Film Festival.
I can't believe it's that time of year again already. It's time for the film festival. It takes about ten months to plan one weekend of films. It's a lot of work, but it's all worth it in the end I think.
I never think about this during the year (although I'm thinking about it right now because I'm writing about it), but the film festival really is a big deal. I look at all the people that show up for it, and it sort of freaks me out that all these people are here for something we created.
99% of the people that come are very complimentary and appreciative of the work we do. These are the people that remember that we are a non-profit, fund raising event. They don't complain if a little hiccup occurs somewhere.
We always get a few complainers, though. There's a guy that shows up every year (his nickname is now "That Asshole") and complains about the films, the acting (as if we are the ones that made the films... we're not)... "why didn't you get____________", blah blah blah. But he comes every year, so there must be something about it he likes. I listen to his complaints, nod my head, and say "I hope you have a great weekend."
A woman messaged us on Facebook and took offense at us calling the lesbian short film category "Girls Shorts" this year. We've always called it "Lesbian Shorts" before. We're just trying to freshen some things up. The biggest gay film festival in the world, Outfest, calls theirs "Girls Shorts", so we didn't even think twice about it. This woman said "I AM A LESBIAN, NOT A GIRL." Whatever. We asked some GIRLS on our committee if it offended them and they said "no, not at all." I messaged the lesbian back and told her we would never knowingly use wording that would offend someone. She also complained that there's not an equal amount of lesbian and gay films. Well, that's true. We have way more gay films, because gay men are the people that are most supportive of us. In past years we've had five or six women watching a lesbian film that we had to pay $250 (or more) for. The point of the film festival is to raise money, so we have to choose the movies wisely. One of the girls on our committee said "Some lesbians are cheap! They don't want to spend any money on entertainment, that's why they don't come."
My favorite film of the festival this year (and the winner of my Director's Award) is a short film called "If We Took A Holiday." It's about a gay man (Dennis Hensley, he's one of the writers for E!'s "Fashion Police") who asks his best friend, actress Nadya Ginsberg, to be Madonna for him on his birthday. So it's like he's spending the day with Madonna. It is so funny, it should be a full length feature film. I've seen it so many times now, and I'm still not tired of it.
I'm hoping I can get through the festival okay this year. I met Lewis through the film festival. His whole world was film festivals, that was part of his job. It's going to be weird not having him here. Everyone loved him so much, and everyone's missing him. I wrote a little paragraph about him for the program book. My favorite picture of him is in there, right after he got "the best haircut of (his) life."
www.indylgbtfilmfest.com
I never think about this during the year (although I'm thinking about it right now because I'm writing about it), but the film festival really is a big deal. I look at all the people that show up for it, and it sort of freaks me out that all these people are here for something we created.
99% of the people that come are very complimentary and appreciative of the work we do. These are the people that remember that we are a non-profit, fund raising event. They don't complain if a little hiccup occurs somewhere.
We always get a few complainers, though. There's a guy that shows up every year (his nickname is now "That Asshole") and complains about the films, the acting (as if we are the ones that made the films... we're not)... "why didn't you get____________", blah blah blah. But he comes every year, so there must be something about it he likes. I listen to his complaints, nod my head, and say "I hope you have a great weekend."
A woman messaged us on Facebook and took offense at us calling the lesbian short film category "Girls Shorts" this year. We've always called it "Lesbian Shorts" before. We're just trying to freshen some things up. The biggest gay film festival in the world, Outfest, calls theirs "Girls Shorts", so we didn't even think twice about it. This woman said "I AM A LESBIAN, NOT A GIRL." Whatever. We asked some GIRLS on our committee if it offended them and they said "no, not at all." I messaged the lesbian back and told her we would never knowingly use wording that would offend someone. She also complained that there's not an equal amount of lesbian and gay films. Well, that's true. We have way more gay films, because gay men are the people that are most supportive of us. In past years we've had five or six women watching a lesbian film that we had to pay $250 (or more) for. The point of the film festival is to raise money, so we have to choose the movies wisely. One of the girls on our committee said "Some lesbians are cheap! They don't want to spend any money on entertainment, that's why they don't come."
My favorite film of the festival this year (and the winner of my Director's Award) is a short film called "If We Took A Holiday." It's about a gay man (Dennis Hensley, he's one of the writers for E!'s "Fashion Police") who asks his best friend, actress Nadya Ginsberg, to be Madonna for him on his birthday. So it's like he's spending the day with Madonna. It is so funny, it should be a full length feature film. I've seen it so many times now, and I'm still not tired of it.
I'm hoping I can get through the festival okay this year. I met Lewis through the film festival. His whole world was film festivals, that was part of his job. It's going to be weird not having him here. Everyone loved him so much, and everyone's missing him. I wrote a little paragraph about him for the program book. My favorite picture of him is in there, right after he got "the best haircut of (his) life."
www.indylgbtfilmfest.com