First, I’d like to thank our friends at the American Pavilion, who have launched a new student filmmaker program at the Venice Film Festival. They asked us if we wanted to come, but alas, we’ve already spent this year’s European bacchanalia budget… I mean travel funds. However, we are still sponsoring the program (which means we are giving them money for a student party, but don’t get to enjoy it).
The AmPav staff has agreed to guest blog on this site from Venice, so if you read something that refers to the Lido, drunk film students falling off the vaporetti, or Walter getting into a karaoke duel with Sophia Loren, they are doing it on our behalf.
Thanks American Pavilion!
Speaking of drunk film students, I am currently at the Telluride Film Festival in Colorado (we still have plenty of domestic bacchanalia budget). For the first time, SAGIndie is supporting the Student Symposium and Filmmakers of Tomorrow programs at this Festival and today I spoke to a group of about twenty students from around the world (they weren’t really drunk… I hadn’t started passing the SAGIndie flask when I took this picture). 
I’m kidding, of course. It was 12:30 in the afternoon. The drinking wouldn’t start for another hour at least. I was really impressed with how savvy they were. The Telluride student program is pretty exclusive. The participants have to apply and complete an essay in order to be considered. There are only about 50 students accepted and they are a really sharp group. They asked really good, sophisticated questions about the various SAG agreements and filmmaking in general. Here I’m answering questions about how I get my hair to stick up like that. 
(Hey, check out our brand new, hi-tech SAGIndie banners! Unlike the old ones, these can be put together in less than a minute by a trained monkey… or SAGIndie Director.).
Tonight I’m going to the annual Feed (you guessed it, a drunken bacchanal…) that kicks off the festival and then movies, movies, movies.