Today we’d like to introduce you to Elena Moscatt.
Hi Elena, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I have worked in the film industry in the mid-Atlantic area of the USA since the late 1980s. As a student at Goucher College, I was an intern in wardrobe on the set of the original film, Hairspray written and directed by Baltimore Director John Waters in 1987. In the summer of 1990, I worked as Kevin Bacon’s assistant during the filming of “He Said, She Said”.
In 1992, I joined the union I.A.T.S.E. Local 487 and started working in the craft services department for films and commercials. I was the key (head) of the craft services on most of John Water’s films including Pecker, Cecil B. Demented, and A Dirty Shame. I also worked as key for all five seasons of the hit HBO Series, The Wire, and in the craft services department for all six seasons of the Netflix series, House of Cards.
In 1998, I created my first web series, Jamie’s Way. We did casting locally and in the tri-state area, hiring talented teens as well as an experienced and novice adult cast, and filming four episodes. According to Internet Drama and Mystery 1996-2014 – a textbook by Vincent Terrace, Jamie’s Way is the first SCRIPTED web series. Back in 1998-2001, publicity sites like YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Vimeo, etc. did not exist. Still, the teen cast has their share of fans, and the site had 20,000 hits a day. I updated many photo galleries of the cast at work, which helped the hits between episodes.
In 2009, after The Wire ended, and work on film sets in the mid-Atlantic area became almost non-existent. I went back to New Media and created two episodes of Life After Lisa (based on the script I had started writing back in college) and a series called Click On This TV, a lifestyle interview show. Click On This TV has now covered the Sundance Film Festival, The Tribeca Film Festival, and South By Southwest in Austin, Texas. We have almost 600 episodes on our YouTube page.
I also created the Baltimore Screenwriters Coffee Club in 2009, a club that meets once a month on Zoom. It’s a club where screenwriters can have their work read out loud, and get advice from their peers. The club now has over 1000 members in it.
I created the BALTIMORE NEXT MEDIA WEB FEST in 2017 with my friend Neva Krauss. It’s a New Media festival dedicated to discovering and supporting the very best of international New Media, including VR projects, Web Series, Short Films, YouTube channels, Podcasts, and Social Media Content. The 1st year of the festival was on November 4th – 5th, 2017 at the Creative Alliance.
Currently – seven years later, the festival will be at the Hotel Indigo in Mount Vernon from November 2nd to the 5th and will feature 180 projects from 22 different countries. The festival will feature VIP Guest Speakers, Screenings, Networking Parties, a Filmmaker’s Brunch, Red Carpet opportunities, and an awards Ceremony with singer Parijita Bastola from the 2022 season of The Voice (She was on Team John Legend).
The festival will also have 10 days of Virtual Screenings, panels, and Talk-Backs by the Filmmakers and Podcasters themselves. For more details, click on this: http://www.bnmwebfest.com.
My latest project is a web series called Rosemary Street, about life in North Baltimore. A fictional series about living in Baltimore City. We follow characters in a non-linear way as they live, love, thrive, and survive on Rosemary Street.
Two families – a black family and a white family met as neighbors in the 1960s and raised their families a few houses away from each other for over 40 years. We follow the members of both families as they live, love, thrive, and survive on Rosemary Street.
Themes: Friendship, love, heartache, sickness, college life, following your dreams, fame, family life, sisterhood, aging parents – it’s all happening here on Rosemary Street.
The screenplay for the first three episodes of Rosemary Street was nominated for Best Screenplay at the NJ Webfest, and just won Best Screenplay on September 24th, 2023. The BNM Webfest is a partner with the NJ Webfest.
The show stars: Johnny Alonso, Paula Black, Towanda Underdue, Laura Dowling Shea, Aubrey Nicole Dittmar, Parijita Bastola, Carson Holley, Kique Gomez, BJ Soden, Olivia Flowers, Amie Bereson, Elena Moscatt, Desi Velez.
Director of Photography: Richard Chisolm, Sound Mixer: Dwayne Dell, Boom Operator: Chris Jones, Gaffer: Michael Sercey, Props, and Set Design: Amy Panzer, and Hair and Makeup: Gina Bateman, Nicole Ferguson, and Aja McDaniels.
I created, wrote, co-directed, and produced the series along with Johnny Alonso and Marlena Neal.
The screenplay for the first three episodes of Rosemary Street has been nominated for Best Screenplay at the NJ Webfest, which will be coming up next weekend, September 22 – 24th. The BNM Webfest is partners with the NJ Webfest.
We will be doing the next three webisodes in late fall/early winter of 2023.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The biggest challenge in being creative, and creating your project always seems to be “Money”. How will you find the funds, sponsors, or investors to create this project?
My best advice in dealing with this problem? Always be creative! And don’t be afraid to ask everyone you know, see, or even meet! You never know who your future investors or sponsors will be. It certainly doesn’t hurt to ask! Just understand you’re going to get a lot of rejection. But don’t take it personally – just keep going. Keep making “to-do” lists and keep searching. You’ll eventually find the right people to help you get that project going. It will happen!
One of the biggest obstacles for me when making Rosemary Street was dealing with so many schedules. The bigger your cast – the harder it is to get everyone there when you need them. The SAG-AFTRA and Writers strikes helped us – because everyone wanted to work before the strike started. They wanted to grab the work before it all went away. Luckily, we had signed up in the spring with a New Media Low Budget contract – so even once the strike had started – we could still film.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Currently, I do multiple things!
I’ve worked in the craft services department on film sets for over 30 years including The Wire, House of Cards, Lady In the Lake, Major League 2, 12 Monkeys, and the John Waters films – Pecker, Cecil B. Demented, Serial Mom, and A Dirty Shame.
The Original Hairspray film was my very first movie – I interned with the wardrobe Department.
I worked as Kevin Bacon’s Assistant on He Said, She Said in 1990. I wrote, produced, and directed 3 episodes of the web series Jamie’s Way in 1998 – 2001. Fifteen-year-old actor Matt McClain wrote and directed an episode of Jamie’s Way as well (in 2001).
I created Click On This TV in 2009, and now have almost 600 episodes on our YouTube page. In 2009, I also created the Baltimore Screenwriter’s Coffee Club. You can learn more about it here: https://www.meetup.com/
In 2017, I created Baltimore Next Media Webfest, and we’re having our 7th year this Nov 2nd – Nov 5th, 2023. http://www.bnmwebfest.
Our Virtual Site is here: https://bnmwebfest.sparqfest.
In 2022/ 2023, I created the web series Rosemary Street, which will be premiering at the BNM Webfest on November 5th, 2023. You can keep track of the show on our website at: http://www.
What sets me apart from others? I’ve never given up. I’ve always found a way to create my vision. This industry is hard – whether you work behind the scenes or in front of the camera. The key is to keep trying and never give up. Eventually things will start working out – if you try from every angle!
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I believe the film industry will come back in full force once the strike is over and new contracts have been agreed upon. Everyone loves the entertainment industry – so we will always be making new content. But things are changing in the way that projects are made, and screened, so compensation has to also be adjusted with the new ways of the digital world.
People seem to want shorter content these days. So Web Series and Digital content are the way of the future! That’s why web festivals are so great! They feature projects from around the world that you might have never discovered on your own.
We gather exciting content from around the world and showcase it right here in Baltimore and online for our city and the world to enjoy! Please check out our site and come to the festival if you’re in Baltimore!
I, myself, hope to be writing more screenplays – both TV shows and films in the next 5 -10 years! Writing is my passion! So excited to be doing what I love!
Contact Info:
- Website: http://www.bnmwebfest.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bnmwebfest/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bnmwebfest
- Linkedin: http://www.clickonthis.tv
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/baltowebfest
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAZQHGf-Fllhl7z6t1PCacg
- Other: http://www.rosemarystreetseries.tv
Image Credits
Richard Chisolm – Director of Photography (June 2023), The Baltimore Next Media Webfest – Poster created by Elena Moscatt, Blind Mice, Wicked Image, Herrings, The High Life, Reimagined Volume II: Mahal and Better Men Elsewhere, Kyla Warren, Elena Moscatt, Shaquita Smith, Reece Odum, Tray Chaney, @mspatricefisher, and Paul Moscatt Sr.
