| "The
Coney Island Short Film Fest is the most exciting cinematic event to hit
Coney since Feltman's Restaurant introduced outdoor movies as a novelty
nearly a century ago. The sideshow is an inspiring setting for an eclectic
and extraordinary selection of quality films. Kudos to Rob Leddy." Charles Denson - Author, Coney Island Lost and Found |
| Comments from filmmakers who participated in the 2003 festival: |
This is what a
festival should be! Kick ass shorts in an old sideshow. And that was
easily the best festival party I have ever been to. Right on. We had a great time
at the party--that band is excellent. And at our screening: You guys
really had your technical shit together. That was SOOO appreciated.
The colors looked great in the projection, excellent sound, and a very
enthusiastic packed house! Thanks for an awesome venue! CISFF was a true
blast! What a fun world you transported us all into with your hospitality
and surreal aesthetics. Kudos, my friend. The audiences were appreciative,
and the opening night party shall be forever etched into my memory.
Thank you, from Daed and myself, and everyone on the R&H Staff.
Someday we might let them out to, themselves, attend. Hope to see you
again. Having worked a
few festivals and seen plenty of substandard projection, I was apprehensive
about my film's debut at Coney Island. I had nothing to fear. The picture
was sharp, bright and the sound was awesome! A first rate job all around.
Great fest, we had a great time. I loved everything
about the Coney Island Short Film Festival! From the location and history
(my first time in Coney Island and I took lots of photos), to the setting:
I loved the fact that it is a sideshow and had bleacher seating. Gave
it a really relaxed, friendly atmosphere. The sound and screen were
great and the artwork added a nice touch. Had a very nice time there.
Congrats and best of luck with the future festivals. The Coney Island
Festival is full of character and charm. The audience is sitting close
together--so you get a contagious audience response to the films. One
person laughs and it spreads. People are quiet at a serious moment...and
the whole place fills with solemnity. You can really feel the emotional
pulse of the audience. Thanks
so much for everything. It was a great event. The Coney Island
Short Film Festival is one of the most professionally run film festivals
we have taken part in. Great atmosphere, good visuals and sound, free
popcorn and reasonably priced beer. We will definitely be back for next
years shows. Thanks for the opportunity
to again be part of the Coney Island Short Film Festival. Each year
the crowd gets bigger and the films get better. And this year the technical
improvements really enhanced the viewing experience. You have a great
venue for your festival, steeped in history and wonderfully quirky all
by itself. In between film segments its great to experience the boardwalk
and the beach, not to mention the extraordinary ethic diversity found
there. I almost forgot the FREE POPCORN! Hope to see you next year. It was exciting
to play our film at such a historic venue. We felt right at home amongst
all the freaks. I was really impressed with the projection system. I
hope to see you next year! Thanks for having
my piece in your festival I was in very good company and am still a
little ramped after hearing the audience reaction. I had a great time
and felt that you, your wife and everyone on the staff were gracious
and supportive and that the presentation of the works was top notch. I was proud to have
my short animation "Food Chain". I really had a great time
at the Coney Island Short Film Festival! On behalf of myself
and Lake Films, I'd like to thank Rob Leddy and the gang at the Coney
Island Short Film Festival for a wonderful and enjoyable time. Rob &
Company are a class act and they put together a great show with an awesome
picture and sound system. A terrific time was had by all and our film
"SLEDGE" looked awesome on the big screen! I urge everyone
in the indie film world to support the Coney Island Short Film Festival
and their fabulous work. With respect and appreciation, Just wanted to drop
by and tell you thank you! Thank you for putting on an awesome show
for us independent filmmakers. Thank you so much
for the enthusiastic and warm welcome you have given to all the attending
filmmakers and for your truly idealistic and well organised festival.
It was a great experience and you are doing great work with the festival. Just wanted to thank
you for a great festival, it was a lot of fun and a great venue. I have
to say, you guys had a great set-up, very professional :) Hope to see
you next year... Thanks for a wonderful
film festival. WE truly appreciated being part of it, the quality of
those films that we saw were really quite good and in the spirit of
low budget independent film. And we know that all of the filmmakers
appreciate having an audience. We have been to larger and more expensive
festivals that have several venues and the risk in that is less of an
audience, or having to make a choice of one film over another, which
we don't particularly care for. Coney Island was small enough, yet adequate
enough for everyone to view all of the films without having to make
a choice. From a technical standpoint, you are running an excellent
festival. Anyway, thanks for a wonderful time, we wish you and all of
the filmmakers great success, and hope to see you next year. Thank you as well
for a wonderful party and a great venue to screen the films. We loved
the shorts in our section, especially the animated ones. Thanks for giving
me the chance to be part of such an eclectic festival. I had a great
time! Hey guys I had a
blast at your festival, very well done !!! Keep up the spirit! Thank you for the
opportunity to participate in the Coney Island Short Film Festival.
Kudos to you and your staff for putting together such an excellent program
of quality short films. A memorable experience that only Coney Island
could have provided. Just want to note the fantastic job by your technical
department, the projection was clear and sharp, the sound was clean
and bright. The projection and sound quality is always BIG a worry for
me. Thank you for putting my mind at ease early. See you next year! Thank you so much
for making my first film festival such an amazing experience! I met
so many great people at the party and had a great time. Balloons, magic
and burlesque!!??--No other festival can compare to Coney. I was really
impressed with the films I saw, love the venue and can't wait for next
year! Thanks so much for
running a terrific festival. We had a great time at the opening night
party-- magic tricks? burlesque? beer?- who could ask for anything more?
At the screenings, the projection quality was top notch, and the audience
seemed to have a great time. Festivals like Coney Island make you feel
damn proud to be an independent filmmaker. Can't wait for next year! |
| Comments from filmmakers who participated in the 2002 festival: |
| "The
Coney Island Short Film Festival celebrates the hidden New York that drew
people to this city in the first place. It's destined to become a big
festival, without losing the charm that accompanies eating a bag of popcorn and watching great shorts in the dark." Bernardo Ruiz - Night Magic |
| "The
quality of the films was fantastic - miles beyond what most young festivals
are offering - even beyond most long running ones. I was proud to be a
part of it." Alex R. Johnson - Thanksgiving |
| "Rob...
just a note to say thanks... So, thanks for running a truly professional
festival. Me and my entourage thought the whole package was great. Mind-bending
movies. A belly full of Nathan's hotdogs. And a Cyclone ride that knocked
a couple of my fillings out. Perfect." Michael Nigro - Creative Process 473 |
| "I
had a wonderful time at the festival. The organizers, as well
as the fellow filmmakers, created an atmosphere that was supportive,
appreciative, and fun. What a great showcase for creative and unique
shorts that might otherwise go unnoticed - and all for a good cause." Scott Patch - The Boogeyman’s Birthday |
| "Great
job, Rob! What a wonderful festival. We were proud to be a
part of it! You really did a great job. All of the people I've spoken
with who attended the Festival were very impressed at how well it was
organized and presented. Once again, it was a true pleasure working with
you. You are such a unique and wonderful combination of professionalism
and accessibility." Victoria McGinnis - The Skell |
| "The
Coney Island Short Film Festival embodies the true spirit of independent
film with a classic New York setting, visceral and gritty films, and cold
beer served in the lobby. What better a place for a bunch of freaks like
us to have our movie screened than in an actual freakshow?" Luke S. Goljan - Suspension of Disbelief |
| "Rob,
on behalf of the cast & crew of 'That Brief Moment' and all
our family and friends who attended this year's festival, thank you for
including us in the second annual Coney Island Short Film Festival. Your
staff was professional and courteous yet still managed to bring a level
of fun and freshness to a process that is often stodgy and frankly full
of itself. The Sideshow Theater was just the right size, helping to pull the audience together so they could share the experience... After all, that's what cinema is all about... I hope we get the opportunity to share in your festival in the future as it expands and grows into one of the best." Geoffrey Felder - That Brief Moment |
| "I've
seen my film a million times by the time it screens at a festival so what
i'm more interested in is the other films it's playing with. Rob and his
staff at the Coney Island Short Film Festival screened some great, interesting
and entertaining films I probably would'nt have seen including "Locked" and "Thanksgiving." It makes me look forward to next year..." Steve Herold - Asburied |
| "Quite
a different Festival! ....... There is only one place in the world you
can see the most eclectic group of Films, eat the best Hot Dog in the
world, smell the Ocean and see a sword swallower all in one afternoon!" Chris Cassidy - Vic Thrill: Nobody's Watching the Radar |
| "Thanks
for making me part of the CISFF 2002. I attended two screening sessions
and enjoyed ALL the films presented. I was very proud to have my short
"Rasbury" included with such high quality work. Your programing
choices were terrific. Looking forward to next year." Bob Mataranglo - Rasbury |
| "Rob,
I just wanted to thank you for the opportunity to participate in the festival
and show "Three Chord Slam". It was a great event and we all
had a wonderful time! Good luck with everything!" Simona Prives - Three Chord Slam |
| "I
had a great time. I thought it was a very good selection of films that
brought out the bizarre spirit of Coney Island." Rosario Garcia-Montero - Locked |
| "Thanks
for everything. I had a great time. Why would anyone want to go to
the Oscars when they can go to The Coney Island Short Film Fest?" Chris Peters - The World Famous Pontani Sisters |
| "Coney
Island is a great venue to show your work and see what else is out there.
I loved the free popcorn and cheap beer. Thank you to all at the
Coney Island Short Film Festival!" Alan Steiner - Scary Face |
| . |
| Comments from filmmakers who participated in the 2001 festival: |
| "It was an honor to be included in this historic event." - Nick Zedd |
| "The beach, the boardwalk, great stars, great movies, great filmmakers...the Coney Island Short Film Festival has everything that Cannes has, plus Nathan's hotdogs!" - Barry Strugatz |
| "A great collection of films. I was proud to be a part of it." - Maddy Lederman |
| "The Coney Island Short Film Festival is a great place to see fun, offbeat films in one of the coolest venues around. And they treat filmmakers well! I will definitely be back next year." - Lucy Weismann |
| "Rob Leddy and the staff were awesome, they really seemed to care about the filmmakers and the films they were showing. I saw a lot of great stuff and I'll definetely be back next year." - Myles Reiff |
| "I don't know why a film festival was never held in Coney Island prior to The Coney Island Short Film Festival. It's a fantastic fest held in a spectactular setting. I can't think of a better place to have your short film screened then on the same stage where the Coney Island Freak Show is held. It's the only place in New York where time stands still." - Joe LaPenna |
| "Our film, The Lonely, had a great premiere last year.The CISFF team had their shit together from the start. It makes you wanna freaky deaky." - Mark Doyle, Indierep.com |
| "Thanks for putting together the Coney Island Short Film Festival. It was a real treat to screen there." - Daniel Maldonado |
| On September 22, 2001, we defeated terrorism on Coney Island and we had a great time. - Adrian Salsgiver |
| "Really enjoyed the festival and running around Coney Island afterwards." - Doug Darnell |