The following report was filed today with Father Geek at AICN World Headquarters here in Austin, Texas. Its a blow by blow discription of what it is like to "spin" a day at almost any big media conference. Great fun, lots of interesting info, and lots of hobnobing with other geeks, pros, suits, etc... Soooooo here it is from the point of view of a real film junkie...
My day at IFFCON
-by The Film Junkie
9:15 - Waiting in registration line, hungry, in dire need of coffee and bagel.
9:45 - Almost to the front of the registration line, passing out from no coffee yet, low blood sugar alert, ready to kill
9:50 - There was a mix up with my registration, but it was taken care of quickly.
9:51 - DOWNING coffee and croissant. Brain function coming back. Thinking clearly.
9:56 - Bowel movement
10:00 - IFFCON starts.....
I take my seat in the back, disgust and anticipation shooting through my veins along with the caffeine.
Some of these filmmakers are so hungry for backing, they have a condom in their mouth and are ready to blow. The desperation cannot be missed. The cold sweat and adrenaline stench of starving artist filmmaker combined with the reek of money money money: when these two meet, a chemistry like no other results.
OK, enough of the chatter, here's the skinny...
10:00 - Keynote speech by Jack Lechner, writer and former studio exec for Miramax.
Jack is a good choice to open the Convention this year, as he has both experience and enthusiasm that combine to form an inspiring address.
He focuses on the two things new filmmakers need, which are artist ambition and daring to gamble with new ideas, as well as what a good film needs, which are not to underestimate the intelligence of the audience, strong individual voices, and characters that are interesting.
10:30 . Step by step: A walking Tour through Film Financing
Most interesting panel of the day, delving into the area of finance, and including the opportunities for financial backing for projects, with a Q&A session after.
The audience member that stood out in this Q & A was Greg from Remember Films. He let the panel (and the rest of us) know he sneaked into the Convention (limited funds), and his current project has a total budget of $7000 dollars. He felt the term low budget coupled with the figures 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 was absurd. (I wholeheartedly agree with this, thus preferring the terms no-budget film or scumbag filmmaker when applied to myself.) This comment stirred things up. It threw a monkey wrench into the capitalistic way of thinking. (Yes, Greg, the stage is yours, so what statement do you want to make?) And that's all he had to say. If Remember Films is so punk, why even worry about how these corporate sucks define things, or what they think? While I wish you luck Remember Films, but trying to be punk at IFFCON could be construed as sucking up anyway.
11:45 . Case Study: An American Love Story
I lasted ten minutes into this very uninformative panel, before heading down the street to a bar, beer, and brainstorming session. (Which lead to an addition for the screenplay I'm working on. Bottom line: IFFCON Works.)
1.00 Lunch. Dark Bar. Need I say more?
2:15 Pitch Perfect: How to Sell your Idea
Escaped as soon as I felt IQ dipping... More caffeine was then ingested in preparation for Digital Camera panel.
3:45 . funding the future . Digital Technology
This panel sucked worse than I could've ever thought. The moderator was WAY TO WORDY. His introduction for the panel was about 15 minutes and every other chance he received lead him to more verbal masturbation.
The panelists that were interesting and I would've enjoyed more insight from were Gary Winick (Indigent), Peter Broderick (Next Wave), and Jason Kliot (Blow Up Pictures)
5:15 . Panel Sessions are over & When are we drinking?
While waiting for the post-convention party set up, I found myself speaking with one of the volunteers: the news went from bad to worse to "that sucks ass". While both panelists and attendees treat volunteers like dirt, that treatment paled when compared to those who run IFFCON, the corporate muscle. The set up is hierarchal, with STRICT rules prohibiting any fraternization between volunteers and those attending. Why volunteer at all? I would hope the volunteers would get special access for working so hard to keep this event going. In spite of the "don't talk to the higher-ups" rule, volunteers still try to interact with those attending. In fact, the volunteer I spoke with had a script in the car, just in case there were any 'bites'.
5:20 . Drinking
Drinks included Manhattans, Beer and Wine.
Going home with a buzz, I felt dirty and exhilarated. See you next year at IFFCON.
