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Across The Globe is coming to New York City! XTG is having its fourth event in April 2025 at the Quad Cinema after an amazing event in 2024!

The festival will have a screening of a variety of short films, and a networking event after the Q&A panel.

Thank you for your contributions to our festival!

Quad Cinema
April 24th, 2025
6:00 pm: Arrival
7:00 pm: Screening Starts
8:00 pm: Filmmakers Q&A
8:30 pm: Reception

Synopsis

Across The Globe Film Festival (XTGFF) was founded on the idea that storytelling is universal. Stories build a bridge between different cultures and people — showing just how much we have in common with one another. XTGFF is dedicated to filmmaking and connecting the world through entertainment. Through this process, we meet people along the way discovering that our dreams are shared and our ambition is matched.

XTGFF provides an opportunity for independent filmmakers and cinephiles from all over the world to showcase their work. Across The Globe succeeded as an online festival for two years with close to 1,000 submissions from all over the world. John Fessler, founder of XTGFF, is excited to transform the festival into a live in-person event this April for members of the NYC film community to stay engaged and inspired. The event will also serve as a great networking opportunity for creatives and industry representatives from around the world to connect.
 

Meet the Team

John Fessler – Creator/Festival Director
John combined his passion for film and experience in finance and accounting to start Side Street Studios, a Brooklyn-based, media & entertainment company focusing on sales and production. John started the company after successful stints at PwC, Grace Global Capital, J.P Morgan, and HBO. He founded Side Street Studios because he wanted to bridge the gap between artistry and sales in the film industry. John currently resides in Brooklyn and continues to establish relationships with production companies, film financiers, and distribution companies worldwide. John created Across The Globe as a way of showcasing the work of many of the people he came across through Side Street, and connecting people around the world through quality stories and independent films.

Andrew Levy – Sponsorship Director
Andrew Levy is a New York based independent producer and founder/CEO of Shwayze MGMT. Andrew has over 10 years of experience in the entertainment industry having worked at ICM Partners in the Motion Picture Production & Independent Film Sales departments before pivoting to creative development in 2021 when he accepted a role at Lionsgate Entertainment. In 2022, Andrew moved to New York to work for actor Oscar Isaac’s Mad Gene Media before dedicating himself to pursue his goal of independent producing. Today, Andrew works with a variety of creative subjects and media; building paths towards project development, implementation, distribution, consumption, and profitization. He has partnerships with fashion label Damn Pigeon (as seen on HBOMax’s THE HYPE), and production companies like Hot Sauce Productions and Blue Bassoon Pictures. He is a graduate of Syracuse University, and currently resides in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood. Andrew’s passion and career in entertainment was inspired by attending the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. He hopes developing Across The Globe will help and inspire others to pursue their dreams and goals in the industry.

Jared Cohen – Head of Marketing & Social Media
Jared Cohen is a Social Media Executive with 14 years of entertainment experience providing visionary marketing strategies for 180+ film campaigns, such as the Spider-Man, Jumanji, Ghostbusters, and James Bond franchises. Jared led award-winning social teams in delivering audience engagement initiatives that have grown Sony Pictures’ social channels by more than 10 million followers. He built the largest and fastest-growing SMS texting subscriber base for an entertainment brand on Community for Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse. He has specialized in Publicity and Promotions, and his first contributions at Sony Pictures focused on multicultural and targeted publicity outreach. He stepped up to Digital Marketing and revolutionized social publicity campaigns – establishing the creative strategy and best practices that are utilized today across the studio’s entire marketing department.

Megan O’Neill – Advisor
Megan is currently a consultant to film festivals, including the Tribeca Film Festival, where she is a Senior Shorts Programmer. For the past 8 years, she’s curated an animated program with Whoopi Goldberg that has premiered two Academy Award-winning shorts – Kobe Bryant’s Dear Basketball, and Pixar’s Bao. Megan has 25+ years experience acquiring, developing, producing and distributing short-form content. Megan co-produced the Sundance Film Festival feature, Relax, It’s Just Sex, and licensed it to over 40 worldwide broadcasters. She co-founded one of the first US short film distribution companies, Forefront Films, and negotiated the sale of the company to AtomFilms. Megan has been an invited panelist at over 60 international film festivals and industry conferences, including Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, Galway Film Fleadh and Clermont Ferrand.

Inuka Bacote-Capiga – Advisor
Inuka is a recovering attorney with 15+ years of experience in the entertainment industry. Inuka’s producing credits include the Oscar award winning documentary Summer of Soul, and the feature film The 40-Year-Old Version, which garnered her an Independent Spirit Award nomination. She executive produced the feature documentary Beba, a 2021 TIFF Doc selection which was acquired by NEON. She also co-executive produced the Daytime Emmy winning LGBTQ series, Eastsiders. She recently was SVP Development & Production for Hot Sauce Productions, which had a multi-year first look deal with Sony Pictures Television. Inuka also serves as an affiliate of The Blackhouse Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding opportunities for diverse content creators. She is a member of the Producers Guild of America.

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Contact

For inquiries, please contact fiscalsponsorship@filmindependent.org.