What happens when you FIlm a short film before you’ve finished post on a feature? And then you FIlm ANOTHER short a few months later that you really want to finish sooner than later?

We filmed “Yellow Scare” in spring of 2016. In the fall, we filmed a short comedy called “Cupid’s First Day.”

And then in the summer of 2017, we filmed a Horror Short called “Click Send” (now available on Amazon Prime!!!).

“Yellow Scare” post production took priority and the other projects went into a queue. Once that was done, for reasons I can’t even remember, we decided to push “Click Send” out first.

Long story short, “Cupid” is FINALLY finished and will premiere on Valentine’s Day 2019. It was a longer road than planned, but I’m very proud of this short. I think everyone involved did a stellar job, especially Billy Farley as Clarence, the newest Cupid.

Can’t wait for you to see it. ❤

Another year gone by. 2018 is the 8th year that NBF has existed. And it has been our most successful year yet.

We started the year with the release of our third feature “Cabin of Errors.” Our first film to ever be released on Amazon Prime, Amazon, Best Buy, Target, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, And Xbox.

We filmed 6 short films: The Last Rehearsal of the Dangerous Kitten, The Girl in the Basement, First, I’ve Got You Beat, Dream a Little Dream, And Ghost Tour.

In those short films, we brought back some returning NBF favorites (cast and crew) and we brought in some new blood too.

Our 4th feature, Yellow Scare, won the most awards we’ve ever won before and got into more film festivals than any other NBF project to date. (See the last blog post for more details.)

And out short, Click Send, is now available on Amazon Prime!

We’ve also worked on a number of short and feature scripts both in-house and with the amazing BRAZEN GIANTS ENSEMBLE.

2019 is right around the corner, and we are hoping to top 2018 with distribution for “Yellow Scare,” forward progress on “Monster Mash,” the release of some of the shorts we filmed this year, the completion of our Horror Anthology, a return to the American Film Market, and more.

Thank you for your support this past year (and for the last 8 if you’ve been with us that long).

The best is yet to come.

-Sam

Happy Holidays from all of your friends at Narrow Bridge Films. Here are just a few quick suggestions for gifts for all of your loved ones this year.

Narrow Bridge Apparel

This is a cool gift, especially for our local fans. Show your support for our NJ Indie Film company by rocking one of these awesome logo shirts… Multiple designs and colors available.

Blaming George Romero on DVD

Get our first movie on DVD for only $10. This is a cool piece of NBF history AND it comes with Bonus Features!

 

Red Scare on DVD

You can also get our award winning second feature, Red Scare, on DVD with Bonus Features for only $10!

Cabin of Errors on DVD

Finally, our third feature, Cabin of Errors, is also available for purchase on DVD for only $14.99!

 

Get yourself or your loved ones one of these NBF gifts this holiday season.

 

“Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.”

Yesterday, I got word that “Yellow Scare” won another award (It’s true! I even wrote a blog post about it!). It was unexpected but welcome, and got me thinking about how we are nearing the end of the festival run for my little indie WWII comedy. There are still 4 festivals we are still waiting to hear from, but after that, the run is over.

It’s been an interesting festival experience. I was slightly disillusioned about some of the “big film festivals,” but at the same time I had some truly fantastic experiences at the festivals we went to (WE LOVE YOU, GOLDEN DOOR IFF!), and I learned things about the business that I didn’t know before. Some good, some less than good.

“Yellow Scare” isn’t for everyone. But for the people that like it, they really like it. And that is what counts in the end. When I write, I write for myself, because if I don’t like it, how can I expect anyone else to? So, I wrote a screenplay that I really like… One that is an homage to the classics I grew up with while being its own thing… And it was a screenplay that made me laugh on the page & continues to make me laugh on the screen.

The second that we, at Narrow Bridge, decided to make a 2nd feature we realized that each project would have to be better than what preceded it. And in terms of the amount of festival acceptances & awards we received, “Yellow Scare” has the most festival laurels and awards of anything we have ever done. (And I had an excuse to go to Orlando around Halloween-time, which has long been something I wanted to do.)

We were official selections at: the 2018 Hoboken International Film Festival, Auckland International Film Festival, Fort Worth Indie Film Showcase, Gen Con Film Festival, Golden Door International Film Festival, Orlando Film Festival, and the Comedy World Network International Film Festival.

We won Best Supporting Actress (Mila Milosevic) at the Hoboken IFF.

We won Best “Foreign” Sci-Fi Feature at the Fort Worth Indie Film Showcase and were nominated for Best “Foreign” Feature, Best Comedy, and Best Noir there too.

We won Best Comedy, the Founder’s Award, and Best Supporting Actor (#DanielMichaelGregory) at the Golden Door International Film Festival and were also nominated for Best Feature Film, Best Local Film, Best Supporting Actress (Laura Folger-Lopez), and Best Director (Joseph Whelski).

We were nominated for Best Poster (Steven Defendini) at the Orlando Film Festival.

We won 2nd Place Best Feature Film at the Comedy World Network IFF.

Oh, and September 23, 2018 is Narrow Bridge Films Day in the city of Bayonne, NJ.

I can’t tell you what will happen with the remaining festivals we have out there… Maybe we’ll get in… Maybe we’ll win some more awards… Or maybe “Yellow Scare” won’t be for them.

Either way, the next step will be securing distribution for the movie. Armed with our laurels and awards, we will begin reaching out to different companies that we have met along our travels (American Film Market 2016) and some others that don’t know us yet. Hopefully, in keeping with our goal of improving, the distribution we get will be even better than what’s come before.

Finally, I will take this time to once again thank everyone who was a part of this movie.

Joe & Alan – Thank you for helping to take my crazy screenplay and the minimal resources we had and filming it so beautifully.

Isaac & Billy – Thank you for being hilarious IN the movie and for playing multiple roles BEHIND the scenes to help me from going completely crazy — Partially Crazy, yes. But never completely crazy.

Joey – Thank you for being there since day 1 and always capturing such amazing sound, and then the monumental post-production work that you always do.

Maggie, Steve, Danijela – Thank you for taking our incredibly limited budget and  somehow creating fantastic period sets in an even more limited amount of time.

Tinea – Thank you for doing the same with the amazing period costumes you created.

Morgan – Thank YOU for doing the same with the hair and makeup.

Sami & Doug – Thank you for all of the different things you did on set… But mainly thank you for not driving the van into the river.

Jenna – Thank you for organizing so much and doing all of the things you did as Line Producer.

Mariette – Thank you for choreographing this movie… Especially when you consider that I didn’t really hire any “dancers.”

Dan (Granda) – Thank you for another film score. Next time, hopefully, there will be enough money to get a live orchestra again.

Kristen & Josh – Thank you for being instrumental in getting our singers in form for their songs under conditions that were not always ideal.

Gordon – Thank you for being, essentially, a one man lighting artist and showing me how much a gaffer can do.

Alex – Thank you for your amazing work on set and in post production on color correction.

Lyon – Thank you for enhancing what we did on set with some great SFX.

My AMAZING Cast – Thank you for elevating the words on the script to new heights and being 100% in this thing. Some of you have been with us from Day 1 (#DanielMichaelGregory) and some of you just joined us for this film. I heart you all. You are all best actors/actresses to me.

GOLDEN DOOR IFF – I have to single this amazing festival out again. We have been attending the GDIFF for years now, and they always make us feel welcome and invited in a way that other festival’s haven’t always done. This year, they were beyond amazing… From the awards, to the red carpet events, to connecting with our home city and county to present us with certificates honoring our work. Not enough can be said about this festival. ❤

SUPPORTERS – Whether you are just reading along, or if you donated to our Indiegogo Campaign(s), or if you saw one of our screenings… Thank you for your support. It means more to us than you will ever know.

And that is it… Amazing people… Festivals… Awards… It has been a hell of a ride, and it’s not quite over yet.

I’m going to leave you with the best review the movie has received. A 5 year old (now 6 year old) close friend of my family loves the movie… She even quotes it unprompted. After she saw it she said, “I laughed so hard, I thought my butt was gonna fall off.”

And you know what? That ain’t bad.

Much love,

Sam

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, this past weekend was the 1st annual Comedy World Network IFF in Las Vegas. It was actually the first acceptance “Yellow Scare” received, but….

…There was a little confusion re: if/when we actually were going to screen. First, there were mixed signals on whether or not the format I sent them would work, and then I didn’t hear back re: when the screening would be.

And then I did hear back, but then there was a change of venue and I didn’t know the new schedule. So, the weekend came and went, and I wasn’t sure what happened.

And then today I got a notification from FIlm Freeway that our status had changed to Award Winner. I emailed the Festival and asked what was up and they informed me that (a) they were sorry that I didn’t know the screening info, (b) our screening went very well, and (c) we won 2nd Place Best Feature FIlm.

So, that’s pretty cool. Another victory for the “Yellow Scare” fam. Another award for the eventual Narrow Bridge Office.

There are still 4 festivals we are waiting to hear from, but we are winding down on the “Yellow Scare” Festival run.

I’ve learned that it wasn’t a movie for everyone, but the people that liked it REALLY liked it. And that’s a great thing.

Next up, we’ll be looking for distribution for this lil WWII comedy. Hopefully, we get great distribution.

We’ll keep you informed.

Stay tuned,

Sam

From Thursday, October 18th – Monday, October 29th, Joey, Billy, Isaac, and I went to the 2018 Orlando Film Festival. This was one of those festivals we REALLY wanted to get into and were very excited once we did.

The festival was at the beautiful Cobb Plaza Cinema Cafe in Downtown Orlando, which was a wonderful venue for a festival. And I am not going to lie. Seeing this was pretty damn awesome.

The screenings were okay. We had two, and had a small audience for each… We’ve played to smaller audiences. Both audiences seemed receptive, but we have seen first hand that “Yellow Scare” plays best in a crowded audience. It would have been nice to get a little extra help packing the audience, but we did the best we could with what we had.

And we got to see some really good films and some… not so good ones… while we were there.

Despite some issues that we had with the festival that kept it from being one of our favorite festival experiences, we did come away with a very nice nomination for BEST POSTER.

So, that was well deserved. I have always loved what Steve Defendini has done with the Scare posters (can’t wait to see what he does with “Green Scare”), so it was great to see him get some recognition for his work. And there were a TON of great looking posters at the festival, so it was an honor to be nominated for this.

So, another festival in the books. We have a handful of other “Undecideds” out at the moment, so hopefully we get some positive news from them soon.

 

In the meantime, make sure to check out CLICK SEND, which is now on Amazon Prime. The perfect horror short to watch on Halloween… or anytime.

 

Peace & Love,

 

Sam

Click Send

Hello, friends! I don’t know about you, but I love watching horror movies in October.

To that end, I am happy to announce that on Friday, October 26th, Click Send will be the first Narrow Bridge Short to debut on AMAZON PRIME. If you have a Prime membership, you can stream it for FREE. If not, you can rent/buy it.

 

HAPPY OCTOBER!!!

 

 

 

 

Click Send Trailer from Sam Platizky on Vimeo.

October is here, and what better way to usher it in than by watching your favorite horror movies? And what better films to watch than Narrow Bridge Films.

You can watch our first feature film, Blaming George Romero, right here:

Keep the zombie movie trend going with Red Scare:

Red Scare from Sam Platizky on Vimeo.

Then, watch our horror short Blackout:

And if you aren’t scared enough, check out our award winning short Devil You Know:

And you can now watch our most recent horror short, CLICK SEND, on Amazon Prime. FREE if you have Prime, or a small price if you don’t.

 

HAPPY HALLOWEEN MONTH!

 

 

 

I started Narrow Bridge Films in 2010 with an idea to make one movie, and we’ve just kept going since. In that time, I’ve been to a lot of festivals and won a bunch of awards. Festivals in New Jersey, New York, Nevada, Hawaii, Indiana, Illinois, and (soon) Florida. We were even official selections in places we didn’t get to go to: Ohio, New Zealand, and Kentucky.

But the one we keep coming back to… the one we keep coming home to is the Golden Door International Film Festival (GDIFF). It was one of the first festivals we ever went to. In fact, my first movie, Blaming George Romero, made it into the 1st Annual GDIFF.  So, you could say that we’ve grown up together. Each year, we have learned and improved.

I love the GDIFF. Not because it is close to where I live, but because I know that the festival runners, Bill & Michele Sorvino, do everything in their power to make all of the filmmakers feel like they are home. Just by being around them, you can tell that the festival, for them, is one born of complete passion and love. Love for film & love for Jersey City/Hudson County/NJ. I am proud to call the Sorvinos my friends.

This past weekend was my 5th year at the GDIFF. Not only was it my favorite GDIFF yet, but it was also, quite possibly, one of the best weekends of my life so far. From beginning to end, I had an absolute blast. I got to spend time with my friends, my family, and my Narrow Bridge & Brazen Giant Ensemble families. We got to see so many great films, including Click Send & Yellow Scare with wonderful audiences.

And, then, last night we went to the Closing Night Awards Gala. They didn’t release nominations ahead of time, but… Dan Gregory, a man who has been on the Narrow Bridge train from DAY 1 and has stood with us through thick and thin, won Best Supporting Actor for his hilarious turn as Shamus/Tony in Yellow Scare. Laura Folger-Lopez was also nominated for her role of Laura McShaunnesey & Joe Whelski was nominated for Best Director of a Feature Film for Yellow Scare. Not to be overlooked, Joey Mosca (another amazing guy who has stayed on the Narrow Bridge with us from DAY 1) was nominated for Best Director of a Short Film for Click Send. And How Many Lives, a documentary that Joey & Sami Saad worked on, won the SPIRIT OF NJ AWARD. Last, but not least, Yellow Scare won BEST COMEDY (it feels good to win a “best comedy” award for our comedy) & the first ever Founder’s Award (an award that very nearly made me cry). We also received proclamations from Hudson County for our work in the arts.

It isn’t easy to make films. Not taking into account the costs involved, its always hard when your film is rejected from certain festivals and not everyone seems to love what you’ve made… But the recognition we received this weekend for all of our hard work is humbling and fills me with joy & pride.

THANK YOU to Bill & Michele Sorvino

THANK YOU to everyone at the GDIFF & the Landmark Loews Theatre

THANK YOU & CONGRATULATIONS to everyone who helped make Yellow Scare

THANK YOU to the cast & crew of Click Send

THANK YOU to my wonderful parents

THANK YOU to my brother Isaac who is always the first and last person to read one of my scripts and offers amazing advice/criticism/and ideas

THANK YOU to the Brazen Giants Ensemble & CONGRATULATIONS on your amazing films (The Prime, Shyft, St. Joseph, The Son The Father, and Population Control).

THANK YOU to everyone who came to see our films… New friends & old.

THANK YOU to Christian Keiber, Bill Sorvino, & Kerry McGann for your INCREDIBLY kind words about Narrow Bridge Films throughout the weekend and always

THANK YOU to my core NBF Family… From the people who were there from the beginning (Dan, Isaac, & Joey) to the people who were there from ALMOST the beginning (Billy & Jenna) to the people who have more recently joined us (Maggie & Sami).  I am humbled by your talents & proud to make art with you all. I’m glad I got to spend so much time with you this weekend.

THANK YOU for reading.

Sam