So I had this great experience working on my friend's first feature, "The Joint" taking pictures and behind-the-scenes footage. Met some fantastic people and it became like a tight family. I looked forward to getting up at the crack of dawn and taking the drive to Temple City with director Greg James, so I could hang out with my new family again. It was just a blast and a great distraction from what I'd been going through. I got home one night completely exhausted and then I checked my e-mail and found something from The Action On Film Festival saying,
"Dear Martin,
I'm sending you a warm congratulations on "Salivate" being chosen to showcase at the 2011 Festival!! I'm Nina, and as a part of Del's AOF Family, I will be helping you make the most out of your experience with us this year!" Then she had some questions about the film and I got my first laurel graphic. It was just a nice way to end the night after getting 11 rejections and I had temporarily forgotten about festivals because I was busy.
Then later on my Colorado trip I found out that, "Salivate" had been nominated for "Best Dialogue" Sweet! I'll take it! Then I got my scheduled date and it was like a week and a half away, so I started to freak out a little bit. Luckily, it all came together and I had posters made in time, sent out 200 postcards to the festival, so they could drop them in random director's goodie bags. I also promoted the film in Oldtown Pasadena, where I was mummified in police tape. My friend/ lead actor Turen gave out postards to passerbys and took pictures for me. I sent out a bunch of e-mails, my friends were nice enough to advertise too and I thought cool, we might have a pretty good crowd. Plus my dad and stepmom were coming back from a cruise the day before the festival, so I thought they might drop in and surprise me. Some random friends said they could make it too, which was really nice- just people I haven't heard from in awhile.
I had some questions about Press and stuff, but the attachment that was sent to me wouldn't open and eventually I just figured I would e-mail some local critics, but I never got around to it. I scouted out the festival location and the manager was nice enough to let me leave a bunch of postcards. "You can leave them on the rotating postcard thingy" I must have been the first filmmaker to come by because there were no other movies represented on the postcard racks. They were still stuffed, but only with Action On Film Festival postcards, that would open up with some general info and hype. So I stuck about 50 of my postcards inside those and patted my own back for being so crafty. I made sure to thank the manager before I left. It was a mile and a half walk from my subway stop to the theater, but then I found out later that there was a closer stop- DOH!
Anyway, the first day of the festival and I got there a little early- they were still setting up for the filmmaker check-in. Said it would probably be ready by 3. This guy Dan asked if I was a filmmaker and when I told him yeah, he told me about his "Butterfly" film and gave me his postcard. I thought, Oh, that's cool, he'll support my movie and I'll support his movie- fair enough. Plus he was really friendly and I thought it was a cool way to promote himself- meet people quick and get them interested in your screening early. He was afraid he wouldn't get anyone into his screening. His film is positioned in the 2nd week, so he has plenty of time to promote- good palce to be. My film was scheduled for the second day, so I could only reach the people that were around early on.
I killed some time across the street at a European Bakery and ate a fritata. When I came back I got in line to check in. They gave me my goodie bag and I got my picture taken in a photo booth. The lovely Karen helped me with that and we had a few laughs about the process. You could take as many pictures as you want, but it wouldn't print out until you approved the preview photo. There wasn't anyone in line so I hammed it up and gave myself a few options with some varying levels of smug. I went without the curtain and then got a little self-conscious and went with the curtain for privacy. I showed Karen the final photo and she approved. I told her about my film and she said she'd be around all week- she was doing interviews for the website and stuff.
I inspected my goodie bag and found a bunch of postcards, some mints, Skittles, bottled water, pad and pen (great idea, I wrote down the names of everyone I met w/descriptions) a full length feature from some indie filmmaker and I got my Schedule book later because they were not quite ready.
I took a seat against the wall and talked to my brother on the phone for awhile. This guy Emilio was setting up a giant screen that had his action movie displayed, featuring Michael Madsen and Steven Bauer. He put the thing right in front of me and so it was clear I had to move. You could tell who were the action movie directors with actual budgets, these slick looking dudes wearing sunglasses with an air of douche about them- Emilio was an amazing example of this. Later on I heard his movie was a rough cut and an embarrassment. That made me think, why in the hell would they spend so much money for that giant banner- why don't they finish their fucking movie instead of advertising? Still, they have stars attached, so that meant something here. Maybe they just needed to secure completion funds. Another filmmaker described the experience comparable to The Room with a lot of Tommy Wiseau moments, including a similar, "I've got cancer" moment. Now I really want to see this movie!
A guy sitting next to me started talking to me- Jeremy from Memphis Tennesee. We hit it off right away, swapping stories about our films and he was real self-deprecating and hilarious. He introduced me to his girlfriend, Lindsey, and told me he was pursuing his first feature. He has to lock down one more location and then he's good to go. He said the working title was, "Greedy Motherfuckers" and explained to me,
"I'll probaby have to change it"
His short film, "Vigilante" was among the first block of short films featured and I told him I'd definitely go. He warned me not to expect much and that it was his first film. He said he was the worst actor in the movie and only gave himself lines at the beginning and end. He really wanted me to know that it wasn't an ego trip and I said, "You think you're Mel Gibson, don't you?" He came out to be an actor first, but then jumped into filmmaking. He told me how much he loved trashy B-movies and said I had to check out this movie, "Sanke Eater" which has a couple of sequels- it's only on VHS.
The programs are colorful and pretty cool, I was bummed to see that my nomination wasn't published, but it was because the deadlines didn't match the printing of the book, so they had to leave a few out. There are a TON of movies this year though, 400 plus I would say. Hefty competition.
I got into the theater and just before the lights went down Jeremy says, "Don't make fun of me too much"
1st round of short films opened with, "Diamond Confidential" a well done film noir detective story which featured someone I knew- Danielle Deluca- very cool. The dialogue was good, nice jazzy soundtrack, atmospheric lighting and colorful performances. Just a little soft at times- they could've pumped some more energy into it, but still overall, a great way to start things.
This was followed by Mr. and Mrs. Mini Smith, a cute spoof on the movie. A couple of kids play action movie with their dad, but then they're all decked out with actual guns and artillery- the dad appears around the corner dressed in full SWAT gear. I laughed out loud when they shot their father and he rolled down the stairs- the kids were great. It was just a home video with some digital gunfire effects, but it was still very charming. Of course nobody really died, it was all playtime.
"I Am The Wind" was a hilariously short and ridiculous stand-off in an alley between a woman who's surrounded by horny middle-aged men with "You're not going anywhere" kind of dialogue.
After several close-ups of these leering perverts she utters, "I AM THE WIND" and goes on a killing spree and takes thiese guys out in the most violent ways possible- I wish I could remember the methods of kill, but it was fricken hilarious. Then the credits rolled and I wanted to laugh out loud, it was 2 fucking minutes long!
Jeremy's "Vigilante" started and woke up the audience- awesome opening credits with heavy metal. There were some sound issues here and there, but the movie was angry, political and chalk full of energy. I was expecting crap from the way he warned me, but his movie stuck out for sure- truly disturbing. Maybe he went over the top with some of the stylish transitions, and V-Hold tweaks, but it was his own voice and I dug it. He had some really interesting edits too and I was happy to find out later that his editing was nominated- very cool.
I felt bad for the guys that made, "Tree of Life" because it seemed to have its heart in the right place but it was another unintentionally hilarious failure- plus they didn't get to talk about their movie during the Q&A.
"Act of Betrayal" barely redeemed itself with an unexpected twist ending, but I'm not a huge fan of shorts that set up one thing and then it ends with a, "JUST KIDDING!" punchline. Oh we're clever aren't we- yes we are! It was a solid effort though, maybe I was pissed because I didn't see it coming.
to be continued...
