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Nearly 7000 in
attendance for 2nd Annual event
Las Vegas, NV The
Eastside Cannery graciously hosted the 2nd Annual Las Vegas
International Film Festival for 4 days, April 9th through
Sunday, April 12th. The reception by the audiences was in the
majority quite positive, with any lack of applause more likely due to
first time festival attendees not knowing that the filmmakers were with
them in the auditorium, (unlike in standard movie theatre showings). The
festival is still new for the area and advertising fell mainly to
articles written by the press—and yet, attendance was very good.
Reasonable ticketing pricing was noteworthy.
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The Eastside
Cannery, as the festival’s permanent home is a great venue for the
festival. Stunning views of the valley from the balconies of the One Six
Lounge atop the Cannery’s hi-rise section cap each day with stylish
Festival Afterparties. There are plenty of food options from a deli, to
white linen dining, as well as the Festival’s portable candy, hot dog
and popcorn counters upstairs near the screening rooms.
What happened at
this festival? Lots. With concurrent sessions, daily panel discussions
and insights from filmmakers, this Festival had the typical hectic feel
about it. Networking was a ‘cross-cultural’ activity, with rookie
filmmakers matching up with veterans, festival-goers meeting each other
and filmmakers, spontaneous hallway conversations giving the all-over
added value a film festival brings to our favorite pastime—going to the
movies—especially movies you won’t see in mainstream theatres.
There was a decent
number of attendees—nearly 7000 people. Due to the starring role of
Robert Pattison (Twilight and Harry Potter fame), crowds cued up all the
way around the halls and down the stairs for the opening night screening
of the comedic indie film “How To Be”. The first night After Party
rocked, as did the closing night Awards ceremony in a packed ballroom.
Daily informative panels with filmmakers completed the sense of having
been to a film festival…kudos to newbie film festival organizers James
Mulidore and sponsors Sean Sullivan, and Bill Paulos and Bill Wortman of
Cannery Casino Resorts. A great second effort, overall.
World Premieres
A world premiere
of a film often nets the Festival prestige, the filmmaker a platform,
and, the audience an opportunity to meet most, if not all, of the crew
that made the film they just viewed—which can be thoroughly satisfying
if you enjoyed the film. Film festivals are worth it to filmmakers for
the feedback alone. Highly treasured are film festival Audience Awards.
Of the 14
premieres screened, some were standouts. “Stars and Their Guitars”,
a documentary with cameos of B.B. King and Bo Diddley, along with a
stream of four generations of musicians, who discussed the history of
the guitar.
Possibly the most
exuberant reception was given to “The Green Rush”, with the
executive producer, cameramen, promoter and director on hand for the Q&A
after the screening. This documentary not only netted rolling applause
at its conclusion, at the end of the credits, upon the filmmakers’
introduction for the Q&A, and after the session ended, the Q&A session
had to relocate itself to the hallways to allow the next film to screen.
Well framed, the documentary took an honest look at three sets of
farmers growing medical grade marijuana in Northern California,
exploring in candid interviews of their group members, the hardships of
farming as well as the difficulties of growing such a controversial
crop.
Another noteworthy
film, “The Ghost Mountain Experiment”, based on the lives of
Marshal South and family who go back to nature in the 70’s. They succeed
as a unit for nearly a decade, before civilization edged its way into
the family, forever severing it as a consequence.
A somewhat
stressful film to watch was “The Pain Behind The Badge” about
Policemen suffering with PTSD. Vogue in reality shows is the survivor
aspect of venturing into the ‘wilds’ and such is the approach of “Man
Who Lives With Bears”, set in Alaska. A premiere we were not able to
screen, but heard was engaging, was “Broken Windows”.
“Teplitz”
explored the metaphysical path to self-discovery in this bizarre sci-fi
narrative. “The Last Word” provided many insights to our justice
system and aids introspective thoughts on the whole subject of execution
as a reaction to suspected criminality—and whether all convicted are so
found without a doubt. A worthy documentary. On a cheerier note, “The
Moon and Other Lovers” was a pleasant visit with a fictional heroine
of everyday life.
“Fowl Play”
focused on the inhumane treatment of chickens on their way to our dinner
tables…very disturbing footage. Unfortunately, a conflict in sessions
prevented viewing “Bedford: The Town they Left Behind” about
generations of National Guard units, both yesteryear, and presently,
deployed abroad from this small town in Virginia.
Two films allowing
their creative filmmakers their first major step with a feature length
film were “Heavy Load” and “Paper Dolls”. The energetic
filmmakers for “Paper Dolls” were on hand, crazed, and promoting their
project, which took an Official Selection Award for a Feature Length
Film.
And finally, a
grand presentation of a documentary was “The Other Side of
Immigration”, exploring not only the circumstances of Mexican
immigrants, but offered some ideas of what to do about the perceived
problems of immigration.
Filmmaker sessions
and Benefits (clicks below)
There’s nothing
like watching new filmmakers bouncing off each other at the Afterparties
and in the networking encounters after screenings or in the panel
discussions. Their excitement is contagious and their enthusiasm for not
only their own work but that of fellow creative artists certainly shows
their appreciation of this isolating form of expression.
The panel
discussions attracted most of the filmmakers on hand each day, with many
pithy questions and comments shared by them, as well as those of the
panelists themselves. The first panel was on screenwriting, the second
on directing and the final day on producing—I found them very
informative—as did everyone I spoke to or overheard speaking about them.
Notably, the themes of the Panelist’s answers were to stay true to the
heart, keep your art first in mind, focus on the characters, then work
on the budget.
On screenwriting:
scripts should be refined, honed, truly finished before attempting
circulation, give it to people you trust to give honest feedback,
revision is an absolute, maybe a script editor is necessary, get used to
criticism, have your ending, make idea lists and do the outline, write a
set number of pages every day. Competitions and festivals are still a
good way to get your art in front of people. Networking continues to be
invaluable. Registering with the Writer’s Guild is a good idea, but not
necessary for first
scripts.Scriptapalooza.com was mentioned as a good contest. Remember
the process is very subjective, so don’t give up on your work.
On directing: to
questions of methodology, some storyboard, others don’t, some do shot
lists, others shoot ‘from the hip’, some raise their own money, others
go with producers. Oddly understandable advice ranged from talking
through the fear so it will lose its power to trying a turn at acting to
know what it’s like, as there is a unique relationship between the actor
and director. Recognize whether you have a method actor or an
improvisational one, and manage them accordingly. Finally, regardless of
methods, what gets on the screen is what matters.
The festival
empaneled an impressive set of studio producers balanced by indie
filmmakers for its final session. Interesting was what was discussed
first: litigation, a willingness to look at scripts from competitions,
and general receptivity to looking outside the industry for financing.
Distribution is a huge part of the job and mostly about Blu-Ray and
Netflix as the future. Have the filmmakers post budgets online and
insist on transparency. And most importantly, make sure there are funds
in the budget for post and advertising at the end, for extra prints, and
travel to sell your completed work.
The festival set
aside a filmmakers lounge for networking and decompression. A good deal
of the networking took place outside the screening auditoriums, as there
were always people in clusters of conversations along the big hallway
spaces.
Outstanding
Events:
The Awards
Ceremony on closing night was well attended by a rambunctious crowd of
well-dressed winners, retinues and onlookers—in fact few seats were left
at the ballroom tables.
One of the feature
length films explores the indie filmmaker dilemma of getting a name
brand actor for the film, often as part of a financial/distribution
package. “So You Want Michael Madsen” was the entertaining and apropos
closing night final film. It received an Official Selection honor from
the festival.
The Celebrity
Conversations proved insightful as well. The opening night event was
with John Saxon. Barry Pepper (Seven Pounds, Saving Private Ryan) was on
hand as the second Celebrity Conversation in the Main Ballroom. Pepper
offered sound insights with genuine warmth, both during the conversation
with skilled local TV host, Tony Sacca, and also during the ensuing Q&A.
These kinds of
highly rewarding sessions make it worthwhile, especially given that
concurrent film sessions are missed as a consequence.
Highlights of the
Film Schedule
A good deal of the
films screened here at this festival, took awards at previous festivals
elsewhere. Unusual entries for the festival were in answer to inclusion
of music videos and TV Pilots.
Docs of Note
Raucous,
rowdy—that was the audience—and a thoughtful and honest look at farming
marijuana was the 54 minute long film, “The Green Rush”, out front of
the pack in applause alone, and also garnered the festival Official
Selection award for a documentary.
Shorts of Note
By far the most
concise communication was a 4 minute Short, “The Heist”, which had a
very clever twist ending after tantalizing the viewer with possibilities
for its brilliant scientist protagonist.
Incredibly moving,
well-performed and visually interesting was the Academy Award winning
Foreign entry Short Spielzuegland (Toyland) which recently
won the 2009 Oscar for Short Film, Live Action. Rosalie Montoya produced
and directed “Hopi Healer”, stemming from her friendship with a healer
and fellow CSN student—great to watch a film with a wonderful message by
a local filmmaker.
Barring some
confusing racial introspections, a lot of gusto was apparent in Scott
Sullivan’s “Bottle Rockets” which netted a Best of Festival Award,
showcasing a strong crew and cast, with a clever, original song tossed
in for good measure. In contrast, a quick look at a family restaurant
making a comeback was a comedic offering, “House of Wong”.
Other stand out
Shorts:
Ragnar Friedanck’s
“Beautiful Hills of Brooklyn” for its ‘aging’ theme, pathos and
excellent acting, framing and script, which received the Official
Selection in Shorts category from the Festival;
“In My Living
Room”, a combined animation, stills and interview with a Vietnam
Veteran, which also got an Official Selection nod;
“Sunny Streets of
Brooklyn” for its breezy, silly and totally witty, animated songster and
strikingly pure lyrics;
“Pirates and
Pills”, an entrancing young actor portraying a girl who doesn’t want to
take pills because it squelches her active imagination “Les Fluctuations
Meurtrieres”, tragic meditative thoughts of a thief who wondered, “if
she hadn’t been delayed…where did she come from…would she have been
there?” leaves a haunting impression.
Feature Length
films of Note
New Zealand
filmmaker Oliver Irving’s “Map Reader” was a well put together movie in
the coming of age category, casting from auditions in all high schools
on both islands.
Overall, the Las
Vegas International Film Festival put together a strong second event.
Let’s hope they keep their momentum and this event on our local
calendars!
Links of interest:
www.lvfilmfest.com
www.scriptapalooza.com
www.withoutabox.com
http://www.finaldraft.com
www.scriptshark.com
www.shortscriptawards.com
fees escalate from
$40 to $50 by final deadline 7/20/09, winners announced Aug 09
subscription
sites:
http://www.trackingb.com
http://www.donedealpro.com/default.aspx
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