Death's Big Weekend! - Part 2

So we all got into the screening (minus Jon who had a gig playing Superman the next morning) and the show was packed. We were the fourth film to play in the Shorts Package. Death (I call the film "Death" for short) got a really good response. We got a lot of laughs, and even some laughs that we don't usually get, the crowd really seemed to be watching closely. We were proud.

After the show, Emma called all of the filmmakers up to the front of the crowd for a short Q&A. Not a lot of hard hitting questions, I have to say. We got the usual questions about budgets and how long it took to make the movie. I explained how I thought of the movie and got a little chuckle out of the crowd in the process. After the Q&A, Emma invited our crew out to a club to join another films post-screening party. Karen Lloyd (she played Terri in the movie) was with us now and we all went with Emma. After we got into the club we decided that it wasn't the kind of atmosphere we were looking for and decided to leave for a quieter, more relaxed bar. We went to a place on Davie street that was just what we wanted and hung out until around 3 a.m. Lots of laughs, lots of reminiscing, lots of drinks.

(There's Dave, always showing everyone how much tougher he is than me by ordering toxic waste instead of alcohol)

So we had our emotional goodbyes and parted ways. I gotta say, it was awesome that Colin and Karen took the time to stay out so late with the rest of us. I realized that I had never really visited with Karen other than when we were shooting the film, too bad, she's really quite fun. Celeste and I went back to the hotel and crashed, hard.

We woke up too early the next morning so we could get our free breakfast at the hotel, then we were off to see some more free movies at the Festival. As we were leaving our room, though, there was a guy waiting for the elevator reading a VIFF program. Celeste pointed out that he was wearing a pair of tiny, tiger-striped glasses. He was the guy who moved out of our room. Celeste asked him if he was attending the festival, he said yes and asked about us. We told him about our film and he told us that he was a producer for a film called "The Oil Factor" (http://www.theoilfactor.com/). I told him where we were from, and he told us that he really wanted to have his film screen here. I told him about the DIVA (the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts) and then I told him I'd send him some information about the organization. We ended up talking for a few blocks until we had to go our seperate ways. It was the closest thing to "networking" that we had done at that point.

Celeste and I watched a documentary called "Why We Fight." It was about America's quest for military supremacy. Really good show, but kind of depressing. I remember feeling very overwhelmed within the first 10 minutes with the realization of how crazy the world is and how it will never be fixed. After that, Celeste and I decided to go bowling to get our spirits back. Bowling is a little different in Canada, have a look:

(Awww.... bowling is ADORABLE in Canada!)

After bowling, we went back to the hospitality suite to get some free dinner and beverages. They were serving a HUGE sushi platter, I was in heaven. We left kinda early so Celeste could get some dinner (she no like Sushi). We had dinner then caught another flick and called it an early night.

Monday morning was the final showing of our film. The package started at 10 a.m. so we really weren't expecting anyone to be there, but luckily we were wrong again. The theatre was once again packed and once again we got a great response. There's something very interesting about watching the film with a large crowd. Colin mentioned this and I agree that everytime we watch the movie with a large crowd they laugh at different parts. It's strange, but it makes it really fun.

Celeste and I didn't stick around for the Q&A this time. I really wanted to eat at Shabusen again before we went home and they're only open for a little while for lunch.

(Shabusen - #1 Greatest Food in the World)

After lunch we went to one last show and then it was time to go home. All in all the festival was an amazing and inspiring experience. It was a huge honor to be a part of and I really hope someday we'll be back with another film.

It looks like the next festival that we'll attend is the International Festival of Film Schools in Munich, Germany in November. Until then, it's back to my job at the button factory. Speaking of my job: interesting news today, maybe I'll write about it tomorrow.