ALZA Festival Announces “Created In NY” Campaign Finalists, Presented with NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, Ahead of Its Inaugural Event October 16-18

One NYC-Based Vertical Storyteller to Receive Iconic “Made in NY” Award; Fans are Invited to Share their Support for Favorites Starting Today at nyc.gov/CreatedinNY

All Five Finalists to be Featured in “Created in NY” Showcase, Spotlighting NYC’s Vertical Filmmaker Community, at First-of-Its-Kind Festival Dedicated to Vertical Series and Microdramas

 

New York, NY, September 29, 2026 – ALZA Festival, a first-of-its-kind festival dedicated to microdramas and vertical series, today announced five local vertical storytellers who are potential recipients of the iconic “Made in NY” award, to be revealed on the last day of the festival, running October 16-18 at AMC 19th St. East 6.  The showcase is part of a public engagement campaign supported by the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME).

Starting today, New Yorkers can go to nyc.gov/CreatedinNY and choose their favorite vertical storyteller to receive the award, which until now has been presented to established filmmakers and producers such as Darren Aronofsky, Celia Costas and Michelle Buteau. All five storytellers will premiere new content, produced independently of MOME, which will debut as part of the festival’s “Created in NY” showcase. The following “Made in NY” Award finalists will make their red carpet debut:  

• Melissa Becraft & Sarah Pribis - Investigator Investigator
  • Two Broadway stars, moonlighting as New York City private eyes, are hired to track down their client's missing fortune, only to realize the culprit is someone close to them...very close.
• Jesse Fisher & Sasha Herman- Watch Hill
  • A spontaneous third-date quickly turns into a fight for survival when the main character’s charming date reveals a darker side.
• Kyle C. Mumford - Kyle Has Tourette’s
  • Inspired by real-life situations, this heartfelt comedic series follows an isolated young man with Tourette's Syndrome trying to branch out and find a sense of normalcy in the big city.
• Christina Richardson - Besties
  • Platonic best friends Rayven and Eric navigate love, friendship and blurred boundaries when Rayven sets out to finally get over her ex with a one-night stand, only for the plan to go hilariously and disastrously off course.
• Romel Rodriguez - The Super NYC
  •  The superintendent of a building in New York City must deal with his eccentric tenants.

“We are honored to partner with the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment to shine a spotlight on up-and-coming storytellers, and after seeing the immense talent represented in the submissions for this prestigious award, it just underscored why we chose to launch ALZA Festival in New York City,” said Pete Torres, Founder and CEO of ALZA Festival. “We’re excited to elevate the work of these five vertical filmmakers and give them a platform that both celebrates their voices and the breadth of what’s possible in vertical storytelling.”

“Storytelling is changing, and a new format should mean new recognition for the people creating great work,” said Commissioner Rafael Espinal of the NYC Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. “‘Created in NY’ is about supporting and celebrating storytellers building audiences in new ways and making sure they have a place in New York City’s creative community. Through our partnership with the ALZA Festival, we’re spotlighting five New York vertical storytellers and asking New Yorkers to help us select the first vertical storyteller recipient of our ‘Made in NY’ award.”

Finalist headshots and other “Created in NY” assets available HERE.

Finalist quotes and bios:

"Creators have completely changed the way entertainment gets made and discovered, and microdramas feel like another evolution of that, where independent storytellers have an opportunity to build something that can reach audiences immediately. Investigator, Investigator represents what brought each of us to New York City; dance for Melissa, and theater for Sarah. As artists with big dreams, we’ve learned that you have to carve your own path. We co-created our series to tell the story we wanted to tell, without the need to wait for anyone else’s permission. We had so much fun making it, and are excited to share it with the city that brought us together." – Melissa Becraft and Sarah Pribis, Investigator, Investigator Filmmakers

“We met in New York 25 years ago, and the city has been part of our friendship and our creative lives ever since. We genuinely couldn’t have made Watch Hill anywhere else. It was our hard-earned knowledge of New York—its neighborhoods, geography, transit, and all the little ways the city fits together—that allowed us to tell a story across such a diverse array of locations on an independent production budget. We wanted to bring that same sense of scale and ambition to vertical storytelling, and to do it with an entirely New York-based cast and crew. To have that work recognized by the city that brought us together as friends and shaped us as filmmakers means an enormous amount to both of us.” – Jesse Fisher & Sasha Herman, Watch Hill Filmmakers  

“I am honored to be recognized by the City of New York for my vertical series, KYLE HAS TOURETTE'S, a heartfelt comedy that highlights what it's really like to live with Tourette's day in and day out. The hilarious and touching moments of trying to find a sense of normalcy are inspired by my own trials and tribulations of living with Tourette’s in the city, a part of my story I’ve never shared until now. Filming this series within the city I love has been a dream, and I am super excited to be sharing this story at the ALZA Film Festival, and I hope that it inspires people to share a part of themselves that could enlighten others." – Kyle Mumford, Kyle Has Tourette’s Filmmaker

“Do the work when no one is watching. The late nights, the work after work, the rejection, the projects that don’t get attention, it’s all part of building the muscle you’ll need when the opportunity comes. You can’t control when someone gives you a shot, but you can control how prepared you are when they do. Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard." – Christina Richardson, Besties Filmmaker

“The Super is a love letter to New York City. It gives life to why NYC is called ‘The Concrete Jungle’. It’s an honor to be recognized by the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment as well as ALZA festival for our vertical comedy series. We pour a lot of love and hard work into this project. We care about proper representation of our community and the people that make it whole. Apartment buildings are micro communities, diverse with people of all ethnicities and backgrounds. That usually leads to hilarious moments and our goal is to tell these stories as best as we can.” – Romel Rodriguez, The Super Filmmaker

About Investigator, Investigator Filmmakers, Melissa Becraft & Sarah Pribis

Melissa Becraft is a dancer and content creator based in Brooklyn, New York. She started her career dancing for the NBA Brooklynettes where she became captain and choreographer for the team. Some of her performance credits include The VMAs with BLACKPINK, The Gilded Age, Marvelous Mrs Maisel, and HBO Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. She has also taken her dancing to her online platforms, reaching millions of people worldwide with her colorful choreography and joyful personality. She specializes in making videos based on movies, characters, and decades and has over 3 million followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube. This platform has taken her around the world and given her the opportunity to make dance content for many brands including Disney, Prime Video, Netflix, Hulu, and HBO.

Sarah Pribis is an actor, host, and content creator based in Brooklyn with more than 20 years of experience bringing stories to life across stage, screen, and digital platforms. From appearing in films and TV shows (FBI, Two Sentence Horror Stories), to performing on Broadway, to hosting for HQ Trivia and The Ellen Show, she blends her entertainment expertise with a creator's instinct. Sarah uses her passion for creative storytelling to educate, empower, and inspire audiences, from the big screen to small. She co-created and stars in Investigator, Investigator, a Made in NY finalist in the ALZA Festival. IG/TT: @SarahPribis / www.sarahpribis.com

About Watch Hill Filmmakers, Jesse Fisher & Sasha Herman

Jesse Fisher is a filmmaker and media consultant with a BFA in Film & Television from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. His award-winning documentaries and narrative films have screened at festivals, galleries and museums worldwide. Jesse currently lives in Bushwick, Brooklyn (where many scenes in Watch Hill were filmed!).

Sasha Herman is a writer and filmmaker and the co-creator of Watch Hill. A graduate of NYU’s Gallatin School of Individualized Study, where he concentrated in contemporary playwriting, Sasha spent a decade working on creative teams at agencies and startups while developing his work as a narrative filmmaker. He writes and directs with longtime collaborator Jesse Fisher; their feature screenplays and television pilots have been recognized by numerous script competitions. His work combines a playwright’s focus on character and structure with a career spent thinking about how audiences encounter stories. Sasha was born-and-raised on the Upper West Side, and currently lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

About Kyle Has Tourette’s Filmmaker, Kyle Mumford

Based in Bushwick, Brooklyn, Kyle was diagnosed with Tourette Syndrome and Dyslexia at a young age, and found a creative outlet through plays and movies. This led him to attend the School of Visual Arts, where his thesis film, HIS NAKED MIND, won Kyle the award for Best Director at SVA. Kyle has worked in editorial and locations departments for film & TV, and later became an assistant for writer/director Tom Gormican. His short films have screened at Palm Springs ShortFest, Florida FilmFest, and many others. His screenplays have placed seven times at Austin Film Festival and twice as a 2nd rounder in the Sundance Labs. In 2021, Kyle was accepted into the Actors Studio Playwright and Directors Unit. His plays, SHRIMP PUDDING, HANGMEN, CONTINENTAL DIVIDE, LOVE STORM GALACTICA, all premiered at the Chain Theatre One-Act Fest in 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026. Recently, his play, THE VICTIMS, was Screencraft’s 2025 StagePlay winner. IG: @kylecmumford / www.kylemumford.com

About Besties Filmmaker, Christina Richardson

Christina Richardson is an award-winning Director, Writer, Executive Producer, and Founder of C. Rich Media. Her work spans film, television, branded entertainment and emerging narrative formats. She created Besties in 2018 as an “ultra mini series” designed specifically for social media, years before vertical micro dramas became an established format. Following the series’ independent relaunch and organic audience growth, Besties partnered with FOX Creator Studios to produce Seasons 3 and 4. Richardson continues to build original IP while exploring new ways stories can be created, distributed and discovered by audiences. She is based in the Bronx.

About The Super Filmmaker, Romel Rodriguez

Romel Rodriguez graduated from the Media and Digital Film program at the Bronx Community College and received his Bachelors in Film and TV production from the City College of NY. He then went on to work on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah. At the age of 17 he taught himself how to write screenplays. His main goal was to tell the stories he wanted to tell and make people laugh as he believes laughter is the best medicine and making people smile is a joy. He also wanted to tell stories that shined a brighter light on proper representation of Latinos and African Americans which he continues to do with his work. Romel was raised and currently lives in the Bronx, NY.

About the “Made in NY” Award

The "Made in NY" Award, created in 2006 by MOME, celebrates excellence in New York City's creative community and recognizes the achievements of individuals and organizations that have made significant contributions to the City's entertainment and digital media industries. Prior recipients of the "Made in NY" Award include Awkwafina, Alex Borstein, Michelle Buteau, Robert De Niro, Tina Fey, Caroline Hirsch, Late Night with Seth Meyers, Spike Lee, Audra McDonald, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Tracy Morgan, Nas, Rosie Perez, and Sesame Street. More information about the "Made in NY" Award is available on the MOME website here.

About the ALZA Festival

ALZA Festival, founded by Torres, the former COO for Tribeca Festival, along with cofounders Rita Vinnik, a former TikTok executive and Katie Korfhage, who previously served as Tribeca Festival’s Vice President of Development, aims to transform digital-native storytelling into curated, in-person cultural moments. It is designed specifically to meet the rise of microdramas and vertical series, connecting filmmakers, audiences, and brands in ways that extend far beyond the screen. Kicking off Friday, October 16, ALZA Festival’s three-day event will feature official premieres, competitive screenings, creator spotlights, industry conversations, masterclasses, networking events and immersive brand activations —bringing the most compelling voices in short-form storytelling into a shared, real-world experience. Selected projects will screen before audiences of industry leaders, platforms, brands, media, investors, and fellow creators while competing for ALZA Festival honors.