SAGIndie

Eh, we’re here, just busy.  The world of SAGIndie is a never ending barrage of work.  When the rest of the [filmic] world seemed to be slowing down, we were still going strong – spreading the word of low budget contracts.  I like to think of us as KUNG FU, going from town-to-town, helping poor filmmakers make films.

Only I’m not grabbing any hot pot with my forearms.  It’s summer and I want to go sleeveless.  (kudos and Geritol for anyone who gets that reference).

I can’t speak for the rest of SAGIndie’s staff, but I have been BUSY!  Let’s just start with June.  Somehow, June was a crazy month for us.  We usually have about 4 sponsored festivals in June.  This year, we had 8!  We attended 7 of them!  Crazy.  Here are the highlights:

We went to the Producer’s Guild of America’s “Produced By” conference.  Pretty cool.  Too bad they couldn’t get any big names to appear.  Once James Cameron stopped extolling the bright future of 3-D, they still had little people like Kathleen Kennedy, Laura Schuler-Donner, Norman Lear and Kevin Feige (Marvel Studios) chatting up the crowds.  I’ve decided that Kevin Feige is my hero.  He’s got IRON MAN 2, THOR(!), and CAPTAIN AMERICA coming up, and a slate that extends for years.  I can’t wait for them, as they all look and sound incredibly cool.  Of course, MY Kevin won’t know of my obsession with him until he glances out his window some night at 3am and sees me camping in his bushes.  I’m sure he won’t mind once he sees that I’ve made S’Mores.

CineVegas was a blast, as always.  The SAGIndie Filmmakers Bowling Party was, of course, a great success.  Not only was there raucous bowling from midnight until nearly 4 am, but the blatant campaigning from filmmakers for the oh-so-prestigious bobble-head trophies was, frankly, embarrassing.  You know who you are.  I finally saw 500 DAYS OF SUMMER and was so pleasantly surprised that it’s one of my recommend films (and I don’t have many).

The day after I returned from Vegas, I loaded up and headed back to the airport for the Maui Film Festival.  Yep, it’s a hard knock life for me.  Well, Maui just sucks.  The weather is perfect, the ocean is beautiful, and the beaches are pristine.  Movies?  Oh yeah, and they had some interesting movies.  SAGIndie sponsored the screening of 500 DAYS OF SUMMER.  Zooey Deschanel was there and when my daughter (4) accosted her in the bathroom to tell her she liked her dress (“A” claims she didn’t know who she was, but I’ve seen her sneaking glances at InTouch magazine in the supermarket), Zooey (I call her Zooey) was extremely gracious.  The festival gave a tribute to her (so early in her career?) and to Willie Nelson.  Would have like to have been in the room while they were planning that one.

You would think that, after partying in Vegas and Hawaii, I’d be too tired to do anything else.  Well, you’re right, but I went to the Palm Springs Shortsfest anyhow.  I’m glad I did.  My partner in crime, Mark Friedlander (also known as SAG’s Guru of New Media) and I were on panels that were very well attended.  We saw a few shorts, met a bunch of really cool filmmakers, and stayed at the Uber-cool ACE Hotel.  Clearly where all the cool cats hang out (and occasionally they let people like Mark and me in).  I especially like the “adult snowcones” they offer poolside.  Not that I was poolside.  Not like I had one (or two).  That’s my story, and I’m sticking with it.

So finally, June is behind me and July is, actually, half over.  Things are settling down to our usual two festivals a month.  And I’m not going to most of them.  So it’ll be up to the rest of SAGIndie’s staff to blog about their festivals.
And they will.  I haven’t fired anyone in a while and I’m starting to develop a tick.  Must. Fire. Someone.

This is a week or so overdue, considering SXSW was a while ago, but I do feel obligated to report on what was a successful festival for SAGIndie and the Screen Actors Guild.

First and foremost, our main responsibility while attending Austin’s renowned Film, Interactive and Music fest is to get the word out about SAG’s low budget contracts. To do this, we traditionally participate as an exhibitor at SXSW’s convention portion of the fest.

In coordination with SAG’s iActor casting service, we co-hosted a booth that had to be one of the most popular in the convention hall. While other exhibitors boasted flashy displays and expensive giveaways, we went with a more simplistic approach by luring passersby with a game of skill. We brought handmade, magnetic toys called “Throwies”, developed by the Graffiti Research Lab. They’re basically a small LED light that’s connected to a magnet and a small battery. On one of the booth walls, we hung a large piece of sheet metal that participants would toss the Throwies at for a chance to win a spiffy SAGIndie hat or an iActor t-shirt.

Feedback from this simple (union made) game was phenomenal and even garnered a little press in the LA Weekly. Even if people couldn’t win a fancy prize, they still walked away with a complimentary LED light and over the course of the week, we would spot these bright contraptions all over the place – at bars, on street signs, taxi cabs, etc.

As is tradition, the team always hits up some excellent Austin restaurants. My favorite goes to Iron Works, a BBQ joint with exceptional brisket and sausage links.

When our time at the convention center was over, I tried to get out to see some local attractions — mainly, the huge colony of urban bats that live under the Congress Bridge. Unfortunately, mid-March is still a bit early for them to be back from the warmer south so I didn’t get to see the millions and millions of bats that come billowing out at dusk. I did get to see a few, but I’m considering this a major Bat Fail.

The best film I saw at the fest was one I missed at Sundance, SIN NOMBRE. A truly remarkable accomplishment for first-time director Cary Fukunaga. The film is now in limited release and is a must see for independent film lovers.

We also hit up a ton of parties and networking events — the best of all had to be ours, which was co-hosted by the WGA and held on the upstairs patio of Lenai.

This was a great trip on so many levels. I’m really looking forward to what we put together for next year.

Okay, I’m going to put this out there right off the bat so we’re all clear…

2009 marked my first trip to Sundance.

Yep. That ‘s the honest truth. Hard to believe, right? Not really.  I’ve always told myself that I wouldn’t make that expensive trip unless I had a film in competition or had to attend because of some job. Well, guess what? The job came a callin’.  

So, how did it all go for me? In two words I would sum up the experience as exhaustingly educational. The great thing about being a sponsor of a major festival like Sundance is that you get all the perks that filmmakers in competition receive, but with a lot less work and headache.  Sure, I was there on official SAGIndie business, but compared to the countless press interviews, networking and general “marketing” that a filmmaker goes through, I would say I had it pretty easy.

I was fortunate to see many quality films (HUMPDAY and BRONSON were two of my favorites), attend numerous parties (the We Live in Public bash was off the hook), explore a gorgeous resort town that I’ve always wanted to visit, and see the historic inauguration of our 44th President (albeit on CNN at a condo in Park City).  I was able to experience all of this while getting the word out about SAG’s low budget agreements. It should be mentioned that our little brunches were quite successful, mainly thanks to our gracious hosts — Lee Daniels (Push), Justin Kirk (Against the Current), Anne Heche (Spread), Paula Patton (Push), Lynn Shelton (Humpday), Lynette Howell (The Greatest), and Cherien Dabis (Amreeka).  

According to my co-workers, this year was an excellent year to attend Sundance for two main reasons: (A) it wasn’t nearly as crowded as years before and (B) it wasn’t as cold as years before. Boy, they could have fooled me. Everywhere I went seemed packed to capacity and every time I stepped outside I nearly froze (yes I’m originally from Alaska, but the nice Cali weather has weakened me).

Needless to say, all of the activity left me exhausted and with a bit of a cold, but I suppose I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Just call me battle tested. 
 

So, I’ve been to Sundance something like 8 times.  Once, while a student, once with a movie premiering, and 6 times with SAGIndie.  Going as a student sucks.  No one knows you or cares.  You can’t get in to any parties and you become keenly aware that you are, in fact, nobody.  Going to Sundance with a movie ROCKS!  We even threw a party that was so crowded, we almost didn’t get in.  And I got to pretend to be big [curse word removed] because one of the stars of our movie acted as if he knew me in public.  My sister doesn’t even do that.

Now, I come to Sundance with SAGIndie.  It’s not bad.  We don’t get to go to the gifting suites – oh well.  We aren’t that interested in the parties because we work so hard during the day (and we can’t get in, but I’m sure that’s not it).  I know a lot of people from my many years “in the biz” and it’s always fun to see everyone and to get to hang out and watch movies together.  I also enjoy the occasional good meal and cocktail.  BUT, this year marked something new in my Sundance experience – the non Sundance.  Believe me, I don’t recommend it.

This year, I brought my infant son to Sundance.  What?!  I couldn’t leave him behind, he’s an infant (and my husband threatened to leave me if I didn’t take him).  But as my life would have it, my son became ill almost instantly.  We’re talking 100 degree temperature, listless and just plain sad looking – on a 6 month old.  Heartbreaking.  So I spent my 7 days stuck in a condo, with a sick baby, watching bad Utah daytime television (yes, it’s worse than Los Angeles daytime television).  Four days in a row I had to work.  Four days in a row I spoke on panels and threw brunches for the actors and filmmakers in Sundance.  And as soon as I was finished, I took my child from whosever arms he was in (the arms varied, but I generally knew the people attached to them.  Don’t worry), and went back to my condo.  Movies?  I vaguely heard there were some playing.  I wouldn’t know, but I can tell you that Oprah’s new year programming is FASCINATING.  Actually, I have to confess.  My son’s temperature broke on Monday and Monday afternoon I was off to see my ONE movie while my son kept a friend busy.  The movie was BRIEF INTERVIEWS WITH HIDEOUS MEN. Nice acting, average film. 

So that was Sundance from the inside of my condo.  All I want to know is, does BYU NEED its own channel?  I think not.

It has been my experience that some of the most interesting people I have met and conversations I have had often occur while waiting for things at Sundance. 

Last year I met this great woman while waiting in line to get into American Teen who was a big exec at a big TV producers company.  We later sat down over a hot chocolate and she let me pitch her the film I was trying to find money for.  Unfortunately, my micro-mini budget didn’t suit her need for projects 5 million and over, but I guarantee I would have never had the privilege of learning this had we not been waiting next to one another at the Library.
 
In 2001, I was sitting on the bus (a form of waiting) and started talking to this guy who was launching a new company to submit your films to festivals called Without A Box.  It sounded pretty good, kind of like the common application to get into colleges (yes, that was my reference in 2001) so I signed up.
 
I had an amazing time one year, maybe 2002′ish waiting outside Harry O’s trying to get into the Project Greenlight HBO party.  I think half of HBO was outside with me as there was obviously some big mix up at the door.  I sold a documentary to HBO in 2005.  (Okay, these occurrences had nothing to do with one another, but I still recognized some of the people who braved the cold with me that night at various events and panels.) 
 
This year the festival was empty.  You didn’t have to wait anywhere.  It was absolutely wonderful but I also realize that I did not meet nearly as many people.  I kind of breezed through.  Any waiting that occurred was artificially constructed.  My best waiting story this year was while in the lobby of the Eccles.  I was standing by for a return text from a friend after seeing PUSH, when I spotted Harvey Weinstein in all his great glory (and no, I will not go into any greater detail as I have dreams of doing business with the Weinstein Company some day.) That was a first and someone, I must admit, I have been waiting almost a decade to see live and in person.