Purgatory Comics at the Bellmore Theater June 9th

Purgatory Comics played opening day at the Long Island International Film Expo. Our screening was preceded by 3 short films, and then followed by a filmmakers wine and cheese meet to kick off the festival.

At the festival I had the pleasure of meeting Leo Fiorica, who was screening his short Window Shopping: Attack of the New Releases. The 12-minute film is hilarious, and definitely a similar brand of humor as Purgatory Comics. Follow Leo's site to learn more.

It also turns out Leo and I share a mutual friend in Matt, who was one of the first to see my film.

Here's Leo and I on stage during a Q&A after our screening. When we were asked "what's next for you two?" I answered "A collaboration."

Always a pleasure to see our own Peter Whales again, Bob-O Socci.

Bob took this picture right after I got interviewed by Cheryl, a super-cool actress who was interviewing filmmakers for a behind-the-scenes web series. If I make the cut, I'll be sure to post the video haha.

And here's Deb, the director of events and overall badass. It was a pleasure to finally meet her after many email exchanges, and if you're a filmmaker on Long Island, you want Deb in your corner.

So quick recap: there was a good turn out to the screening, but the audience age overshot my demo by a few decades. I was terrified that the theater would clear out during my very vulgar movie. To my surprise, everyone stayed and I received some amazing feedback later.

During the wine and cheese party, I got to hit it off with some awesome filmmakers. I also got to chat with some members of the LIIFE, who are just a great and friendly bunch. Although my screening is done, we still have the panel and awards ceremony to look forward to. More to come!