Closing Night, Final Thoughts

I just got back from the closing night film "Miracle at St. Anna" where I got to meet a very talented young actor "Omar Benson Miller" who went to my alma mater - San Jose State. He is terrifically talented and has that Forest Whitaker kind of thing going for him. He was quite charming and friendly to us.

The Miracle at St. Anna was quite good but certainly could have been cut down by 10 minutes or so, nonetheless I liked it quite a bit. I am a big fan of Derek Luke who played one of the leads. The film was shown in the Bahamas Performance Arts center and was a treat to see. I thought Omar might be good for the TV series we are creating and he liked the concept, although I have been schooled to not suggest anything to do about casting to anyone.

The closing night party was at a really cool place on the water called Lucianos. We had appetizers and drinks and I hung out with my new BFFF's Ariel and Owen - two filmmakers who had a short here and who also reside in the Bay Area. Contacts, Contacts, Contacts. We both went out until way too late hour but it was a blast.

Overall I had a great time here. It is a really swanky festival that is marketed well and has some great opportunities for filmmakers that want to network a bit. I got to talk to a couple hundred people about my journey to this really cool corner of the world - CLARKSDALE, MS and what that place has to offer to individuals and the world really. I hope many of them take a trip out and have an ice cold beer in a juke joint or two and listen to some great blues music and have some great southern style food.

My entire family enjoyed the trip and I can't wait to compare the warmth, humidity, sun, sand and beach of the Bahamas with the Snow, cold and mountains of Montana - our next stop on this film festival ride.

I want to thank my co-filmmakers Laura Bernieri and Matthew Goff, as well as the folks that have supported me along the way: Bill and Francine Luckett, The People of Clarksdale, MS, Joerg Schumann, David Schwartz, Lynette Shelton, Greg Stimpson, Kevin Kissling, Sandy Surrett, Kim Cheadle and of course my wife Buffy.

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During the Festival.

Yikes. Do people still say that? I do I guess. Well we are mid festival, I am posting this late but WOW it has been quite a ride. We went to this very swanky opening party at a place called "Hole in the Wall" but it is anything but. This event was sponsored by Chopard and a number of other upscale firms and was really quite the deal. Red Carpet, a Versace modeling show, champagne, h'ors d'ouvre (did I spell that right) - totally reminded me of an average night at my house.

I met a ton of people, most notably Jeffrey Lyons who is all about talking baseball. Non-stop, he has published a series of baseball trivia books and knows everything about everything there is. But I stumped him because he didn't know that Don Zimmer coached for the San Francisco Giants - Gotcha Jeffrey.

I got to bring Cooper with us and Buffy and I had a great time. There was a huge fireworks display at the end and I think overall I felt a little underdressed. I met an awesome filmmaker who published a book that I used as my bible for the shoots I have been on - it is called "The Guerilla Filmmakers Guide" and he also had a great film here called "Gone Fishing" which is now on the short list for the Oscars. Check out his blog here: http://www.livingspirit.typepad.com/ .

My Film (Laura, Michael's and Matt's) Screened on Sunday at 1;30pm and Wednesday at 10pm. And though the turnout was not great (as was the case with all but the opening night film) the crowd that was there was very enthusiastic. We did have some sound problems that I tried to rectify but to no avail. I spoke with the projectionist on Wednesday and miraculously the problems went a way - felt like a completely different screening.

They had a tribute to Anna Faris (Lost in Translation, The Scream Series, House Bunny) which I almost skipped but ended up being one of the best things about the festival. I had such low expectations for that night but she was really terrific and sweet.

So that is it for now. I'll post one more entry about the closing night film and my last day.

Bahamas Intl Film Festival

I'm sitting at the DFW airport waiting for my connection to Miami where I will wait for my connection to Nassau and hope that weather and all those other snarky things don't happen on this trip. I am here with my wife and two year old Cooper - who a pretty amazing traveller.

We got up at 4:00 am to catch flight from SJ to DFW and Cooper just colllapsed on the ground in a a mini-tantrum for no apparent reason. He is protesting the airline treatment in the only way he can. Tantrum. I am looking forward to showing the film, and it plays twice - once at 1:30 on Sunday and then Wednesday at 10PM (Hmmm....not sure Im liking that programming).

As always I am paranoid about turnout and all the technical details - sound, picture, sound, more sound...that kind of thing. Cooper is now telling people on the elevator bye bye. Oh to be a kid. I haven't yet selected any movies to see, the festival is doing a tribute to Laurence Fishburn and Anna Farris (up and coming artist) and I will attend both of those see what I can see.

Alright that is all for now.