“Amazing Fantasy Fest” Returns Starting This Friday 9/12-9/20

Sep 8, 2025

Frenzy Moon

33 of the 94 Films Screening at Amazing Fantasy Fest were produced in Western New York, half of them directed by women.

Buffalo, New York – Amazing Fantasy Fest returns to Dipson’s Amherst Theatre for seven days, Friday, Sept. 12^th – Thursday, Sept. 18^th, and to The Screening Room Cinema and Arts Café for two days, Friday, Sept. 19^th and Saturday, Sept. 20^th. The film festival celebrates horror, science fiction, fantasy, action, animation and experimental films, but also showcases films of all kinds produced in Western New York by local artists. Ninety-four films will screen, including 33 produced in WNY, half of those directed by women. The schedule breaks down as 16 features and 78 shorts, including world premieres and filmmaker Q&As.

Western New York features include the world premiere of festival direcor Gregory Lamberson’s werewolf film Frenzy Moon, shot in Clarence; Dyngus Day, a horror-comedy from “the September Brothers,” Michale Buttino and Golden Groves; the world premiere of Justin Brylinski’s relationship comedy AngelFish; and a 30^th anniversary screening James Gribbins’s campy monster movie Shadow Creature. Short Features include Taylor Martin’s horror film The Shoffeur and Cydney Ramos’s drama Nastell.

Nastel

Features created outside WNY include Straight On Till Morning, a horror film about two lesbian lovers on a road trip who encounter a family of psychopaths, directed by Craig Oullette; Zombie Chronicles, depicting the undead apocalypse in New York City, directed by Bronx filmmaker Manny Suarez; Astral Plane Drifter, a sci-fi/kung fu comedy directed by Mike Caravella; and Cain Came Home, an offbeat ghost story from returning filmmaker Brett Cameron Glassberg.

Lamberson cites Dead, White & Blue, created by Mike Davis, as the kind of movie he wants AFF to be known for: a “green movie” made of recycled footage from over 300 stock and public domain films with a new storyline and dialogue. A rogue FBI agent teams up with the United States Army to defeat the KKK, which has invaded the body of an innocent black man killed by a racist cop.

“You can’t pigeonhole us,” the festival director says. “We run the gamut from monster movies to musicals, with an underlying goal of promoting local artists.”

Cherry Bomb

AFF devotes most of its opening weekend to genre film premieres, then divides weekdays between international films for matinees and WNY films in the evening. The closing weekend at The Screening Room includes the World Premiere of Adam Holley’s Cherry Bomb, a lesbian-themed thriller filmed in Binghamton; the Shadow Creature anniversary; a block of 15 animated shorts, and the New York premiere of Adam Griswald’s The Other Christmas Show, a musical-comedy about community theater.

Dead, White & Blue

Local shorts cover romance, drama, comedy and crime thrillers in addition to horror and fantasy. A full schedule is available at www.amazingfantasyfest.com. A Festival Pass can be purchased at the Amherst Theatre and Screening Room for $80 ($60 for students and seniors). Individual screening tickets for the first week will be available at www.dipsontheatres.com one week before the festival.

Casting Buffalo’s Actors Expo Returns Saturday 8/23

Aug 13, 2025

Buffalo, NY – TV legend Tom Fontana returns to his hometown Saturday August 23 as the keynote speaker at the third annual Casting Buffalo Actors Expo on Saturday, August 23rd, 2025, from 12pm to 7pm at The Atrium at Rich’s, located at 1 Robert Rich Way, Buffalo, NY 14213.

Casting Buffalo, the leading film and commercial casting company in Western New York established by Kyle Mecca, Harry Lipsitz, & Peter Johnson is thrilled to announce that the Casting Buffalo Actors Expo is a a one-stop industry event for local talent of all ages and aspiring crew who want to begin a career in the movies. Designed to educate, connect, and empower, the expo offers vital career insights and hands-on resources to help performers & crew members land roles in film, television, theater, and commercial productions across Western New York and beyond.

Hosted by Jordan Lema, CEO of Lemur Studios, City Producer of Buffalo 48 Hour Film Project, and Co-host of Podcasting Buffalo, Jordan is an advocate for creative entrepreneurship who was named one of Buffalo Business First’s 40 Under 40 in 2020 creating content with leading local brands and organizations.

The 2025 Keynote Speaker will feature Buffalo legend & Emmy Award Winner, Tom Fontana, writer, executive producer, and creator of ground breaking television series’ St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life on the Streets, HBO’s OZ, Netflix’s Borgia, and AMC/Canal+ series Monsieur Spade.

Featuring panels On Acting from hometown actress Charlene Amoia of How I Met Your Mother, The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, Fear Street series, and Cobra Kai. And Producing Panel from Buffalo native Mark Brazill, writer and producer of That 70’s Show, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and In Living Color with actress and producer Elea Oberon of The Longest Ride, The Bold and The Beautiful and Sin’s Kitchen.

Attendees will have the opportunities to network with local talent including community filmmakers and industry leaders. Meet local casting directors, professional acting coaches, and vocal coaches. Receive new Drive-Thru Headshots chosen by Casting Buffalo from Andrew Griesmann Photography & Gadabout Photography($85 including GA Ticket). Witness Live Stunt Showcases from Robbins Stunt Team and sit in on the Craft of Choice Presentation by SAG-AFTRA actor Bob Bozek.

Train to recieve a certification in our Production Assistant (PA) Training Course presented by Casting Buffalo & Buffalo Camera, instructed by DGA eligable NYC Staff ($50 including GA Ticket) and attend workshops for Locations, Art, Grip & Electric, and Camera departmentspresented by Film Neighbor Network.

Plus seminars on Independent Producing by Gregory Lamberson, PGA. and Tailoring Acting Reels with Tony Grande of 2NY Video. Finally, join a tour of Great Point Studios Buffalo guided by film producer Mac Cappuccino of Clown, Givers of Death, and numerous Christmas movies shot in Buffalo, NY from Fred Olen Ray & Great American Family.

With dozens of local vendors and exhibitors from various corners within the entertainment industry, attendees can interact with union crew members from I.A.T.S.E., acting coaches, production house Buffalo Camera at Expressway Cinema Rentals, spokespersons from area colleges and universities with theatre and film programs, talent agencies, and more. Food trucksThe Cheesy Chick, The Blend, and Mad Sauces will be on location all day.

Find more information at www.castingbuffalo.com

3rd Annual Valkyrie International Film Festival Starts Friday(5/30) at Screening Room

May 21, 2025

Jo O’Donnell (left) Director of “Realm of Reality”, Natalia Coiro (center) Al Warren (right). Photo by John Stitz

Buffalo, New York – The third annual Valkyrie International Film Festival will be held at the Screening Room Cinema & Arts Café in Amherst, New York, Friday, May 30th – Tuesday, June 3rd. VIFF showcases films directed by women from all walks of life. The five-day event is programmed by festival founders and mother-daughter duo Tamar Lamberson and Kaelin Lamberson, who will screen 70 films from around the world, including 25 produced in Western New York.

Festival founders and mother-daughter duo Tamar Lamberson(right) and Kaelin Lamberson(left).

“We received more submissions this year than we did our first two years,” says Tamar. “That 25 were produced in our area shows how the number of women creating films in our community has increased. Many of those are student films, too – the next generation. We expect 10 out-of-town filmmakers to attend in addition to local artists. Our goal is to create the same supportive atmosphere we did the first two years.”

Some of the local artists whose work will screen include Kristen Skeet (Phantom Frights, Agency, Slasher Days of Summer), Taylor Martin (Underbelly and Will Roger), Amanda Woomer (Cupcake and Where Is Earth Mother?) and Hope Muehlbauer (Jane and the Brain). Muehlbauer also worked as assistant director for Skeet and for first-time director Gabrielle Nunzio (Reverie), a local actor. Sabrina Pena Young and her daughter Eve Rose Young have one film each screening (The Soul Within and Siren Tale, respectively). Jo O’Donnell directed one film (Realm of Reality) and produced another (Chore Wheel).

Official Selections include features and shorts: documentaries, comedies, dramas, horror, dystopia, experimental, and animation. Approximately 120 were submitted, and narrowing the list down proved challenging.

“They were all so good and we had to make some painful choices,” says Tamar. “We like to watch each film together and discuss it afterward. Kaelin was in high school when we started VIFF, but now she’s a student at Cornell University, so watching them together is harder. Sometimes we did it in Ithaca, sometimes we did it when she came home, and sometimes we did it over Facetime. We also moved the festival from its regular March slot during Women’s History Month because she went to Switzerland and Austria with her chorus.”

“Slasher Days of Summer” Directed by Kristen Skeet

Documentary features screening include Know Her Name, directed by Zainab Muse, about the erasure of female directors from film history; Miss Fury and the Lost Legacy of Tarpe Mills, directed by Chelsea Stone, about the creator of the first female comic book superhero; and Fight for Ukraine: For the Children, directed by Karen Floyd.

Narrative Features include the comedy 5683, directed by Brittany Benedict; My Little Renaissance Girl, a comedy-drama directed by Amy Heller Zimmerman; and Slasher Days of Summer, Kristen Skeet’s horror spoof.

The full schedule for VIFF is posted at www.valkyriefilmfest.com. Admission is only $50 for a five-day Pegasus Pass; $25 for a Saturday Day Pass, or $20 for a Day Pass on Friday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. Passes are only available at the Screening Room box office for cash. Single block admission is $12, available at showtime.