Festival Fun

Before I begin this post, I should credit Jodie, Catherine, Uncle Barry, Mom C and Calgary press for all the following photos. Because apparently, Jim n' I didn't bother to take many/any of our festival experience.

Okay, so our wee festival run began at Cinefest in Sudbury. I was so grateful to those friends who were able to take a day off work, in order to travel 5+ hours and spend a couple nights with us.

So here's our little crew: Jeff, Jode, Heather, moi, Jim, Aissa, Catherine and Miriam.

Our film screened across three packed theaters at Silver City.

The intro and Q&A was also projected in the rooms that we weren't in. This photo was taken of Jim n' I waiting off to the side before going up to introduce the film. In this pic, I'm sure I'm trying to get out of the Q&A.

However, I was unsuccessful weaseling my way out. We had to stand on a really, really plush patch of red carpet, and in my tall platform shoes, I was less nervous about being in front of a large crowd than I was about tripping over.

Afterwards, we had a lovely after party at Laking Toyota. It's a new building, and with the vehicles removed, the showroom actually made a great reception area. There was a live band, an open bar and appies circling the room. We received many kind comments on the film - and almost an equal number on my shoes. Who knew? Everyone was just so friendly and warm. It really was a wonderful night. 

When the gala packed it in, we went back to the hotel, where we managed to catch a clip of Jim being interviewed on the news and audience reactions to the film. Because the TV was on mute and we were all cheering, we didn't get to hear everything Jim had to say, but it was still pretty neat. 

Then we opened a bottle o' bubbly - that exploded all over the floor.

Fun times!

Jim n' I flew home the next morning. We had a day to do some laundry and run a few errands, and then we were off again. This time to open the Calgary International Film Festival.

We were greeted at the airport with our festival passes and chocolate cowboy hats.  Coincidentally, as soon as we checked into our hotel, Jim's folks stepped out of the elevator, so we ended up having a late lunch n' drink with them. The moment we wrapped up our lunch, the CIFF programmers showed up, so we had more drinks with them. And the minute we wrapped that up, my Uncle Barry called us from outside, ready to pick us up for dinner. As we sat in Uncle Barry n' Aunt Laura's living room, Jim whispered to me that he was already getting a bit of a buzz - those were some large glasses of wine the hotel served! - so he took it easy at dinner. 

I don't get to see my aunt n' uncle very often - the last time was at our wedding reception - so we had a great visit. (This photo is jumping ahead a day, but I felt it fit best here.) 

It's always amusing to me at how similar my dad n' Uncle Barry are - which shouldn't be a surprise as they are identical twins. But beyond their physical similarities, their voices and mannerisms are spot on. Truly. Even their names are similar - Barry and Garry. (Oh my, what were my grandparents thinking!? *lol*) I'd say one of their main differences is that my dad can be rather yelly at times, whereas Uncle Barry is more inclined to laugh. I guess you could say he's a more jovial version of my dad. 

After a delicious dinner (incredibly delicious, actually!) Jim n' I headed back to our hotel. Left in our hotel room, some PR person for the Ramada had sent up a package with a personal note to Jim and a bag of goodies - fruit, juice, pop, chocolates, and chips. Holy spoiled! We still have yet to eat all the treats, although I made sure to bring 'em home with us. ;)

The next day, we hooked up with our friend Lisa, who took us on a little tour downtown, and then up Calgary's big tower. Although I was tempted, I declined standing on the glass floor. As mentioned in my last post, I can comfortably handle the wildest of roller coasters and especially love the take off and landing parts when flying in a plane, but something about heights n' glass make my palms sweat. So weird.

Jim was perfectly fine though.

Lisa and Jason were brave too. As for myself, I only managed to put one foot on and didn't look down. Jeez... I even hung onto the support beam! *lol*

After a nice lunch, we headed back to the hotel to spruce ourselves up and get ready for the big show. We met our producers, distributer and BG down in the lobby and walked over to a fancy wine bar across the street from the theatre, where we met up with a couple more of our producers and their assistants. 

Media vans were parked down the street, a red carpet and barricades had been set up, and a small crowd of people had begun forming. We quelled butterflies with champagne n' appies, and then took a couple group photos before heading out the back door. 

A white limo was parked outside, and so we got in strategically, based on who would exit first n' last. The limo took us around the block, so we could make our grand entrance at the theatre. Kind of funny, but I guess it's more glamorous than just walking across the street. :P

We walked up the red carpet, and were asked to stand in front the festival logo wall thingy. It was a surreal moment as about a dozen photographers took pictures with their big cameras. *flash-flash-flash* That is until BG said, "Okay, that's enough" and walked away to do some interviews. I guess that's how the movie folk do it, or else you'd be standing there all day.

With all the pictures that were taken in front of that board, this is the only one I could find online. 

Despite the glitz n' glam, the screening itself (which was held in two theatres) was quite a disappointment. Jim n' I were annoyed and our producers were piiiiiiiiiissed. For starters, the screening started 45 minutes late! During the introduction, the microphone kept squealing something awful. Once the movie started, the sound was barely audible for the first few minutes, until people started shouting, "Turn it up! Volume!" Then the movie paused - not once, but twice! And the second time, it skipped ahead 30 seconds, missing a big moment in the story. Awesome. 

So.... yeah. Pretty unimpressive in that regard. 

The Q&A afterwards was good though. Jim was witty, and answered his questions very well, getting a few laughs as a result. 

Once the Q&A was done, we headed down the road to the after party. The concept was high class meets street class, with expensive champagne (of which I had none b/c I didn't get to the table in time) and food truck fare (of which I again, had almost none until I finally met someone at the front door to grab a sliver of a sandwich as they came inside.) 

The party had two levels. The upper level required a special "green room" pass to get in. The bar offered the same beverages as every other bar in the room, just a better view, since it was located on a walkway above the crowd. I have no idea who any of the people were. Even folks with a VIP pass, like Jim's brother, weren't allowed in to the magical balcony area. But when the security gal turned her head, I brought him in with me. I mean, seriously... 

Models were hired to hand out the food and to strut n' pose and make the party look pretty. Most of the other people in attendance were fashion folk, various Calgary socialites, or randoms vying for their photographs to be taken by Fashion Magazine. It was absolutely 100% more of a fashion party than a film party. So yeah... If that's your thing. But it's not quite ours. And after all the technical glitches with the screening, it just made for a bigger turn off. You could tell that all the effort was put into the party, with little thought given to the actual presentation of the film itself.

Like I said on FB, Score 1 for Sudbury with it's warm, authentic crowd. Actually, that was something else too... Probably only 1/3 of the people approached us in Calgary as they did in Sudbury, even though it was a somewhat larger event. And of those in Cowtown who did come up to speak with us, many were almost apologetic for wasting our time. We kept telling people that's why we were there - because we wanted to talk to the audience. But I guess with all the pretension of the event, it might've made us seem a bit unapproachable. At least that's the vibe I got in contrast to Cinefest. 

Oh well. It was our first "poser party", and at least now we'll know what to expect next time. 

After the gala, we spent some time debriefing while drinking wine and eating cowboy themed chocolates in TC's hotel room. 

The next morning, on our way down the elevator, we ran into our distributer who congratulated us on a great night, but also informed us that Telefilm is out of money. This means that our film may not be released now until April instead of February. Oh well... I know that whenever it comes out, it'll be when it's supposed to happen. 

When the elevator doors opened, we headed out with Jim's folks n' brother to our next stop - Edmonton. En route, we stopped at Smitty's for breakfast. I only mention this because I had the best frickin' omelette and hashbrowns of my life there. I didn't realize they put Hollandaise on it. And while Hollandaise is super fatty and not appreciated by everyone, man-oh-man, it sure tasted hella good as an unexpected surprise on my veggie omelette. And their chunky hashbrowns had some kind of crispy spicy coating on them that was so yummy too. Okay, I just had to share that.

Jim n' I checked into our hotel, napped, and then did a little walk-around before grabbing dinner at Sherlock Holmes pub. When back at our hotel, we decided to crash early... that is, until we heard a bunch of sirens outside. A look out the window revealed a fire truck, an ambulance and three police cars. I could also hear a man screaming, but it was muffled and I couldn't see where it was coming from. Jim called down to the front desk to see where the pop machine was, and also to ask if everything was okay. They confirmed that the building wasn't on fire or anything, and while they weren't sure what was happening exactly, the police said that they had everything under control. 

An hour or so later, I peeked out the window again to see that they had put someone in the back of the ambulance. A heavy-set woman in heels and a nice black dress joined a police officer in the front of his car. She didn't appear to be harmed or in pain.

So. Putting on my Sherlock Holmes cap, I conclude that she couldn't have been under arrest, or else the officer would've put her in the back seat. Also, the next morning I saw the carpet cleaning van parked outside. This leads me to conclude that the man heard screaming tried harming himself before he and his lady friend went out to an event. (There were several in town that night, so we're told.) The lady called 911. And the next day the hotel required a carpet cleaner to clean up his blood.

Of course there is no possible way to confirm this theory, but it seems to fit, don't it?

Anyway, our Edmonton screening was on Saturday afternoon, and it was a real stunner of a day - bright n' sunny, with a gorgeous high of 28'C, which I hear is rare in Edmonton this time of year. As a result, we didn't expect a huge turnout for our little matinee. 

Our friend Nick flew in from Kelowna and brought a bunch of friends to show off his little cameo in the psych ward. My Aunt Holly's family, who is from the Edmonton area, also came out. It was my cousin Chelsea's 16th birthday, so she brought a bunch of her friends as well. I was a bit concerned that they'd be bored to death, since I feel our film is targeted to a more mature audience - it is a slower-paced movie and about a 68 year old man, after all - but they seemed to really enjoy it. (Or else they were just being extra kind. *lol*) 

The screening was not quite half full - but perhaps still a bit better than I expected, considering the awesome weather. Afterwards, we did our little Q&A, which I participated in. I think I did a'ight. As much as I don't enjoy being in front of an audience, I can actually hold my own. (Interesting factoid: I received an award for French public speaking in grade 7 when I was a million times shyer than I am now.) 

After the Q&A, we headed across the street for lunch. The service was terrrrrrible. I only comment on this because I went out of my way to mention how amazing that omelette was I had earlier... so I should make note of how this time we waited forever for our drinks, for our order, for our food, for everything! A guy from a local radio station who wanted to interview us had to come back three times before we could do the interview. It was that pokey! 

The interview was fun, and I felt pretty relaxed. I don't know the name of the radio station, but I'll letcha know once I find out. After the interview, he took our pic in front of the Edmonton logo wall, because it's kind of a mandatory memento. Plus, we don't have any other pics as a reminder of that screening. 

I think I look a little greasy n' exhausted in this photo, but whatevs. Twas a long afternoon waiting for my vegetarian chili n' cornbread. (And yes, I just noticed that I'm wearing the same shirt I had on at Science North in my last post. Wanna make something of it?)

Jim n' I had another mellow evening and again, crashed early. We flew home the next afternoon and now have a bit of a break before our VIFF screening on the 9th n' 11th. 

But in the meantime, it looks like we still have an agenda full of parties. Women in Film invited me to their Executive Hour this Wednesday, where I, along with 24 other women, will be recognized with an award for artistic achievement. Groovy. Afterwards, we'll attend their Martini Madness VIFF kick-off party. Then on Thursday, it's the opening gala to VIFF, so I believe there's another party for that. The on Saturday, Jim n' I are attending the party for the Director's Guild. Jeez Louise. With all this partying, when am I gonna have time to work on my resume? 

Maybe these parties will lead to new networks or opportunities. If not in the film industry, than maybe in the service industry. Hey, I'd sling drinks at the Republic! ;)

And that's all for now!