admin

A week after attending my first film festival, I traveled to New York City to attend the Tribeca Film Festival. I applied a lot of the things I learned from the first film fest, and as a result, had a much smoother experience just one week later.

For starters, I only drove to a nearby train station, leaving my car behind and avoiding the alarm going off every time I unlocked my car and started it up (I hadn’t been able to fix this in one week’s time). While this did lead to a lengthy walk between Grand Central and the cineplex where the films were being shown, this wasn’t really much different from traveling from my hotel to where the movie was showing the week before, so this was a wash.

My ticket was also digital, because I bought them so late that they couldn’t be mailed, and because the festival was already well under way (I was going to the last day), there was no longer a place to pick them up. My tickets were emailed to me, which was excellent because I didn’t have to go to another location to pick them up just to watch the movies, I could just show them the email on my phone to scan. This again was all that was available, not a deliberate choice I made based on knowledge I could apply.

What I did apply from my experience at the first festival was picking screening that were in the same spot. This was kind of taking out of my hands because one of the few ticket options remaining were for screenings in the same theater, but after experiencing it, I can absolutely see the wisdom behind it. The screenings were essentially back to back, so once one movie was done, I was able to hop right in line for the next one, without having to factor in the time to travel to another location.

It overall led to a much more relaxed and enjoyable experience than the week before. The movies I had bought tickets for had also been voted among the best movies by the Tribeca audience earlier, so I was watching two films that had already been vetted.

An added perk, not anything I would’ve learned from the previous week’s trials, was that these screenings were in the Regal RPX theaters, so it was my first time experiencing the wider, comfier seating that they had to offer. It didn’t sway me from ever buying these seats for any movies I’ve gone to since, but I definitely appreciated the added comfort.

After watching two movies back to back, I still had plenty of time before the last train out of Grand Central headed out, enough to fit in one movie with maybe a slightly tighter window than I would’ve wanted to get back to catch the last train. But, as I had already enjoyed some films, and with the agony at the end of the night a week ago after cramming in too many showtimes in one day, I decided to settle for the enjoyment I’d already had and catch the next train out, which I appreciated as it allowed me to get home early enough to unwind a little after the excursion into the city.

All in all, it was a much better experience than the previous festival had been, but that enjoyment was in large part due to the mistakes I had to learn from during the first festival.

The next film festival I attended took place the following week, the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. I left to attend early because I was taking the train down to the city, and ended up getting there much sooner than I needed to. The extra time was a nice perk because it allowed me to relax and take my time arriving at the theater for the movies I was going to see.

On my way to the cineplex, I saw that the road I was on was blocked off, and a short while later, I saw signs that filming was going on. There were people on the sidewalk in front of me who kept going, so I decided to follow suit. No one was telling them to stop and turn around, so I figured I was good to go as well.

Eventually I saw cameras and dollies strewn on the sidewalk, and crew and gaffers setting things up. I was still following some other pedestrians, and when I saw the crew pay them no mind, I continued on as well.

Following the app on my phone, I needed to cross the empty street, and as I did, I heard over a megaphone that filming was about to start. I was able to cross the street without a problem, but after I did, I paused my journey so that I could catch a glimpse of production.

With the street shut down, this was obviously going to be footage of a car driving through a New York City street. I got the impression what they would be shooting would be part of a chase sequence. There were some other onlookers, and although we were ushered back a bit so as not to be captured in any of the shots, we were allowed to watch.

This felt exciting to catch a glimpse of the filming process – I was in the city to experience the art of film after all, and I thought it’d be cool to watch, even if the sequence I was watching never made it into the movie. I balanced on the tips of my toes when I heard a voice on the megaphone blare “Action” as if this would give me a markedly better view.

There were some people walking up and down the sidewalks that sandwiched the road that had been blocked off. When the megaphone voice called for a reset, it was apparent these were extras, as they all seamlessly returned to their starting spots when the cameras had first started rolling. From what I could gather, something had affected the lighting, maybe a renegade cloud, and they wanted to take it from the top.

In the interval where the extras were setting up again, I realized I had no idea what was being filmed. While I saw camera, equipment, extras and crew in this blocked off section of New York City, I didn’t see anything that indicated what movie the road had been blocked off to shoot. Even if I caught a glimpse of the car, I wouldn’t be able to tell if I was watching the next James Bond movie, or some generic action movie that a couple of dozen people would ever see.

The megaphone voice called “Action” again.

The only way I’d know what was being filmed was if I saw a vehicle that was distinct, that was associated with only one series of movies. Like, the Batmobile.

A moment later, weaving through the cars with stunt drivers simulating traffic on a blocked off road, was the Ecto 1. The film they were shooting was Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.

With my first film festival under my belt in a no-pressure scenario, I now felt like I had some knowledge of what to expect and how to handle the next one. From there, it would just be a matter of applying that knowledge correctly.

The first – and possibly most important – thing was going to be having a game plan going into the event. I had really just bought an all access ticket for a weekend long film festival, but only ended up watching movies on one of the three days, and felt a little compelled to cram in as many movies as possible into what was essentially a twelve hour stretch.

A more realistic approach to the weekend would’ve served me much better. I was working Friday, the first day of the festival, so unless I was willing to take the day off, I should have looked at single all day passes for Saturday and Sunday. Even if I had left straight from work, that was still going to be about a three hour drive – at best – that would’ve hit heavy traffic from people looking to start their weekend, and would’ve had two stops added, the first to pick up the ticket, and the second to check into the hotel. Compounding this drawback was the decision I made in the interval between buying the festival pass and attending to begin training for a marathon, and I didn’t actually get on the road until after 6. While this helped me avoid the worst of traffic, I arrived in town too late to attend anything on Friday night.

I also learned to check the locations of the screenings. As I stated in a previous post, none of the other two festivals I attended were set up like this, but finding out that each of the four locations where films were being screened was at best a fifteen minute drive from the others really wore on me the later it got in the day. At least the other festivals I attended had the movies showing in the same general location, but I think part of that when it came to Tribeca was a conscious decision to not have to roam too far in the city.

Studying the program and schedule felt like another crucial hard lesson that was learned from my first festival-going experience. I think once I had bought the all access pass for the festival, I turned my brain off and figured I’d just work it out once I got there. While I did push off making decisions until I was in my hotel room late on that Friday night and early Saturday morning, and I did get a full day’s worth of movies, I can see that this wasn’t the wisest course to take.

I remember being annoyed that Tribeca and TIFF didn’t really offer this All-Access option when I was buying tickets, but this now looks like a blessing. Without the unlimited options to choose from, I was forced to look at what the film lineup was and make decisions while I was purchasing a pass online, rather than winging it last minute. With Tribeca, I ended up buying tickets to two movies playing back to back in the same theater, something that I appreciated so much more after attending the first film festival. And with TIFF, because I was there for the duration, it opened up options of which screening of a film I would attend, as several films had multiple showings throughout the week. If two movies conflicted over the same time slot, it helped my decision if I saw one of them had another showing that I could make.

Studying the program was also helpful because it usually gave information on networking opportunities. While I was barred from doing so for the Lighthouse Film Festival, if the strike was concluded by the time these later film festivals occurred, I’d be free to pitch myself and my work, and knowing who was attending and where allowed me time to prep.

I wasn’t going to have to wait long to put these learned lessons into practice. The Tribeca Film Festival was the following weekend.

My first experience attending a film festival wasn’t all bad. Even though I wasn’t able to network and talk about the scripts I’d written as I had originally intended, since I was barred from this type of interaction, I did feel like the pressure was off to push and promote myself while also getting accustomed to this type of event, allowing me to relax and just enjoy myself.

I’d say a major positive was just getting familiar with festivals themselves. I learned several things that I could apply for future festivals, once I’d be allowed to actually network at them, and could avoid coming across as a novice at these events.

Probably the most important thing to keep in mind when attending these festivals is timing and scheduling. I’d been ambitious, originally intending to watch five movies all in one day, thinking I’d be able to just move from one screen to the next because they’d all be in a central location. While neither of the other 2 film festivals I attended, Tribeca and TIFF, would have separate locations as widespread as this one, I did find that the movies being showcased weren’t all in one central theater, but spread out across several. I’d need to factor in the time it took to travel from one spot to another in my planning.

I also learned that it was wise to get in line to a showing about a half hour before it started. This would allow you to be one of the first in line, and although the wait will feel long, you’ll have one of the prime picks for seats once they start letting you in. In my case, that meant being able to grab a seat by the aisle.

Its customary for film’s to be introduced by someone whose working the festival, and that the director usually gives a few words about the film before it starts. In the four movies I ended up seeing, this was the case, as well as the director then giving a Q & A after the movie. I didn’t always stay for these, in fact I skipped out on them completely any film I didn’t enjoy, but it was good to know that it might be something I’d have to prepare myself for if a film I wrote the screenplay for was ever featured in a film festival, and if the Q & A extended beyond the director when a writer’s strike wasn’t going on.

I’ll discuss the final takeaways from attending my first film festival…next time.

The last setback I faced when I attended my first film festival was probably the biggest, and ultimately something that was out of my control.

When I had first bought the pass to attend the concert, the latest writer’s strike had just gotten underway. While the Writer’s Guild of America was on strike, writers couldn’t discuss their current projects, and they most certainly couldn’t make deals with anyone in the business.

The main goal of attending these film festivals was that it would be a great chance to network with people in the industry. Only now that the strike was in effect, I was barred from doing so, because if the WGA ever found out that I had crossed the picket line to negotiate a deal, effectively working behind the back of the guild for my own gain, I would be blacklisted in the industry and no studio would ever work with me again, as the WGA would refuse to work with any of them if they worked with me.

The strike began before the festival started, so I held out some hope that the issues would be resolved before the start of the festival. I also felt that even if it was ongoing, it would be good to dip my toes into the festival scene, to get a sense of how they operated and what to expect, so that when the strike was over, I’d be comfortable enough with the format and what to do and who to talk with to network effectively.

It was just a bummer I couldn’t strive for these goals my first time out.

The quest to pick up my pass to actually attend the film festival didn’t clue me in to the main challenge that would bog me the rest of the day. As it would turn out, the movie pass wasn’t the only thing I would have to drive for.

It’s not uncommon for a film festival to have movies playing in multiple locations. In all three of the festivals that I had attended, there were multiple locations that were screening the movies. But the different theaters that were booked to play movies were often in relatively the same spot. For instance, when I went to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) later that fall, while there were about 4 or 5 movie theaters that were playing the films submitted that year, they were confined to the same general area, the theater district.

This disbursement makes sense because this way one theater wasn’t forgoing all the new releases the play the film festival. Or looking at it from the reverse side, no one theater gets a monopoly on playing the film festival, as well as the promotion and fanfare that comes with it. Actors, directors, producers do attend these events, so spreading this about allows multiple theaters to benefit from the buzz of the festivals, while also not losing out on business if new releases are really strong during the weekend the festival is going on.

This festival…took it to an extreme.

THE extreme.

There were four different locations that were playing movies for the festival. Only one of them was a movie theater.

I’m not completely positive why all of these films weren’t shown at the actual movie theater. With four locations, they would have only needed four screens, and this theater did seem like it would be able to accommodate that for a weekend. Or, short of that, having a couple of screens booked, and maybe only other location, that could perhaps have multiple rooms that could play movies would have been good too. But maybe the theater was only willing to allow the festival to book one screen.

Either way, what they came up with was the worst possible solution.

Four locations – only one of them an actual theater – ALL of them a roughly twenty minute drive – AT LEAST – from each other.

I didn’t even notice how bad this was at first because the first movie I saw was at one of the closest locations to my hotel room, and a MUCH shorter drive in comparison to the trek I made in the morning just to get the pass.

But as the day went on, and I realized I needed to factor in an additional half hour in between each screening just to allow myself time to get to the next location – because of the movies that interested me, none were in the same place for consecutive showings – this added up to a lot of mileage and a really long day. I ended up skipping a movie in the middle of the day because there was no way I’d be able to make it for the start of the showing, and to be honest, I could already see I just didn’t have it in me to make the drive to jump right into another feature.

Also keep in mind that every time I parked, because this was in an area I was unfamiliar with, I definitely was locking my car, which as you might recall from previous post did work, but would trigger the car’s alarm every time I unlocked the doors. This ended up becoming such a long day, and I was absolutely ready for sleep by the time I crawled into bed.