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A Film Junkie's report on IFFCON
The following report was filed today with Father Geek at AICN World Headquarters here in Austin, Texas. Its a blow by blow discription of what it is like to "spin" a day at almost any big media conference. Great fun, lots of interesting info, and lots of hobnobing with other geeks, pros, suits, etc... Soooooo here it is from the point of view of a real film junkie...
My day at IFFCON
-by The Film Junkie
9:15 - Waiting in registration line, hungry, in dire need of coffee and bagel.
9:45 - Almost to the front of the registration line, passing out from no coffee yet, low blood sugar alert, ready to kill
9:50 - There was a mix up with my registration, but it was taken care of quickly.
9:51 - DOWNING coffee and croissant. Brain function coming back. Thinking clearly.
9:56 - Bowel movement
10:00 - IFFCON starts.....
I take my seat in the back, disgust and anticipation shooting through my veins along with the caffeine.
Some of these filmmakers are so hungry for backing, they have a condom in their mouth and are ready to blow. The
desperation cannot be missed. The cold sweat and adrenaline stench of starving artist filmmaker combined with the reek of
money money money: when these two meet, a chemistry like no other results.
OK, enough of the chatter, here's the skinny...
10:00 - Keynote speech by Jack Lechner, writer and former studio exec for Miramax.
Jack is a good choice to open the Convention this year, as he has both experience and enthusiasm that combine to form an
inspiring address.
He focuses on the two things new filmmakers need, which are artist ambition and daring to gamble with new ideas, as well as
what a good film needs, which are not to underestimate the intelligence of the audience, strong individual voices, and characters
that are interesting.
10:30 . Step by step: A walking Tour through Film Financing "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Most interesting panel of the day, delving into the area of finance, and including the opportunities for financial backing for
projects, with a Q&A session after.
The audience member that stood out in this Q & A was Greg from Remember Films. He let the panel (and the rest of us)
know he sneaked into the Convention (limited funds), and his current project has a total budget of $7000 dollars. He felt the
term low budget coupled with the figures 1,000,000 to 5,000,000 was absurd. (I wholeheartedly agree with this, thus
preferring the terms no-budget film or scumbag filmmaker when applied to myself.) This comment stirred things up. It threw a
monkey wrench into the capitalistic way of thinking. (Yes, Greg, the stage is yours, so what statement do you want to make?)
And that's all he had to say. If Remember Films is so punk, why even worry about how these corporate sucks define things, or
what they think? While I wish you luck Remember Films, but trying to be punk at IFFCON could be construed as sucking up
anyway.
11:45 . Case Study: An American Love Story
I lasted ten minutes into this very uninformative panel, before heading down the street to a bar, beer, and brainstorming
session. (Which lead to an addition for the screenplay I'm working on. Bottom line: IFFCON Works.)
1.00 Lunch. Dark Bar. Need I say more?
2:15 Pitch Perfect: How to Sell your Idea
Escaped as soon as I felt IQ dipping... More caffeine was then ingested in preparation for Digital Camera panel.
3:45 . funding the future . Digital Technology
This panel sucked worse than I could've ever thought. The moderator was WAY TO WORDY. His introduction for the panel
was about 15 minutes and every other chance he received lead him to more verbal masturbation.
The panelists that were interesting and I would've enjoyed more insight from were Gary Winick (Indigent), Peter Broderick
(Next Wave), and Jason Kliot (Blow Up Pictures)
5:15 . Panel Sessions are over & When are we drinking?
While waiting for the post-convention party set up, I found myself speaking with one of the volunteers: the news went from bad
to worse to "that sucks ass". While both panelists and attendees treat volunteers like dirt, that treatment paled when compared
to those who run IFFCON, the corporate muscle. The set up is hierarchal, with STRICT rules prohibiting any fraternization
between volunteers and those attending. Why volunteer at all? I would hope the volunteers would get special access for
working so hard to keep this event going. In spite of the "don't talk to the higher-ups" rule, volunteers still try to interact with
those attending. In fact, the volunteer I spoke with had a script in the car, just in case there were any 'bites'.
5:20 . Drinking
Drinks included Manhattans, Beer and Wine.
Going home with a buzz, I felt dirty and exhilarated. See you next year at IFFCON.
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+ Expand All
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Sounds like fun to me.
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This is such an exilirating expierence. I've been going to AICN since March 1999, and I've never ever started a TalkBack, basically due to the fact that I'm not up at the 3 AM posting times. Woohoo! I'm starting a TalkBack!!!--Saulot--
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Um, this day isn't exactly the thrilling blow-by-blow I was expecting. Yes, I guess it's interesting for the real "insiders", but many of these names you gave us just mean nothing.(BTW, I'm starting a TalkBack!)--Saulot--
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First off, sorry Salout, but you didn't start off this TalkBack. Better luck next time (and then don't make such a big deal out of it). Secondly, was this news? I'm sorry, I must've missed something between the coffee and the liquor, but I DIDN'T READ ANYTHING NEWSWORTHY. Not that the con itself doesn't hold a good time for many, but this report is a little ... blase, shall we say?
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Jan 21, 2000 8:48:24 PM CST
Here's a Brilliant Idea that everyone will probably make fun of
by dutch_engstrom
After reading something like that brief report above, it reminds you how difficult it is for anyone who wants to get into the world of filmmaking. Anyway, from what I know about AICN over the couple years or so I've been coming here, a lot of the people who read this site are accomplished, powerful people in the entertainment "biz", people who have the power to help those like the writer of the article. And it goes without saying that there are many of us regular AICN Talk Backers and readers who share the same dream, and get laughed at daily by those around us for trying to make it happen. So, why doesn't somebody try to help these two groups help each other? I guess the most obvious person that could do something like this would be Harry Knowles. It sure would be cool if he put out a call to the powers that be, that visit this site daily, asking them to maybe provide him with some contacts that he could then pass on to the rest of us. Or perhaps there are some execs out there who could give some advice to those of us who work lousy jobs all day so that we can go home and work on our screenplays and further alienate our friends and significant others. Yeah, it'll probably never happen, but it sure would be nice if it did...
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I think this article really sums up the whole IFFCON experience, even though it's laced with caffeine and alcohol. Is the article newsworthy? yes. Is IFFCON newsworthy? no. But this gave me a good laugh.
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get a life,this just sounds sad. Again no cheers for you buddy
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9:15am: Wake up and eat three cars - 9:25am: Run diagnostic - 9:40: Look for Hogarth, only, find Dean - 10:03 Go behind warehouse to deposit waste by product from fusion reactor core - 10:11 Go for walk - 10:17 Eat monkey bars at school - 10:31 go back to junk yard - 10:40 try and get Dean to play - 11:05 Help Dean build
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You can take a shit in four minutes? My record is six.
Todd, what is the Iron Giant's stance on assisted suicide? -
I have been going through old talkbacks and you appear in alot of them. And always talking about The Iron Giant in new and funny ways. Cool theme you have going. keep it up.
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But it brought out a few chuckles. I'd say it was newsworthy, though probably not to all the people who come here. And Todd, what will the Iron Giant be doing this weekend? Party at the junk yard?
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