Welcome to The Lonely Seal Company Group

The Lonely Seal Company Group includes Lonely Seal Releasing, the Lonely Seal International Film, Screenplay & Music Festival, Lonely Seal Streamingand  Hourglass24.com.

Lonely Seal Releasing

Lonely Seal International Film, Screenplay & Music Festival

 

Lonely Seal is the rare festival that doesn’t merely give lip service to cultivating scripts about/by/for the disempowered.

Lonely Seal is the rare festival that doesn’t merely give lip service to cultivating scripts about/by/for the disempowered. Its ethos — namely “stories aching to be told,” and its founder’s genuine affinity for underdogs — makes Hammad Zaidi’s international film festival uniquely important.

Thus you can imagine I was tremendously humbled that Lonely Seal crowned my “Serenade of the Vulture” script (about a homeless Asian woman battling a tech billionaire) as “Best Overall Feature Screenplay” and “Best Dramatic Feature Screenplay.” Winning any competition validates a screenwriter’s hard work, but Lonely Seal’s mission statement resonates emotionally with my fascination with provocative tales of social injustice.

Our great nation has a long, troubled history of disrespecting people’s otherness… whether it’s race, religion, immigrants, physical ability, orientation, culture or poverty. I thank Lonely Seal for raising awareness of ALL films and scripts that amplify America’s forgotten voices. Thus it’s no coincidence that its categories include “Best Indigenous Film” and “Best Film Focused on Disabilities.”

I’m not the first screenwriter to delve into class warfare, income disparity, and cultural inequity, and I won’t be the last. That’s why a contest like Lonely Seal is so vital… it shines a light on the human condition of today’s era. And isn’t that the very definition of great art?

Joseph Dionisio – Writer – Serenade of the Vulture.

This is a hidden gem and I can only hope it will gain more notice as the years go by.

Five stars in every category for Hammad Zaidi and the Lonely Seal Festival! This is a hidden gem and I can only hope it will gain more notice as the years go by. The summary of my experience is: the festival absolutely live up to its two promises: 1) telling “stories aching to be told” and 2) offering excellent career advice and networking opportunities.

More details:
My film was selected for the festival and I wanted to attend, but I had to miss the middle days since I was the maid of honor in a wedding in a different city. Hammad was so good about accommodating me and I was able to see my film being screened. The wedding also meant I missed the scheduled career talk session. When I told Hammad this and asked if it would be recorded, he said I could just set up a time with him to talk over the phone instead. Indeed, I walked away from every conversation I had with him having learned a new and valuable piece of advice.

It was also a delight to be at a festival committed to supporting diverse voices. The Grand Prize film this year (Oklahoma Breakdown) taught me about an incredible musician I had never heard of. I saw films that centered around disabled main characters *and* films with disabled side characters. While both are important, it is so rare to see the latter. At Lonely Seal I got to see a film with a deaf character where their deafness isn’t remarkable, where they are allowed to just be another friend in a group, in addition to incredible films that did center around characters’ disabilities. What a joy it was.

Lonely Seal puts their money where their mouth is: they support diverse storytellers and diverse stories through the films they screen and through the fountain of advice and networking opportunities they offer.

Margot Bruce – Director, Harbor

Hammad and Jonathan have created an ultra safe and friendly space for filmmakers.

I love the Lonely Seal Festival. I am touched by its origin, of Hammad and his sister coming up with the name as children, inspired by a documentary in which a large group of seals was clubbed, except for one and that one died of loneliness.

Wow.

Hammad and Jonathan have created an ultra-safe and friendly space for filmmakers. It is really true, as it says in its description, that these are stories aching to be told.

The festival took place in the classic, beautiful, charming and welcoming Regent Theatre in Arlington/Boston. It is a gorgeous space and the staff there were very kind and helpful.

From the very beginning, when I applied, Lonely Seal has been friendly and kind. They contacted me before they even made their decisions of who would be in the festival, to be in touch and let me know how things were going.

Hammad truly pays attention to every detail of the festival, putting like-minded people together and doing his best to help everyone have the best possible time and get what they need/are looking for as a filmmaker.

Jonathan is a very experienced and wonderful tech genius and has even offered to help the Lonely Seal filmmakers with their websites!

I also love the inclusiveness of the festival, especially including people with special needs and women (50% of the filmmakers in the festival this year were women!).

I met a lot of very creative, fun and friendly people at the festival and saw many unique, touching films.

Hammad shared his vast expertise at a very helpful seminar during the festival as well.

Also, Hammad has gotten right back to me, whenever I have contacted him and has encouraged me to keep in touch and is also going to be putting together a message system for the filmmakers to keep in touch.

Again, I can’t say enough how friendly Hammad and Jonathan are and how much they care about you as a filmmaker; they made me feel very special, appreciated and respected.

They really went above and beyond.

Thanks for giving me, a first-time, untrained filmmaker a chance.

Lonely Seal Streaming

Hourglass24