NEWS
Stella was a guest speaker on a couple of Cynthia Riddle’s “Developing your short film” classes, where she spoke to UCLA Extension students about her experiences with making her writing/directing debut short ‘The Critic,’ and what it takes to make a successful short film.
Arpa International Film Festival Q&A with the Best Short Film Award Nominee THE CRITIC (USA) Filmmakers: Stella Velon (Film Director, Writer, and Lead Actress) and Alan Smyth (Lead Actor) Moderator: Nicholas Talarico (Festival Programmer).
The 23rd edition of the festival will stream live on Seed & Spark November 12-22, 2020. Get your tickets here.
Starring: Stella Velon, Alan Smyth, Todd Karner
Written and directed by Stella Velon
Produced by Jean Gabriel Kauss
Cinematography by Akis Konstantakopoulos
Editing by Ivan Andrijanic
Music by Asaf Sagiv
Produced by The Punk Floyd Company
Read more: omeleto.com/254466 / thecriticfilm.com
The 15th Annual w3 Awards were announced by the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts on October 6, 2020. Receiving over 3,000 entries from across the globe, the w3 Awards honors outstanding Websites, Marketing, Video, Mobile, Social, and Podcasts created by some of the best digital content creators across the industry. View the Gold Winners gallery here.
Read Stella’s interview on thriveglobal.com
“Through the skill of her performance and ingenuity of the filmmaking, Velon brings us to an uncomfortable arena that’s all too easy to forget — the inevitable pressures, self-doubts and scathing criticism that comes with fame, with one’s own inner critic often the darkest of all.” Read the full review on Medium here.
Stella was interviewed by Authority Magazine as part of the “Inspirational Women in Hollywood” alongside Alicia Silverstone, Kerry Washington, and more. Read Stella’s full interview on Medium.com.
Stella was thrilled to be among the judges of the inaugural edition of Scene It Awards in partnership with UK Film Review as Media Sponsor for the event. Some exciting submissions, including Academy Award-winning and BAFTA-nominated films…
Stella Velon and Jean Gabriel Kauss (of The Punk Floyd Company) spoke with The Webby Awards about the making of ‘The Critic’. The film earned Stella a 2020 Webby nomination for Best Individual Performance and has won over 20 festival awards to this day. Read the interview here.
“If you’ve seen the short (that is streaming for Amazon Prime subscribers!), then you know how good this film is. Five star reviews are great, but a fan-voted award to put on the shelf is even better. Voting for The Critic tells The Punk Floyd Company how much you adored the short.
If you’ve been convinced to go vote for Stella Velon’s performance in The Critic, go now!” — Film Daily
All Webby nominees compete for two awards in their respective categories, the Webby Award selected by the Academy, and the Webby People’s Voice Award voted for by internet fans worldwide.
Webby Awards distinguish newcomers and well-knowns like Leonardo DiCaprio, National Geographic, and Ellen DeGeneres for their excellence.
“Nominations have gone out to some well-known personalities from various industries in the 24-year history of the Webby Awards. They include Tom Hanks, Trevor Noah, The Rolling Stones, Billie Eilish, Idris Elba, Serena Williams, LeBron James, Celine Dion, and Leonardo DiCaprio…
“Los Angeles-based actress and filmmaker Stella Velon has been nominated for Best Individual Performance in the Video: Performance & Craft Category In the 24th Annual Webby Awards for ‘The Critic’.” Read more on newstrail.com.
On April 28th, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for the 24th Annual Webby Awards with Stella picking up a nomination for Best Individual Performance for THE CRITIC.
Hailed as the “Oscars of the Internet” the Webby Awards are the leading international award rewarding excellence across the internet and in online film & video. As a nominee, Stella is among the top 10% of 13,000 entries worldwide and has been singled out as one of the five best in the world in that category!
The other nominees in the same category are singer-actress Fka Twigs, ‘Schitt’s Creek’ actress Emily Hampshire, Leslie Grace (Latin GRAMMY® nominee), and writer-comedian Gastor Almonte.
“So let me begin with this. I rarely write in the first person. Rarely. But this is an exception to my rule, because there’s a back story to what’s ahead…”
Find ‘The Critic’ on Letterboxd and see what movie buffs are saying about the short written/directed/starring Stella Velon. https://letterboxd.com/film/the-critic-2018/
“Written, directed by, and starring Stella Velon, “The Critic” is an indie short that, painted in vibrant colors and rife with symbolism and underlying meaning, is an emotional ride that is immediate and powerful.”
Stella talks to Keely Gelineau during the 2019 Catalyst Content Festival (in Duluth, MN) about the genesis of the short and what’s next for the feature version of the film. Velon took home the Best Breakout Performance Award there. Watch the interview here(videolightbox).
‘The Critic’ has been acquired by and will premiere as #MovieoftheWeek (Editor’s Pick) on ShortsTV, the world’s leading and first and only 24/7 HD TV channel dedicated to short movies. Tune in on February 1st at 8 pm ET. Find your TV provider & additional showtimes here.
Stella has joined Alma Har’el’s curated talent discovery platform for underrepresented filmmakers Free The Work as an official Pro✓ member. She is very proud to be a part of the family. Visit her profile here.
Competing at Amazon Studios' first annual All Voices Film Festival (amazon.com/allvoices) for U.S. filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds, Stella Velon’s multi-award winning and critically-acclaimed directorial debut ‘The Critic’ (also written by and starring Velon opposite Alan Smyth) was announced as one of the five winners of the festival by a jury that included top executives at Amazon Studios & IMDb. Watch the short on Amazon Prime Video.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Stella Velon – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
“Currently, the project I am most proud of and known for is, as you may have guessed, ‘The Critic,’ which premiered at the 34th Boston Film Festival last September. You can now watch the short on Amazon Prime (available in the US & UK), as well as on the UK Film Channel (ukfilmchannel.co.uk/the-critic), and we have more exciting announcements coming soon!
Also, stay tuned for the comedy series I wrote. It’s a girl-powered ‘Entourage’ meets ‘Friends,’ set in the NYC fashion world, and the show is fully fleshed out! We are looking for investors/backers at the moment, so if that’s you and you are reading this, call us! We promise you it’ll be lots of fun, and you won’t regret it!”
‘The Critic’ among the top two winning films at the 2019 Annual Queen Palm International Film Festival taking home the Grand Jury Prize ‘Couronne d’Or’ together with the feature documentary ‘Crime + Punishment’. In addition, Stella Velon won the Best of Fest ‘Queen Supreme’ award for Best Short First-Time Filmmaker.
As a two-time Gold Award winner and a Royal Gem Festival Standout at the December 2018 Edition of the Queen Palm International Film Festival, Stella Velon’s ‘The Critic’ will compete for the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film (First-time filmmaker) and Best Actress (Short Film) at the 2019 Annual Award Event held at the Mary Pickford Theatre in Palm Springs, CA. Tickets and more info here: queenpalmfilmfest.org/2019-screening-lineup
I had the greatest pleasure of introducing my debut film ‘The Critic’ and the UK Film Channel, a brand new VOD platform, founded by the team behind the UK Film Review. Head over to ukfilmchannel.co.uk/the-critic to watch my short.