Day 3

My Life is Festival

Had another short night. Only got about 4 hours of sleep.

Got up and everyone else was already rambling around. Milled about myself a bit. Tim The Wonder Horse had gotten a screener of a short film called "Harry Knuckles and the Treasure of the Aztec Mummy" so we watched that. It was actually quite good. I wouldn't have normally gone to see this so I'm glad Timmy got the screener.

A little before noon, Web drove me downtown and on the way we looked for the Gateway Center. Bob Ray's "Rock Opera" was screening there later in the day. The Gateway is hard to find at a block off Main. And No Dance doesn't really have any signs up to direct you.

Went to the No Dance screening room in the mall and watched a short called "Perfect Little Man" There were quite a few people there but plenty of seats left. Mike Tarnower, a Dallas based filmmaker who has a short called "15 Minute Tape" was there with his film's lead Jeanette Chivvis.

Around 1:30 I headed to the Gateway and scoped out the scene. The guys who made "Mau Mau Sex Sex" were doing a Q&A. I hadn't really wanted to see this film until they started talking about how the film had 60's cult directors in it, like Frank Hellenhotter and a lot of the other filmmakers whose work can be found at Something Weird video. These directors are in their 80's now so I imagine the juxtaposition of interviews with elderly men and cult sex scenes from 60's Z-grade films was quite interesting. Now, I really want to see the film. The filmmakers were quite long winded on the Q&A and talked a lot about the computer programs and stuff they used to make and edit the film.

Bob Ray was there. By 2pm, the place was pretty slow. Bob didn't have a very good turnout for his film, which is a freaking shame because "Rock Opera" is a wonderfully funny and cool no budget flick. We hyped this film to everyone we met for the rest of the day and even talked to Troma and a couple other distributors about the film.

Watched the first few minutes of the film and slipped out. I've already seen it twice and there are just too many choices at the festival. I was glad I stopped by to support Bob though. Stubby, Web and Nettie stayed and watched the film.

I wanted to go to the No Dance screening room in the mall for some shorts at 3pm. I ran into Scott LaRose, the filmmaker of "The Blair Bitch Project" and told him I had given the film a good review, not trying to hype him or anything, just letting him know I really liked the film. Scott hooked me up with a t-shirt for the film. I saw him later making quite a bit of cash selling them for $15 a pop. He also had flashlights that had the logo in the beam. Scott and I also talked about Harry Knowles, because Scott quotes him on his flyer. He said he was kinda pissed that Harry gave away the ending of his film on his website.

Went in and got in line for the 3 o'clock shorts, which, of course, ran late. Ran in to Mike and Jeanette. The told me they had seen a great short called "Perfect Little Man." They were surprised when I told them I hated it.

Watched 5 shorts. None of them were particularly engaging. One, called "The Good Heart" was interesting. Also saw "Moses vs. Godzilla," "Studio Notes," "Let's Meet Johnny," and "Bathtub Bully."

At 4 I headed to Cisceros because we were all going to meet up there. Bob had mentioned that Mark David, filmmaker of "Sweet Thing," would be there doing a sound check. His band was going to play there at night at the "What I Like About You" party. Mark also did the score for that film. Got to the bar and Mark was there with the Filethirteen crew. Mark was just finishing up and we made plans to hang out with him later this week. He invited us to the party that night but said he didn't have any passes.

Web and Tim and the gang were talking about how they ran into Kyle MacLachlan (of "Twin Peaks" fame) and had some pictures. I nearly freaked.

So far I have a list of 3 people who were here that I didn't see and I am never forgiving myself for it: Kyle, Tammy Faye Baker and Johnny Rotten.

Stubby and I left to go to our next screening and on the way out we ran into the guys who had made a short film called "Disinformation." We are hoping to put it up on the web for them. We talked for a bit and got to running a little late.

Stubby had some passes to a Sundance screening of a film called "Snow Days." It's too bad the filmmakers have chosen this title as Nickelodeon has a stupid little film by the same name (although singular instead of plural) coming out next month. We tried to find the theater that was screening the film and got a bit lost. We had to be there by 5:15 to meet our hook-up for tickets but we were about 10 minutes late. Stubby found our guy and got us in. The film was a sweet little romantic comedy.

Afterwards, the filmmakers did a nice Q&A. The guy who made the film, Adam Marcus, also made "Jason Goes to Hell" a few years ago. His brother Kip wrote the script for "Snow Days" and starred in the film. A lot of people from the film were in the audience including the female lead, Alice Dylan.

We were also invited to the after party at "The Club" so we hung out on the street waiting to get in a little before 8pm. We saw a lot of the stars also hanging out but didn't talk to any of them outside. When we finally got in, it was "go" time for Lodger. Open bar baby! And they had also set out lotsa "fun food" like Rice Crispy squares and chocolate covered pretzels. I hadn't eaten since the morning, so I chowed down quite a bit. Stubby said hi to Alice and we did a short video interview with her. She was very nice and very charming. This is her first feature film. She is going to be a big, big star.

The Troma guys were out and at the party. They have been hyping their all day Tromadance festival that happens Wednesday at the Gateway. (It's free). They're also promoting two new films "Toxie 4," a new "Toxic Avenger" film that stars the original Melvin, and "Terror Firma." The original Melvin, by the way, now works making trailers for feature film in Hollywood. He cut the trailer for "Fight Club."

The Troma guys promise a huge party Wednesday night with Fire Eating Topless Women in attendance and lotsa festivities. Have to go to the festival Wednesday and pick up passes. This should be a rock show!

Stubby and I also met up with some girls who go around promoting Jagermeister. The Jagerbabes were sweet and hot girls, the kind that make me question my homosexuality. We took pictures, drank some Jager and talked for a bit. They were really cool. I also met the club DJ who was doing the party. He was a cutie. He said they made him tone down his music for the party because they wanted people to be able to talk.

The rest of the night gets more and more blurry. We left around 10 to go to the Mark David party. (Actually the "What I Like About You" party, but it was all Mark's show). Mark's band, The Agency, rocked the house opening for Shawn Colvin. It took forever for us to get in. Stubby had a meltdown but actually talked our way into the party. He pulled every string and tried every trick in the book. Finally, one of the guys involved with the film, a guy who had invited Stubby earlier, came out and got us in.

MTV and every other film crew in town were at the party. It was a media frenzy. I got up there with them with my little digital camera and snapped away. I jockeyed for position, stepped on toes and got shots. I felt just like paparazzi. The MTV people acted like they owned the place at first, but when the show started, they were working to get the shots just like everyone else.(check out the footage stubby was able to snag.)

Outside waiting, and once inside, I met a plethora of people. Here's the long list:

Someone who worked on the film "Swimming."

The guys who made "Harry Knuckles." Their next film will be about Jesus Christ (some hilarious title I can't remember). These were cool guys. Very nice and very amusing.

A guy who has made a film called "Pedestrian."

Drew Meyer-Oakes who runs Filmteam in Austin. They transfer video to 16 and 35. We had a great talk about the Austin scene and what we both want to accomplish there. This guy seemed like a great resource for Austin filmmakers. We are going to link up to him soon.

Chris Garcia of the Austin American-Statesman. I ribbed him about his review of "Magnolia." Surprisingly, he seemed like a pretty nice guy.

A girl (Stubby has her card) who does publicity in Texas, especially Dallas. She told me a long story about hanging out with John Boorman when he came to promote "The General." She seemed interested in the website.

and Lisa Case, publisher of New York magazine, "The Monitor." Mark introduced her to me. Lisa was a really nice person and suffered my drunkenness with ease and charm. She was very nice to me. This was late in the evening when Mark and I were pretty hammered. Lisa was there with some folks who work on the mag with her, a Publicist (a drunk-out-of-her-mind but cute girl who looked adorable in a fur hat), and Mark's agent. These people were all sort of those "insider" types who can get a bit snooty but, compared to the rest of the people I have seen here, were fairly nice. Lisa was a real sweetheart.

Of course, I was here to party, so I didn't bring any business cards. And it was a real schmooze fest at the party. I probably missed out on some opportunities. Fuck it.

What a great day, a Sundance screening and two open bar parties. I was in heaven.

Stubby had schmoozed a pass for himself to see Matthew Sweet at Harry O's, so he left about 12 to go there. I hung out at Ciseros till they closed it down at 1am. I had to hang out in the cold out front of Harry O's and wait for Stubby to drive me home. I walk more, saw more, schmoozed more in one day today then I have in my entire life!

also...check out Tim's Virgin Eye View of day3.