are lovely and the community they've built in Brooklyn is fabulous. I couldn't recommend this festival more.
In a sea of corporate/studio festivals, this is a truly independent, filmmaker-run festival that wants to celebrate your film and help it find its audience. Thanks, Art of Brooklyn!"
— Melissa D'Agostino (Toronto, Canada)
