Award-winning filmmaker Sean Mannion joins Art of Brooklyn Film Festival as Guest Festival Director for 2019

NEW YORK - Jan. 7, 2019  - Award-winning filmmaker Sean Mannion is joining the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival as Guest Festival Director for 2019, where he will curate official selections. The Brooklyn-based producer/director said, "I had such a wonderful time at the Art of Brooklyn Film Festival last year and I am absolutely thrilled to have the opportunity to participate this year as the Guest Festival Director." His first feature film, Meme, debuted at the AoBFF in 2018 and won the festival's award for Outstanding Narrative Feature.

Sean originally hails from Anchorage Alaska where his film education was jump started by haunting local video rental shop shelves. He is the founder of 4MileCircus a full cycle media services company. The Brooklyn-based company offers consulting, video and post-production services from conception to promotion for artists, entrepreneurs, and nonprofits. Sean has been producing narrative, non-narrative, documentary short form, and branded content for a decade. He is currently taking debut feature Meme on the road for a four wall theater tour ahead of its 2019 digital release. The first screening of the tour is January 25th, 2019 at the Stuart Cinema and Cafe in Brooklyn.

The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival invites a different Guest Festival Director every year, drawn from a short list of Brooklyn filmmakers. AoBFF Executive Director Joseph Shahadi said, "We turn over the most creative aspect of the festival—its curation— to a new filmmaker every year to create the broadest platform for Brooklyn indie film. Sean's debut feature was impressive and his commitment to the Brooklyn indie film scene is undeniable. We are excited to work with him." Mannion said, "I saw some very impressive shorts and features at the festival last year and I'm looking forward to seeing everything the Brooklyn filmmaker community has to share for 2019"

Submissions for 2019, including the screenplay contest, are open on Film Freeway and Withoutabox until April 21. The 9th Annual AoBFF runs June 1-9, 2019 at venues around the Borough.

The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival is the only international, independent festival in the world exclusively devoted to the vibrant Brooklyn indie film and media scene. Since 2011 Art of Brooklyn has entertained an average of two thousand guests a year, had nine distribution deals made for our premieres—and an HBO series. We've partnered with New York Women in Film and Television, Prime Latino Media, the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment, NBC Universal, ESPN Films and others. And in 2016 we premiered the theatrical cut of Spike Lee's new film 2 Fists Up.