Winding Down

Good lord. This is why it is good to travel alone. This morning I got up at a reasonable hour and was packed and ready to leave Tamworth at 10:30a.m. The train I originally planned to take was at 12:42p.m., but since I was moving, I figured there had to be one a little earlier, right? Not really. There was one at noon, so I still had an hour and a half to kill. So, after walking 1/2 mile to the train station to find this out, and there being no place at the train station to store my bags (by the way, can't blame Bin Laden for that. The IRA was blowing up things in London long before him, which is also why trash cans are very difficult to find in train stations), I had to walk halfway back into town to get a soda and sandwich, then afterwards back again.

When I did return, I found that I was on the same train and changing at Birmingham with Amir, one of the other filmmakers in the festival. He was the one who told me he'd watch my movie even though it would not be his cup of tea. Which, incidentally, he did not. He sat through about 15 minutes before walking out. I have since forgiven him but will admit I was annoyed at the time. I know it is my first festival, but still, there is a sort of etiquette between filmmakers, and once you establish some sort of rapport it is unspoken that you expect, want, and reciprocate support, i.e., watch each others movies.

But, we had a nice chat while traveling to Birmingham, and I know he did not have any malicious intent. I had to walk out of a couple films myself, though that was due to some very graphic footage. I remember images and I can't watch certain things that I find disturbing. I know seeing my neighbor Philip in a dress is somewhat disturbing; perhaps it was just too much for Amir to take.

Last night was the screening of "Radio Cape Cod," by American Andrew Silver. It was a sweet little love story, and a nice event. They served small sandwiches, satay skewers, and canapes during the meet & greet beforehand, so that was dinner. But other than Andrew, I was the only filmmaker still in town (except Amir, who did not attend), so it was a little lonely. I did talk quite a bit with John Welles, a councilman and former Mayor of Tamworth, who I met the first night at the castle, and his wife and son David as well. Really nice people, as was everyone in town, and as I said to John after the movie last night, I need to make another movie so I can come back!

It was a long day of travel today. To get to Matthew's I had to take five different trains, and very few of the stations I had to transfer at had escalators, so I had to drag my big case up and down the steps myself. In these situations, some man almost always grabs it from me without even asking and does it for me, but not today. It is Sunday so no one seemed in much of a hurry and the trains were less crowded, so maybe when they help me like that it is just to get me out of the way from holding up traffic.

I am looking forward to having dinner with Matthew tonight and catching up. He hasn't been over to Baltimore in quite awhile. Since New Year's, I think? Then tomorrow with Jim & Deb. This is just about the time that I really start missing my dogs and home, so it will be nice to spend it with friends.

The Heart of England Film Festival was a terrific experience, and I think a very suitable "starter" festival for me. I truly think that the networking I was able to do with other filmmakers will prove to be to my advantage down the line. I am going to try to help Amir with some casting for his next project; Ronnie said he'd DP for me if I made a short, and the wheels in my head are already spinning on that; if I ever make a documentary I would certainly consult with Indira, and she said if she ever made a feature she would consult with me; I really want Vagabond to meet Al Letson at some point, I think they would hit it off and creative sparks would fly; plus Vagabond and Maya both live in NYC, so hopefully I will see them again soon. Plus so many other great people I met... never know, might run into them again at another festival soon (knock on wood!).

Many of us being Americans, and traveling alone, I think added to the intensity a bit, and how well we hit it off. It starts off being a little lonely, and a little scary. So I think when you meet other people who are in the same circumstance, there is a moment that each is sort of thinking of the other, "Please don't be a jackass, so I have someone to hang out with," and in most cases they are not a jackass, and then the fun begins!

Heart Attack Averted

Good lord... went to make some changes to the movie yesterday, and I COULDN"T FIND THE FILE. Somehow I had accidentally moved the master file to the TRASH! Thank goodness I hadn't emptied it! I think I was trying to get rid of old versions that were taking up a lot of space but I knew I wouldn't use again. Seriously, I was almost in tears, because the only full version I had left was the latest DVD version, which is somehow all squished because I must have done something wrong when rendering and burning it to DVD. I am still having palpitations just re-living the moment. Ack.

I am about 1/3 of the way through the movie, making some tiny changes here and there, tightening up a few pauses and even cutting down a few more lines. Anyone who has seen the movie will probably be happy to know that I have cut the Golden Twat line from the sushi scene. I still think it was funny, but nobody else seemed to, and I'll admit it makes the scene more palatable to a wider audience. I also swapped some things around in the first few scenes to step up the pace. There is more I would have liked to cut, but since I did not do a great job during production of making sure I had enough cutaways (little snippets to cut to, a hand on a bottle of beer, a close-up of someone's wrist as they look at their watch, etc), to cut the lines I wanted to cut would screw up continuity, which I have worked VERY hard to make as perfect as possible. Also I now open directly with the first scene, THEN to the opening credits with the song "Bohemia" by Niki Lee. That is something Eric suggested a long time ago, and it definitely works better, plus then people are paying attention by then instead of talking through the credits, and I think the song is very pertinent to the movie, which is more obvious after you watch the first scene.

I am so excited to be heading to England on Saturday, though I really have no idea what to expect. I have booked my reservations in a sweet little B & B called The Peel Hotel, which apparently is anywhere from one to ten minutes walking to anyplace in town I would possibly need to be. Rest assured I will be making mental and physical notes throughout the trip, as I have the feeling that the entire experience has "screenplay" written all over it. When I made my reservations at the hotel for an entire week, the kind lady I spoke to told me that after I had seen the sights in town, that it would be easy to take a train to Birmingham, a larger city, and from there I can go to anywhere in England quite easily. The way she said it was almost as if she had said "after you have seen the sights in town - which should take all of about five minutes..."

Though it may happen, I have no intention of leaving Tamworth that week. As stated, my goal the first few days is to meet as many people as possible and invite them to the screening. I also intend to get some writing done, and RELAX. I do my best writing and relaxing when I am VERY far away from home and have absolutely no daily responsibilities and limited internet access. Plus, though the pound is a lot weaker against the dollar than it has been in recent years, it is still not in my favor, and I see no point in wasting valuable pub money on train travel.

I am also so psyched about going to Philly later this month! I was starting to panic that "Smalltimore" would not get into any domestic festivals, though I have only been turned down by a few so far, and those were mostly long shots. There are some other festivals I will be hearing back from soon that I think the film is more suited to, so fingers crossed. I'd really like at least one more, so when the time comes to package the DVD I can have at least three lovely laurels to display on the cover!