SAGIndie

For some reason, when I jumped up and got a picture with Robert Duvall before he left our roundtable discussion (which was more of a forum than a roundtable), I heard several laughs and wondered why.  Apparently, it’s because I struck a pose for the picture, which I didn’t think was such an odd thing to do.  Chris, my co-worker, said that I could probably smooze my way into getting a picture with the Pope if I wanted to.  I’ve taken so many pictures on this trip, many with other AmPav students, a few with celebrities, but the majority of my pictures have been with random French hotties that  met on the street.  It all began the night of the SAGIndie party at the Student Union.  A bunch of us decided to get a bottle of wine and sit on the beach for a while once the party was over.  As I made my way inside the bodega (I’m not sure what the French call these little shops, tabacs perhaps), I kept meeting eyes with a hottie sitting with some other men.  After a while, I realized that the saying “take a picture, it lasts longer” made absolute sense.  I got a girl from the group to translate and was able to get a picture with my hottie.  After that, my mission has been to get pictures with as many hot French men as I possibly can.  I have yet to be turned down.  Sometimes they speak English and sometimes they don’t, but pulling my camera out and pantomiming seems to work all the same.  My friends all think I’m crazy and out there, but I feel like it’s ok because I’m in France.  Voila!

Editorial note:  This blog was written by another of the AmPav students who nicely helped us out, Jai Hayes.  I (Darrien), in fact, was NOT taking pictures with various hotties.  I forgot my camera.

Hello, Salut, Bonjour from Cannes.  My name is Christopher O’Brien, I have been volunteering my time to SAG Indie over the course of the festival, and now I have taken over the blog.  It is hard to remember exactly what I was expecting of this festival but it is definately a far cry from what was delivered.  The past two weeks have been one of the most sensational and surreal experiences of my life.  I have never been to a festival on such a scale let alone the industry market that runs side by side with the festival.  For the first couple of days I felt like the proverbial deer caught in the headlights.  The rush of people and energy was simply astounding.  Through my volunteer activities with SAG Indie I have been able to gain face time with some of the most influential and powerful players in this industry.  Whether it was the VP of production at Warner Independent, two reps from CAA, the head programmer of Sundance or one the most powerful entertainment lawyers in the industry, the chance to meet these people and to engage in conversation with them, gleaning copious amounts of knowledge about the nature of the business, has been exhilarating, humbling and quite simply awesome.  This is the kind of face time that a filmmaker at the beginning of their career could only dreaming of obtaining.  Film school has been great, outstanding even, but the lessons learned during the two weeks of volunteering for SAG Indie at this festival wipes the floor clean.  Incredible.

               Now about this festival.  I mean you’re in the south of France to begin with, it’s spring, the sun is shining, the women are beautiful(…read absolutely gorgeous and stunning…) and the entire film industry world wide has descended upon a roughly ten block radius of a small town in southern France.  Ha!  This rocks!  U2 played on the steps of the Palais and I said “okay…look its U2…and their playing a set on the red carpet”  and you know what I didn’t even blink.  Don’t get me wrong…it’s awesome…but it just seems so much apart of what is normal around here.  I’ve been thinking that I don’t know what the heck I’m going to do with myself when I get back to the states, because after this what on earth is going to fire me up.  I’ll be driven to distraction.  But then again I guess that’s the price for being fortunate enough to attend the festival and have access to all the behind the scenes activity…and oh yeah I got to see Robert Duvall, Malcom MacDowell (….very cool…he was amazing just chillin out checking his email…no attendants, no publicist, no anything…just himself…)

                 Last but not least….a message to guys everywhere…learn how to tie a bow tie.  I spent thirty minutes looking for someone out in front of the palais to tie my tie so I could go into the world premiere of Michael Moore’s Sicko.  Just a word to the wise. 

I’m going to go out on a limb here and make an assumption that for most of us indie folk, actors, directors, and producers alike, our trips to festivals like the prestigious Cannes don’t begin on the private jet the Weinstein’s sent over, with drivers waiting at the airport to whisk us away to our carte blanche stays at the Hotel du Cap or Majestic.

So for the savvy indie(ite) that wants to try their hand at surviving La Riviera sans beaucoups de bucks I thought I would share my observations on the first several days of free food…or gratuis as its called over here. I’m even going to go so far as to name the parties but you can’t hold me responsible for next years fare.

Breakfast. Okay, I haven’t seen any free breakfasts but in ‘04 I did the Producer’s Network here and the gatherings were always during breakfast. Granted, I did pay for the privilege of attending the Network, but breakfast was kind of free in that I never actually paid for it on the spot? If I remember correctly, it was the standard French fare, croissant, pain au chocolat, French orange juice (kind of tangy with more of a water like consistency) coffee and tea. I’ll check tomorrow with a friend in the program this year and amend the above if it has changed at all.

I’ve also noticed at the American Pavilion if have a VIP membership, they have a little table set up with free coffee and pastries. But, when someone showed up at the American Pavilion with a pain au chocolat yesterday when we all knew they were out, I found out the Irish Pavilion had free pastries and coffee which leads me to believe, and again, this is not with all certainly, but I’m fairly sure, some of the various countries, and definitely Ireland have free breakfast goodies.

Lunch. Kodak takes the cake here. The Kodak luncheon was actually lovely. Perfect paella, orzo in a light tomato sauce, artisinal cheeses, a chopped avocado, tomato and bean salad with a crisp Rose. Its difficult to believe the space was just beach several days ago as they have this Buddhist, Zen, rocks and wood thing happening in there with a bar that looks like it layered slate. Really, as good if not better than any restaurant with ambiance to boot.

Snacks/Coffee. I’m going to go with a stroll around the market on this one. I promise to go back tomorrow and take better notes, but the various booths always have a little something to nosh on while you stop by. Some booths are more approachable than others, hence you don’t feel badly about the eat and run. They are easy to spot in the quantity and assortment of what is there. A little fun twist on the market is heading outside to the yacht area. Today I took at peak at the new F23 HD Sony camera on their yacht and noticed a lovely assortment of sandwiches and sodas for visitors. They were such a nice group of people, I sincerely think they would have been happy to have me sit down on their uber yacht and enjoy a bit of food and I don’t even think the conversation would need to revolve around the camera.

Cocktail Hour. This is where Cannes takes the cake. I’m going to have to go with the Korean Pavilion on this one for whatever the beautiful purpley champagne was they were serving. The food wasn’t so memorable, but the champagne made up for any lack on the part of the hors d’ouevres. IFP, alcohol, no food. Film Finders/Without a Box, alcohol and some appetizers but difficult to find and well…the Plages des Palmes where it was held had a big cooler with ice cream so that was nice!

Dinner. J.A. Media, hands down. Chinese food in France. Who would have thought. But it was great, copious, lively and very filling. Kung Pao Shrimp, pork shu mai, wontons, pork dumplings, egg rolls, bbq pork ribs, broccoli and greens in garlic, fried rice and noodles. The space got very hot very quickly and the waiters did not put ice in our Coca Lite but everyone left fully sated without parting with any Euro. The perfect dinner.

I have not heard of a dessert party yet, but I will keep my eyes open and report back should I hear of one. Feel free to comment and add to this list for future generations of budget Canne(enites) to refer to.

BLACKOUT
In summer 2003, America experienced the largest blackout in its history–widely reported as peaceful. But in Brooklyn’s forgotten East Flatbush neighborhood, mayhem unfolded when the power shut down. This is the untold story of the blackout–a place where, as night fell, looters emerged, violence surfaced and residents feared for their lives. With Melvin Van Peebles and Jeffrey Wright.

AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DRAMATIC ARTS 120 Madison Ave (bet 30th & 31st St) First Floor: Mary MacArthur Theatre

2007 | 95 min Directed By: Jerry Lamothe Director/Screenwriter : Jerry Lamothe Producers : Judith Aidoo, Jerry Lamothe, Jeffrey Wright Executive Producer : Chris Bongirne

Cast : Zoe Saldana, Jeffrey Wright, Saul Rubinik, Melvin Van Peebles, Latanya Richardson-Jackson, Jamie Hector

RSVP

To RSVP please email nyscreening@sag.org - send your NAME, NAME OF YOUR GUEST, and your PHONE NUMBER.

Hello all you U.S. bound people (can you hear my tone of scorn?)

 I am here in Cannes for that little festival they throw in May.  Every year, I come here and practice rolling my eyes and looking at everyone with disdain - you know, I practice my French.  Good times.  We (Alexis and I) got here on Monday evening, just in time to throw a party for our illustrious plebians, converts, students, in the Filmmaker Program at the American Pavilion.  We literally came, partied, and fell directly asleep.  Now if that’s not a good party, I don’t know what is.  The amazing thing is, we walked along the street Monday night, at about 11pm, and the streets were completely deserted.  It was the calm before the storm.

 Now that we’re here and the festival has finally started.  No longer are there streets with no one on them.  Our apartment overlooks a cute couple of restaurants; and Monday was the last night when we had a quiet night of sleep.  The hordes (and a similarly named group) have now descended upon the streets of Cannes.

 For those of you who think we’re just lounging around in luxury, we have started our program of roundtable discussions for the students.  In order to really give the 150 film students from across the country who pay for the priviledge of waiting tables at the American Pavilion an education, we ask industry executives to come in and talk with the students - giving them insight and the benefit of their years of experience.  So far, they’ve met with producers who specialize in financing (Deborah Zipser) and an exec. at Warner Independent (Lauren Craniotes).  The students have been thrilled (I had to escort Lauren out to get the students to release her).  Still to come, Trevor Groth, programmer of Sundance FF and programmer/founder of  CineVegas, Brett Ratner (duh, the director) and Mr. Robert Duvall(!).  I hope these kids appreciate all that we’re doing for them.  If so, I expect a package to appear at my table at the AmPav, wrapped in brown paper, filled with Euros in denominations of 10’s and 20’s.  Or, at least, a promise to take me when they managed to get invited to all the cool parties that I would simply read about the next day in the Variety.

 More later, gotta run and get a good seat in order to hear (make eye contact and seduce with my brain waves) Norah Jones when she comes in to cut the red ribbon on the American Pavilion. 

 really, good times.

The San Francisco International Film Festival, committed to celebrating the art of the moving image, has presented the best in world cinema since 1957. Now, the 15-day Festival presents nearly 200 films from over 50 countries and reaches an engaged audience of tens of thousands of film lovers, filmmakers, industry representatives and journalists with screenings in San Francisco, Berkeley and the Peninsula. The Festival highlights current trends in international film and video production with an emphasis on work that has not yet secured U.S. distribution.

The Golden Gate Awards is the competitive section for documentaries, shorts, animation, experimental, youth-produced and work for television. Juries award cash prizes ranging up to $5,000 in ten of the 14 categories.

First features by emerging filmmakers are eligible for the SKYY Prize, which includes a $10,000 cash award and was established in 1997 by the Festival and premier sponsor SKYY Vodka to recognize a director whose film exhibits a unique artistic sensibility.

The Festival also invites recent feature-length narratives and documentaries and archival presentations from around the globe, special awards and tributes recognizing individual achievement.
Details: http://www.sffs.org/festival/index.html

Details: http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/

Direct link to film guide: http://www.tribecafilmfestival.org/tixSYS/2006/filmguide/title-detail.php