For an independent filmmaker, completing a film is only one part of the struggle. The next challenge is getting it into a room where people can actually see it on a proper screen, meet the people behind it, and recognize the work that went into making it. That reality sits at the center of the ICP Entertainment Film Festival, an independent New York City platform preparing for its 12th annual edition from October 23–27, 2026.
ICP Entertainment was founded by award-winning filmmaker, Founder and Creative Director Richard Oliver Jr., alongside Co-Founder Veena Kondapalli. The organization grew out of their firsthand understanding of the obstacles independent filmmakers face. A submission portal alone is rarely enough. Filmmakers need an audience, meaningful exposure, a place to present their work, and a community willing to celebrate it.
This year, ICP Entertainment is supporting that mission through a $15,000 fundraising campaign. The goal covers far more than the basic costs of staging a five-day event. Presenting independent cinema professionally in New York City requires venue hire, screening infrastructure, projection and sound technology, technical personnel, event production, filmmaker hospitality, marketing, photography, videography, and attention to the audience experience. From a theater seat, a festival can appear seamless. Behind the scenes, that experience depends on a long list of moving parts and the resources to keep them working together.
For ICP Entertainment, maintaining that standard while keeping independent filmmakers at the center remains an ongoing commitment. The 2026 festival will bring nine award-winning films to New York audiences, covering drama, comedy, documentary, humanity, horror, and other categories. This year’s recognized films include “SCAMMED: THE PRICE OF THE MIC,” “PLEIADES,” “AMERICAN STREAM,” “COLD EMBRACE,” “GLIMMERS,” “MY FOOT IS IN HEAVEN,” “A GIRL CALLED ALICE,” “SPECTACLES” and “PLEASE, STOP!” Together, the nine films reflect the range of stories and perspectives moving through independent cinema.
The current program includes screenings at the Producers Club Theater, along with additional events and filmmaker gatherings in Manhattan. The fundraising campaign also carries the weight of what ICP Entertainment has already had to survive.
COVID-19 caused enormous disruption across the arts and entertainment community. Filmmakers, performers, venues, production companies, and festivals faced a period when gathering, screening, and creating became extraordinarily difficult. For independent organizations without the financial resources of major studios or large institutions, that disruption threatened their ability to continue at all.
ICP Entertainment chose to rebuild. The festival has kept moving forward and is now reaching its 12th annual edition after more than a decade of creating opportunities for independent filmmakers. Its history also shows how fragile independent arts platforms can be. Its survival has depended on organizers, filmmakers, audiences, and supporters continuing to invest their time, work, and belief in the space.
Community support helps cover those production demands. The $15,000 goal translates directly into the practical demands of producing the festival: screens that have to be lit, rooms that have to be prepared, films that deserve careful presentation, and filmmakers who deserve to see their work treated seriously.
Supporting ICP Entertainment helps sustain the infrastructure that allows independent voices to reach audiences in one of the world’s major cultural cities. It helps preserve a space where a filmmaker from New York, elsewhere in the United States, or another part of the world can bring a story into a room and have it seen and celebrated.
ICP Entertainment has built its identity around the filmmakers it serves. The 12th Annual ICP Entertainment Film Festival is asking for something beyond attendance. It is asking its community to help keep an independent arts platform alive.
BE A PART OF OUR STORY. Support the 12th Annual ICP Entertainment Film Festival’s $15,000 fundraising campaign and help us continue creating a platform for independent filmmakers from New York and around the world.
DONATE / SUPPORT THE CAMPAIGN: https://icpentfilmfestival.allyrafundraising.com/campaigns/15074-12th-annual-fundraising-campaign-be-a-part-of-our-story
ALL DONATIONS ARE 100% TAX-DEDUCTIBLE.
