AUDIENCE AWARD WINNER! Newport Int'l Film Fest

Mike was able to be present at the Awards Ceremony aboard a ferry boat in Newport Harbor where SHERMAN'S WAY was awarded the coveted Audience Award for Best Featire! Woo-hoo! Pics and Mike's blog story to come shortly!

DAY THREE - Jackson Hole Film Festival

Today was like the perfect "film festival" day. I started my morning out watching an oddly touching, quirky doc called EVERYONE BUT YOU and although the crowd was, well, sparse, I could tell we all enjoyed subject/filmmaker Eric Shiveley's self-exploration of life, love and home. Immediately following the screening, I dashed out to join Mike via speaker phone for the introduction of our screening in Newport. (Look for Mike's blog entry from Rhode Island soon.)

After plastering the immediate area with postcards, stickers and posters hoping to drum up an audience for tomorrow's early screening, I settled in to see the Shorts Program III. Shorts are often the highlight for me of any festival, and this program was particularly strong. Stand-outs were CUTE COUPLE, A DAY IN A LIFE, VALIDATION, VOICEMAIL and SAL MOSCA. Although truth be told, everyone of the shorts were terrific and exceptionally well-programmed.

Afterwards I got an opportunity to talk shop with VOICEMAIL director Matthew Merkovich and VALIDATION director Kurt Kuenne, who it turns out also directed the award-winning doc DEAR ZACHARY, which I was fortunate enough to see up at Cinequest. Plus it turns out, he's friends with my pal, writer Rebecca Sonnenshine. Small world.



I made a promise to myself to actually sit down to at least one meal today and made good on that promise by stuffing my face with pizza at Mountain High Pizza Pie. I chose that place mostly because I like the way the name tripped off my tongue. On my way there, it began to snow. Or hail. Or snail. Couldn't quite tell. I just know it hasn't ever happened in LA whatever it was. I whipped out my trusty camera and shot some video. It was magical. At least to me. The locals looked a little annoyed at it. Or at me videotaping it. Not sure which.

I barely made it into the 5:15 screening of CAKE-EATERS, a beautifully shot, if somewhat slow-paced drama that starred John McCain look-alike Bruce Dern, as well as the young dude from TADPOLE. I can't recall where I've seen the young actress, but she was quite good in a difficult role.

From there, I gave Kurt Kuenne a (circuitous) ride to the Q BBQ Party (I got us a tad lost even though I'd passed the damn place twice daily for the last three days). What a fun party! Great band, great food and wall-to-wall film lovers.

Actor and juror Bill Pullman, who brought his wife and young son, was at the lively bash. I managed to weasle a pic with Pullman and the always upbeat and energetic Program Director Cevin Cathell.

I also finally got to meet James' lovely wife Kristina, as well as some of his local friends.

Now I'm not sure if it's all the wine I drank at the party or what, but it seems there were more animal-like creatures to welcome me back at the lodge that did last night. Hmm. We'll see how the lobby looks in the morning.

DAY TWO - Jackson Hole Film Festival

Took forever to get out of the hotel today. Chatted by phone with Mike in NYC as he prepped to head back to Newport, and with Tom in LA. SW was invited to screen at the Gaia Film Festival in Boulder, Colorado which should be fun as my son Josh will be attending University there in the Fall. Josh, incidentally was our set photographer on SW and many of his pics have appeared in print and online recently.

I finally made my way downtown around 3:30 and was eager to find a lunch spot since I hadn't eaten anything of substance since my meal with Mike Wednesday night. Much to my surprise, there was NOTHING to eat anywhere near the Teton Theatre where the 4:15 screening I was hoping to see was playing. After roaming the wooden-planked sidewalks, I finally had to give up on lunch and dine on popcorn during HAVE DREAMS WILL TRAVEL, a charming road picture starring two very talented young actors. One of the film's producer's is none other than JHFF Programmer Diane Becker, who incidentally produced the AFI short SADIE AND THE SLOT MACHINES, which was edited by our very own Chris Gay. Small world. After the Q&A I had to dash off to our own screening down the street.

I walked into the Center for the Arts and was stunned to see the huge lobby stuffed with an overflow crowd. Could they all be here to see SHERMAN'S WAY? Yeah, right. They were all here to see United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon give his keynote address. Great. Our little movie has to compete with this? His speech was sprinkled with humor and was well-received. (I tried to imagine, however, how the same crowd would react to President Bush -- or any US President for that matter -- making the same plea for Hollywood to use it's influence to promote a specific agenda, no matter how noble. But alas, I digress.) It was impressive to see him captivate the audience and I applaud the festival's commitment to important global issues.

Five minutes before showtime, I walked into Studio One where we would be screening at any moment and was taken aback to see just two in the audience. I walked back out and made a beeline for the bathroom, to both pee and hide. Luckily, when I returned there were significantly more butts in the seats. Ultimately, we had around 75 people or so and they were a terrific audience. As I told James later in the night (he couldn't attend as he was having dinner with the Secretary General... seriously), there were laughs where there hadn't been before, and other times when no one laughed where there had been guffaws at other fests. Go figure. But great crowd nonetheless. A smallish group of 30 or so stuck around for a lively Q&A hosted by none other than my new friend Diane Becker.

In the hall I got to chat even more in depth with a number of audience members who stuck around to say some very nice things. Then I was off to the Filmmaker's Party at the Lindsay McCandless Gallery. I've got to say, both parties I've attended here have not only been well attended, but very well stocked with food and booze. Not always the case for late-arrivals like me.

I got to chat it up with among others, James Lester, director of doc SAL MOSCA: UNSUNG, who I met on the plane ride into Jackson. I plan to see his film tomorrow. Also met Siobhan Mahoney, a funny and attractive actress/producer who has a short CUTE COUPLE playing this weekend. Then there were producers Wally Kurth and Markus Zetler of sports doc CLASS C. Briefly chatted with Lauren Williams of MovieHatch.com, a website dedicated to finding new film talent. We got interupted, but I look forward to chatting with her more about their venture. Ran into Matthew Stevens, the founder of the Indie Spirit Film Festival, who very generously provided me with bunny ears in the photo with festival Artistic Director Melanie Miller and Programmer DIane Becker. Is this blog starting to sound like a Larry King style stream-of-conscious column?

NEWPORT DAILY NEWS FEATURE

We're now officially bi-coastal as Mike stays behind in Newport and I venture to Jackson Hole.


We "woke" up at 3:30 am to get to TF Green airport in Providence in time for my 6am flight(s) to Wyoming and Mike's 6:30am flight back to NYC, (Mike returns to Rhode Island on Friday with his girlfriend Jessie to host the Saturday screening solo). I say "woke" even though I never went to sleep after returning from last night's party around 1am. After changing planes in Atlanta and Salt Lake, I made it into Jackson around 2:30pm and was greeted by a text from Mike informing me about a front page feature article that appeared in today's NEWPORT DAILY NEWS. We had met with reporter Jim Gillis just prior to our 9pm screening last night at the Opera House Theatre. Like all Newporters, a very nice guy. In any case, check out the article by clicking on the thumbnail image below, or click HERE.

After checking in to the beautiful Snake River Resort, James Le Gros (sporting a long Hell's Angel beard for his new HBO series ONE PERCENT) picked me up and we drove into town to catch the Opening Night film HEART ON FIRE. It's a touching film about children soldiers in a small war-torn African nation, but nonetheless a challenge to sit thru (subtitles and all) after being awake for 36+ hours straight and eating only airline "snacks."

Speaking of my flights, on the leg from Salt Lake to Jackson I sat across the aisle from and chatted it up with Anonymous Content producer/manager Michael Sugar, an extremely funny guy with exceptional taste. (He liked my film, what can I say other than he has great taste?) Also seated next to me was LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE producer Ron Yerxa, who offered to share his bag of fresh cut carrots with me. Seems industry turnout at Jackson Hole promises to be substantial.

I'll write more later. For now I just need sleep. Sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

NIFF - Day Two

Well the weather didn’t last. Woke up to grey skies emptying torrents of rain across the vast lawn that spread out below my second floor room. Mike arrived via train/cab from Manhattan around 11am and we quickly made our way to the Filmmaker’s lounge in a car borrowed from our generous hosts Jimmy and Sue.

At the lounge we met producer Thomas DeWolf who is in town with his docu INHERITING THE TRADE. Unfortunately, I won’t be in town to catch a screening as I leave early tomorrow for Jackson Hole.

The rain let up a bit after lunch, so we decided to take in a tour of The Elms Mansion. What a stunning piece of architecture. Mike and I strolled the palatial grounds plotting our next film as we gawked at the formal gardens. Yes, we’re both geeks and damn proud.

We rushed back to make a 6:30 dinner reservation at 22 Bowens and stopped at a small side street adjacent the Filmmaker’s Lounge. Now, most Angelino’s readily guess that we named our film after a street in Los Angeles, but we were pleased to find the Photo Op (at right) in downtown Newport.

Dinner was spectacular and the bottle of wine we shared made for an easy icebreaker for the interview we were going to give just before the 9pm screening of our film.

We met just outside the Opera House Cinema with reporter James Gilles from the NEWPORT DAILY NEWS and chatted and took pictures for about 45 minutes, at which time we were whisked away into the theater.

No matter how many times I see it, it’s always fun to see our film’s title on a marquee, just below of which I met festival director Louisa Percudani (who bears a striking resemblance to actress Mercedes Rhuel). We were honored to have her personally introduce the film to a smallish crowd of just under 100. (She told me she thought it was a great crowd considering it was late on a weeknight.) The audience was very audible in their laughter and seemed to enjoy the film, especially the elderly woman who talked through the entire movie, (“Who’s that?” “Did he hurt himself being dragged by the car?” “Whoever heard of a cat that thinks it’s a dog?”)

After the screening Mike and I engaged in a lively Q&A. We were surprised that almost the entire audience stayed and asked question after question. Good questions too, not just “How much was the budget?” etc.

In the lobby, we were introduced by our hosts to Aaron Rockett, a documentary filmmaker who is also staying at the Tudor Mansion with Mike and I. Regrettably I’ll miss his docu but look forward to seeing it another time. The three of us drove the short distance to the After Party and arrived just in time to fight over the last two beers. Aaron and Mike won. Just as well, I was driving and had to get up in a matter of hours.

NEWPORT THIS WEEK: Review

Another good review, another front page mention! Today's NEWPORT THIS WEEK features a cover story on the 11th Annual Fest and singles out 5 of the 100 + films, including SHERMAN'S WAY. Reviewer Patricia Lacouture says SW is "a delightfully clever romp where soul searching never gets bogged down in artificial angst."

Bi-monthly tabloid MOTIF also singles out SW in today's edition, referring to SW as having "generated great buzz already" and among three listed "must see" films at the festival. Woo-hoo!

MOVIES, MANSIONS AND MIDNIGHT STROLLS

What a gorgeous day to start the festival. The weather in Newport couldn’t have been nicer and I took advantage of it by walking everywhere. Imagine that… an Angelino WALKING! I walked down Rhode Island Avenue to Broadway and made my way to the festival Box Office/Filmmaker’s Lounge and checked in. Hospitality Director Carol Tucker greeted me and handed me a bag of goodies and was, well, extremely hospitable. After putting up some posters and placing stacks of postcards throughout the lounge, I headed out towards the Opera Theater where we’ll be showing tomorrow night and Saturday afternoon.

I met production co-ordinator Bryan Belmore outside the Jane Pickens Theater where tonight’s Opening Night presentation of MAN ON WIRE will screen. Like so many festival bigwigs, Bryan divides his time throughout the year working various festivals (Sarasota and Hamptons in his case) and his enthusiasm for independent film was evident.

I headed down Thames and plastered as many shop front windows with posters as possible, then continued down America’s Cup along the Warf before trekking up Bellevue to take in some sightseeing of the fabulous mansions. I took a tour of Marble House, then sat on the vast lawn overlooking the harbor and made calls to the coast. For an hour I talked business with folks in LA while relaxing in one of the most beautiful spots in America.

I got back just in time to head out to the theater to see the wonderfully engaging doc MAN ON WIRE. Tightwalker Phillipe Petit, who charmed the audience afterwards in a lively Q&A, made for a compelling, if not obvious, subject. I was amazed how quickly the 80 minutes passed. I recommend seeing the film when it hits theaters.

I stopped by the After Party at the Yachting Center for a bit and chatted with a few of the folks that make the festival run smoothly behind the scenes, but was mostly on my cell phone doing business with LA. At least I had a drink in my hand and a view of the yachts in the marina.

I stumbled two miles back to the mansion, getting completely lost in the dark. All those giant homes look alike in the midnight blackness. I was worried about waking my generous hosts as I finally made my way down the hall, but they were up, eager to chat about the film we'd all seen earlier. Just yesterday they were strangers. Now I've got two terrific new friends. I love film festivals.