Game Brunch
More than eating is in store when a couple invites friends over for a Sunday brunch.
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Christina RaiaDirector
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Christina RaiaWriter
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Christina RaiaProducer
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Ricardo ManigatKey Cast
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Ricki LyneeKey Cast
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Dani ThomasKey Cast
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Alexander AlvarezKey Cast
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Jen BendickKey Cast
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Miranda LeeAnnKey Cast
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Peter WesterveltCinematographer
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Matt GershowtizEditor
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Alexandra KalinowskiComposer
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Project Type:Short
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Genres:Comedy-of-errors, fantastical farce, genre comedy
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Runtime:12 minutes 35 seconds
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Completion Date:March 9, 2020
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Production Budget:2,500 USD
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Country of Filming:United States
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Language:English
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Shooting Format:Digital 2K
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Aspect Ratio:2:1
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Film Color:Color
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First-time Filmmaker:No
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Student Project:No
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2021 Chattanooga Film Festival
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2021 Horrible Imaginings FIlm Festival's Campfire Tales
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2021 Queens World Film Festival
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2021 Blackbird Film Festival
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2021 Die Laughing Film Festival
October 31, 2021
Winner: Best Comedy -
2021 Adirondack Film Festival
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2021 Revolution Me Film Festival
October 17, 2021
Winner: Best Ensemble, Nominated: Best Comedy, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress -
2021 Indigo Moon Film Festival
Christina Raia is a New York City based Writer/Director and the Founder of CongestedCat Productions. With an affinity for ensemble pieces and punchy dialogue, she focuses on character-driven and socially conscious horror and comedy, using genre as a lens to represent, discuss and dissect social issues, otherness and real world anxieties. Her work, consisting of over a dozen short films, a web series, and two feature films, has screened at film festivals around the world with coverage on press outlets such as Indiewire and BuzzFeed. Her mixed race background and particularly her mother's Indo-Trinidadian culture play a major role in Christina's interest in portraying underrepresented perspectives across diverse spectrums of identity in her writing and directing. In addition to hitting the festival circuit with her latest short film"Game Brunch," she aims to spend 2021 on development for her third feature, Silent Night; the screenplay for which was a quarter finalist in Slamdance's 2016 Screenplay Competition. Find Christina on social media: @craia9.
“Game Brunch" came out of my weekly writers group, where we encourage each other to come in with new pages or pitches every time we meet up. After working on some darker projects, I wanted to jump into something light-hearted with actors I've loved working with in the past or have wanted to work with for a while. I sat down one evening and tried to come up with an idea that could be shot in my apartment and could work as a short ensemble piece. I made a list of actors and started thinking about how I could pair them up. I recalled a game night I hosted years ago and found myself chuckling at the notion of revolving an entire film around one specific word (which I can’t reveal — you’ll just have to watch the film). I started writing and an hour later I had an absurd 15-page script. When I sent it out to my writing group members and some other trusted writers to read, everyone got a kick out of it and really encouraged me to direct it. A couple even said “please make it!” It was exciting to see such a positive response to it, especially from the actors I had in mind. They all eagerly accepted the roles. I think they, like me, needed a break from the overwhelming amount of things to be outraged about in the world and loved the idea of just focusing on making something fun. And what fun it was to make! I hope it's just as much fun to watch!