All language subtitles for Official.Rejection.2009.WEBRip.x264-ION10

-Ah, Sundance.

Nestled in the snowy
embankments of Park City, Utah,

it's the modern mecca

of cinematic artistic
achievement,

a singular utopia for
the truly adventurous movie goer

and, by reputation,

the ultimate haven for
new voices in independent film.

For a young filmmaker,

there is no better place to be.

Ah, yes, Sundance.

Too bad for us,
this isn't it.

**

[ Laughter ]

-It's time to wake up, Larry.
-Mm.

-Why do you sleep so late?
-I'm not ready yet.

[ Clears throat, coughs ]

[ Sniffles ]

**

-This is your independent
feature film, "Ten 'til Noon."

-Who are you?

-We'll get to that in a minute,
Larry.

May I call you Larry?

-That's me, I wrote it.

And this guy, that's Scott.

He directed it.

-Action!

-Scott and I had each wanted

to make movies since childhood.

After struggling in vain
for years

to forge careers in Hollywood,

we decided to team up and make
a small independent movie.

The result was "Ten 'til Noon",

a thriller whose entire
90 minute running time

takes place between 11:50 AM
and 12:00 PM on one fateful day.

We raised a little money,
made it,

and we're really proud
of the end result.

We weren't able to afford any
big stars

but we managed to get
a great cast,

excellent production values,

sex, action...
-Larry!

-...drama...
-Did I stutter?

-We even managed to shoot it
on actual film

instead of digital video.

How many micro budget movies
can say that nowadays?

Yes, we loved our little movie

and unveiled it with
a large private screening

at the legendary
Pacific Theater in Los Angeles.

-We had a fantastic screening.

About 850 people showed up
to our cast and crew screening.

It just couldn't have gone
better.

The response was positive
across the board.

-After that night, our effort
seemed to be paying off

and we genuinely believed

this debut was a sign
of the bright future

that lay ahead for us
on the film festival circuit.

-I think it's the mark
of great things to come.

-We might as well have believed
in Santa Claus.

-The biggest misconception

that filmmakers have
about film festivals

is they're going to go there,

they're going to
show their movie,

someone's going to buy it,

they're going to have
a million dollars

and they're going to have
a great career!

And it's not that.

-Wait, let's back up a step.

First, we should probably cover

some of
the film festival basics.

For example, what exactly
is a film festival

and why should filmmakers
go to one?

-It's like a trade show.

It's a way to show your product
to potential buyers.

Quite often, if you're talking
to a distributor about a film

and it's played
at Sundance or Slamdance,

it adds credibility to the film.

-I think the thing
that filmmakers can get most

out of going to a festival,

to me the most important thing
is feedback.

Being able
to have your film screened

in front of an audience,

being able to get reviewed,

get feedback from critics,

also get exposure, publicity,

and in some cases
your film can even win an award.

-It's all part of building
a pedigree of a film.

That in a sense becomes
like having a Tom Cruise,

or a Mel Gibson,
or an A list star

because to the distributors
it says, "Okay,

I've got a theatrical movie."

-In North America,
Sundance is pretty much

the most important festival
at least in the United States,

then there's the Toronto
International Film Festival,

which is very important,
South by Southwest in Texas.

The Tribeca Film Festival in
New York City, it's rather new.

You can have an independent film
playing the festival circuit

almost for a year.

-So it's a long journey.
But where to begin?

Answering that simple question
isn't easy

because which festival you
first play your movie at

or rather, where you have
your world premiere,

is the biggest issue
in film festival politics.

-I believe that festival
programmers

are looking for
the best, newest,

freshest content out there

and in many cases they want to
have a film's premiere

and in some cases if they don't
get a film's premiere,

they may not program it.

-For some festivals,
premiere status means something

and it's something
you definitely want to protect

sort of your --

you've got to protect where
you pop your festival cherry.

-There's a lot of emphasis on
where did it premiere,

when is it going to premiere?

For example, if you premiere
at Sundance,

you have a really good shot
at playing many others.

You don't want to premiere
somewhere in a very small,

regional festival

when you haven't
gotten the word back

from South by Southwest,

or Tribeca, or Sundance

because if you premiere there,

it's likely that you'll have
shot yourself in the foot.

-Oh, I want South by Southwest
to be my world premiere.

What if you don't get in

and then you've turned down
other festivals

that would have been
an opportunity

for a lot of people
to see your film?

-A lot of people like to say

that the world premiere
of your movie

is a really important event.

I just don't know why

it's just not about
having the best festival

and showing the best movies.

-Mindful of our premiere,

we began the process of applying
to film festivals.

-Applying to film festivals

is a whole sort of thing
in and of itself,

and also being aware
of what festivals are out there.

You know, it's like a whole job
staying on top

of the festival schedule
you know, what's next?

-You have to fill out a form,

sometimes they're
four and five pages long.

You also need to submit
a press kit,

a DVD or a VHS tape,

sometimes they have to have
a special tracking number on it

and a special tracking number

on each and every individual
item including the envelope.

Sometimes you have to
include a return envelope

if you want materials back
because they won't return it

unless you pay for the return.

-This is stuff that you
don't really think about

when you're actually
making the movie.

-Fortunately,
the process of submitting

can be made easier by
an online submission service

like we did using Withoutabox.

-Withoutabox was created
to empower you as a filmmaker.

-The festival submission system

allows filmmakers
to come to Withoutabox,

put all their information
into the system.

They don't need to spend
all that time

in filling out 20 applications
to get to 20 festivals.

When they submit it
to one one festival,

Withoutabox knows what that
particular festival needs

as opposed to another
submission.

-Okay, now for my 900th trip
to the post office

this year alone.

-Of course, submitting
to film festivals isn't free.

The fees for submission average
around $50 apiece

with many of them
significantly higher.

This is in addition to the cost
of your screener and postage.

-I think the highest
I've paid so far is 90.

-Each package that goes out
on top of the entry fee,

you're looking at at least
another 10, 12 bucks each.

[ Ka-ching! ]

-I am already on track this year
to spend over $1,000

in freaking festival
submissions.

[ Ka-ching! ]

-My first short film
"AdCorp, Inc.,"

I sent it to a lot of places.

Submitting to festivals
alone

ended up costing more

than the entire budget
of the short.

-Some of these festivals
are $85, $95, $100,

what the fuck are they doing
with this money?

-99 out of 100 filmmakers

don't get into
the festivals they enter

and it's very burdensome
every time you enter a movie

if you've got to pay
$50 to $100

for a feature length movie
and you don't have any money.

-Here we go.
-You're fortunate if you get in.

It doesn't seem like
such a burden.

But if you're not getting into
the festival,

they're just basically
taking your cash

to tell you your movie sucks.

-But we were pretty confident
our film didn't suck,

so we bravely submitted it

with our sights set first
on one particular festival.

**

Yes, Sundance --
the legendary wonderland

where dreams are made.

This was where the little guys
got to be big,

where someone
could buy your film

for huge piles of money,

where filmmakers
like Kevin Smith,

Quentin Tarantino, Bryan Singer,
and Ed Burns

had arrived as nobodies
and left as legends.

-Sundance was my first film
festival.

I'd never gone to a film
festival before

and ended up winning
the Grand Jury Prize.

Surprise!
-If you're in Sundance,

all of a sudden just because
you're in Sundance

that's a big thing now.

It takes it from an independent
to something else.

-The moment you're announced as
one of the competition titles,

now you get inundated
with calls from agents,

and studios, and distributors.

You could be somebody
from Bumblefuck, New Jersey,

make a movie,
wind up at the festival

and get picked up
by a distributor.

That's what Sundance represents,
the Cinderella story.

Everyone looks to see,
like, who's going to pop.

-It's the festival
that sets the tone

for the rest of the industry

and it's the most important
film festival

in the United States.

-Yes, Sundance,

where our dreams
could become reality

except they rejected us.

[ Boom! ]

-I personally think
"Ten 'til Noon"

could have been a Sundance film.

I think it's got characteristics

of other films
that have played Sundance.

I -- You know,
it's just --

it's just...

I don't know the answer
why it didn't get into Sundance.

-Not every great independent
film makes it into Sundance.

There's no way that
they can show everything.

In no way are they able
to select the best films.

They select the films that they
feel are right for the festival.

-I became obsessed
with getting into Sundance.

It's all I could think about.

And then once you don't get in,
you're devastated

because you've worked for two
years on a film and you're like,

"What do I do now," you know?
Other film festivals?

Well, I don't want to be
someone's bitch,

I want Sundance.
-Some filmmakers

think Sundance
is the Holy Grail,

but playing Sundance

definitely does not assure you
of the big sale.

Does playing Sundance
help your chances? Yes.

Does it guarantee a big sale?
Absolutely not.

-So Sundance
was no longer a possibility,

but there was
another big festival,

one that also played
in Park City at the same time.

This was our newest
and best hope.

**

-Slamdance started off

as an offshoot of the Sundance
Film Festival obviously.

-In the sort of
early-to-mid-'90s,

if you didn't get into Sundance
forget it --

you wouldn't get distribution,

you wouldn't get an agent,
nothing would happen.

If our films don't get in okay

maybe we'll do
our own renegade screenings

in Park City as well.

-If Sundance is a counterculture
and then it becomes perceived

as being suddenly mainstream,

well then there should be
a new counterculture.

-At first we didn't have a name
for it.

I said -- we came up
with a list of names

and my idea was Loserfest '95.

-I liked their ethic,
kind of a punk rock,

DIY film-making ethic

and they've shown some stuff
that I thought is brilliant.

I thought,
"Why was it not at Sundance?"

-Redford in '98 was quoted
as calling us parasites.

That was great.

We've regurgitated
that quote for years.

-If Sundance was smart,
they would hire Slamdance

and they would make it
a separate section of Sundance.

-In addition, Scott had directed
a film eight years earlier,

"Burn", which had won an award
at Slamdance.

-It was raw, it was powerful.
-Scott had also once programmed

for the festival

and one of the actors
in "Ten 'til Noon",

Dylan Kussman,
had been a programmer as well.

-Yeah.

Yes, Slamdance seemed a perfect
fit for our little film.

[ Boom! ]

But they turned us down as well.

And that was just the beginning
of the rejections.

**

-When you finish your movie,
you think your movie

is the greatest movie ever

and you're going to make it
into Sundance.

Well, so then you don't get into
Sundance

and so then you say, "Well,
I want to be in Park City,

so I'm going to submit to
Slamdance,"

and then that doesn't work.

And suddenly,
you think in your mind

that your movie fucking sucks.

-I recently got word we didn't
get into a specific festival

that I was hoping for.

You know, ran down,
got in the car to go to work,

slammed it in reverse
and forgot about the fact

that I parked right
next to a large cement pillar.

-The thing that I think is
really important to remember

is, "A," yes,
you probably do suck

because most people do,

but the other is that

just because Sundance
didn't accept your movie

doesn't mean it's bad at all.

-There's so many reasons
why a film gets reject

that have nothing to do
with the pure quality of it.

They have programming objectives
or it may be a length thing

and then it is very subjective.

It's like,
it just doesn't strike

whoever it is
that's making the decisions.

-The first film festival
I ever submitted to

was called Raindance,
and they rejected us.

We didn't get into Raindance.

Oddly enough, two months later
we got into Sundance.

-We did not get into
the Cannes Film Festival.

They rejected us several times
in French,

and then I finally got to
the English part.

-You get that letter,
"thank you for submitting,"

"your film was great, but..."

-There's one rejection letter
that I got from Slamdance

and it was this
incredibly smug letter,

"Love, Lady Slamdance,

designated person to hate
for rejecting your film."

They didn't even have the guts
to sign the fucking thing.

-Don't let any rejection
stop you.

-When you die, your film dies,

not what critics say about you,

not when festivals accept you,

it's when you say
I've had enough,

it's over, it's done,
I'm going to put this film down

or I'm going to go
straight to DVD

or I'm going to try to get it
to Netflix,

whatever you're trying to do,
that's when it's over.

-Don't give up.

We couldn't afford to,
but what's left

when you've been turned down
by the big premiere festivals?

-There's a different route
to go,

and that is to play
the small festivals.

-There's tens of thousands
of festivals

all over the world
and then there's Sundance.

The other 10,000 festivals,

that's really a gold mine
for the independent filmmaker

because that's really
where you find your audience.

-There's
a whole slew of festivals

and if you don't get
one of the big festivals

it's still a good idea

to continue to play
around the country.

And the film festival circuit

is like a minor league
theatrical if you will.

-Sundance
is the stadium of festivals.

It's big.

The smaller,
more intimate film festivals

are like seeing your favorite
band

at a small bar

where you can make eye contact.

Sundance started that way,
screening in makeshift libraries

and high school auditoriums
and -- Oh, wait a sec.

They still screen at libraries
and high school auditoriums.

Playing the small B-level,

the smaller more
intimate festivals,

play those
for a year, you know,

a big deal can
come out of that.

-Amid all these initial
rejections,

there was one festival
that wanted us --

the San Francisco
Independent Film Festival.

Although they were small and off
the beaten path of the business,

they had a reputation
for quality films.

-If you take
the industry component

away from this festival,

you have this festival.
[ Laughs ]

If you take the industry
component away from Park City,

there's nothing.

-With no better options,

we decided to let them
have our premiere.

-In my opinion, I felt that

this film could have gotten
a much larger film festival

for its premiere.

Because they had accepted
to the San Francisco Indie,

that really put us in a little
bit of a bind with the premiere.

-There's a certain amount of
time you have to show your movie

when you have it out.

I think you have
a year or 15 months

to show it
in the festival world.

-I really think that you can
wait to premiere too long.

-You can't hold onto your film
too long.

You have to make a choice.

-But that choice to premiere
meant one thing --

it was time to spend more money.

**

-I thought you just showed up.
It's like a full time job.

Every festival
is a full time job.

-You have to provide stills,
and publicity materials.

-You have to think about

taking time off
from your day job,

because most of us
have day jobs.

-Hotel, air fare, food.
-You just hemorrhage money.

I get really greedy
about my stickers

when I go to a festival

that I feel like is not really
watching out for me,

like I'm just wasting
my stickers left and right.

[ Laughs ]
Those things aren't cheap.

-You have to relentlessly
promote your movie all the time,

every day until either
you can't take it anymore

or you get restraining orders.

-My biggest piece of advice
I pass on to filmmakers

going to a festival
for the first time

is manage your expectations.

If you keep them low,
great things happen.

**

-So we set off
for our world premiere

at the San Francisco
Independent Film Festival.

Scott drove,
my wife and kids drove,

I flew with Brian, my cousin
and one of our producers,

and we all rendezvoused here
at the Adante Hotel,

where the festival would comp
two of our five nights in town.

-We tried to approach
different hotels

and get them to give us
some free hotel rooms

for our visiting filmmakers.

-[ Yawns ]

[ Children squealing, laughing ]

-Whoo-hoo!

-[ Sighs ]

[ Squealing, laughing
continues ]

-I'm really jonesing
for breakfast.

**

-It was the day
of our world premiere.

We gathered with our supporters
for breakfast and quietly

wondered
what every filmmaker wonders --

would anyone actually show up
for the screening.

We checked the papers
for any mention of the festival

and "Ten 'til Noon."
-This is from the Weekly.

They have a picture of Tommy
Chong looking through the bongs

and it appears

that they only talk about
three movies.

-Variety covers our festival.

It's possible to get a writeup
in The Chronicle,

or the SF Weekly,
or the Guardian

because we have good
journalists here,

we have
good independent coverage.

-You could be mentioned
right here

with the erotic underground
with the picture

with the gentleman
with the clamped nipples.

-I don't actually care
about publicity

as long as the people

who live here
know it's happening.

-Without
the aid of media coverage,

we traveled
to the Mission District

to promote the film
armed with flyers,

cards, and our lanyards

better known as the
film festival all-access pass.

-The passes are pretty much
all we give to filmmakers.

We don't do the swag,
the goodie bags.

-The SF IndieFest badge --
It means you are

a very important person
at the festival.

I'm going to put up some flyers
and talk the talk

and get people
to come see the movie.

-I plan on flashing my breasts
to hopefully entice people

to come see the movie.

-* In the night,
life is so hard *

-Let's see if I can do this
without drawing blood.

-It looks like
we're in good company.

There are fewer good places
to be in this world

than right under
Johnny Montana's ass.

-* Yeah, is this living? *

-They were trying to get us
to buy raffle tickets

for AIDS research

and I of course am a filmmaker,
so I pled poverty.

But Brian said,

okay if you let us put some of
these cards on your table

we'll buy a raffle ticket
and give it to you

and then you can donate
the proceeds

to whatever you want.
-If you win, I want to know.

They're going to sit there
and they're going to grab people

all day long on their corner

and it's just something there.

-We are in Phil'z Coffee House.

We are going to ask if we can
put a flyer up in their window.

-Go ahead, put it up.

-* All right *

-When in San Francisco,
always drink Phil'z coffee.

-Constantly, never stop.

-I'm Jose.
I went to college with Paul.

I'm a resident here -- Well,
in the Bay Area in Oakland --

and so I'm kind of
squiring them about

as they make their
Bay Area debut.

-We finally made our way

to SF IndieFest's
premiere venue,

the Roxie,
a popular arthouse theater

on heavily trafficked
16th Street.

Of course, our premiere
wasn't going to be here,

but at the other venue
on a quiet residential street

two blocks away,

something called
the Women's Building.

**

It wasn't even really a theater.

-I'm not so sure I'm thrilled
about this.

**

-There's 300 seats.

-This is actually the beginning
of a great film series

that we put together
in conjunction

with the SF IndieFest.

Without any further ado,
to talk about his film,

Scott Storm
from "Ten 'til Noon."

[ Applause ]

-Hello, everybody.

Okay, I'm not used to
this sort of thing.

-We've got a whole bunch
of independent filmmakers

coming in
as part of the SF IndieFest,

and it's a great opportunity
for these guys to showcase,

talk about their films,

and do it here
in a great public setting.

-We're going to show you a
trailer, and I hope you enjoy it

and we'll answer
any questions you might have,

and we have a few other things
to show you as well.

-While the Apple Store
presentation continued,

my three year old son Andy
did his part,

handing out a card that read,

"My dad wrote the movie
'Ten 'til Noon,'

and all I got
was this stupid card,"

with the screening info written
by my wife on the back.

-It's just exciting
when you start moving forward.

-It was here we met up

with John Daniel Gavin,
the writer, director,

and actor
behind "Johnny Montana."

His premiere was later
in the festival so he agreed

to help us
promote our screening,

now only a few hours away.

-They had your postcards,
and we set our stuff

right next to your postcards.
-Oh, that's so funny.

It's expensive.

I don't have an investor
and I'm doing it.

It cost me like $300

just to print up
two big movie posters

for $72 apiece,

35 11x14's
of the motorcycle shot --

and I show it and people think
it's a motorcycle movie

but it looks great --

and the butt shot and people
think it's a porn.

So it's like,
what the fuck am I doing here?

I gave this guy
in the Pacific Heights

my shot, my butt right,

and he sits there
and he goes, "Wow,

this girl's got a great ass."

I'm like, "Yeah, doesn't she?"
I'm like, "Dude, it's me."

Why don't we promote
your film say around 7:30

around the Roxie?
-That's a good idea.

-Yeah,
it's right around the corner.

-Yeah, yeah.
-We'll head to the Roxie

and start there.
-We'll meet here.

I'll meet you guys there
at 7:30.

-7:30.
-7:30

And you give me postcards.
-You got postcards to give him?

-Not now.
Don't give them to me now.

Give them to me at 7:30
at the Roxie

because
that's when I'm going to do it.

-We'll just canvass the area
like crazy.

-And then
we'll figure out there.

We'll do a strategy.
We'll figure out a plan.

**

-Here we are, standing out
from of the Roxie Theater.

We are trying to
build our audience,

and we only have a little bit
of time left to do it.

There's definitely
more foot traffic here

than there is
at the Women's Building.

-You know, this Women's Building
is scaring me.

It's isolated and shit.

I've got to guy by there
and look at it.

Is it isolated? It sucks.
-It's a cool building.

-It's a quieter street
than this.

-This is my friend's film.
It's playing tonight at 9:30.

-I handed out my share of flyers

and tried to pull people
into the theater.

I'm not very good at it.

I always feel like I'm, I don't
know,

being creepy or something.

Like, do you want
to come see my movie?

-I wouldn't go passing out
flyers.

I've seen people
just wipe their ass with it.

-Sir, sir,
can I borrow that shirt?

I can't wear this sweater
anymore. It's driving me nuts.

You going to the movies tonight,
sir?

Sir?
Hey, can I borrow your hat?

-No.
-I'm only teasing. [ Laughs ]

-When anyone hands me a flyer or
card I got,

so you want me
to throw this away?

-My friends have films
in festivals

and they're out there
passing out the flyers

and trying to get everybody
to come to the screening.

I mean, it just
doesn't make any sense to me.

-That's one director.
Say hi and wave.

-Hello.
-The act of standing out,

handing out postcards
is a part of the beast.

Yeah, it sucks.

You want a full theater,
that's what you've got to do.

-You should go up to people
and ask them what time it is

and when they say, "I don't
know, it's about 7:30,"

say, "No, it's not!
It's 'Ten 'til Noon,'

and it's having its world
premiere right down the street!"

-I think
as far as a canvass goes

and really getting out there,

you've done quite a bit.
-If I don't screen in Tribeca,

man...
-It's way too political man.

-I know but my film is
New York City gorilla war.

Scorsese would love my film.

If Tribeca doesn't take it,
dock me now.

If Tribeca doesn't take it,
they're nuts.

You know, they really are nuts.

-Okay, what time is it?
-After connecting with one

of our actresses, Rayne Guest,

who had come to support
the film...

-Brrr!

-...we headed over
to the Women's Building.

-This is it.

And, uh, there is nobody here.

-[ Sighs ]

Very, very quickly they tore
down the poster of the movie

that just got out
and they put ours up,

so we're set to go.

We have to remind ourselves --
it is a very small festival

that's run out of a van.

I'm really, really disappointed.
They hated the movie.

I don't know
what I'm going to do now.

I'm just going to go get drunk.
-[ Laughs ]

-No, actually it went very well.

[ Indistinct,
lively conversations ]

We had a really, really good
turnout for our world premiere.

-We've got some people in here.
-It couldn't have gone better.

We had very good reactions
and I don't know, I'm ecstatic.

-I think it went excellent.

They laughed,
they cried, they cheered.

[ Cheers and applause ]

This is our world premiere,

and all you other festivals,
you missed out.

You take that to the bank.

**

-Hello, hello, hello.
I'm Jason Wiener.

For the past five years running,

I have seen everything
at SF IndieFest.

-What do you like
about the festival?

-It's all about
the movies for me.

It's great movies and you know,
great parties afterwards

and unlike other festivals

you can, like, hang out
with the filmmakers afterwards

and you don't need these special
many hundred dollar passes

to go to the parties.

Everybody gets to party here.

-We're probably the only one
that's funded by ticket sales

from the audience

because we don't get any money
from anybody,

and no corporate sponsors.

Our sponsors, God bless them,
are liquor.

If the audience doesn't like
what we're presenting

and they don't come,
we're finished.

-I made a rule for myself that
if I wasn't having a great time,

I didn't have to see everything,

I could take a night off,
but it was just too good.

I had to see everything.
-Many, if not most filmmakers

are completely clueless

when it comes to how
to make what they've made

appealing to an audience.

Sex, violence, perversion.

You understand my audience.
-[ Laughs ]

[ Gunshot fires ]

-This is "Jimmy and Judy",

the film that dominated and won

the San Francisco
Independent Film Festival.

Sure, they had a star,
Edward Furlong,

but they also had an army
of supporters, merchandise,

and their posters
were absolutely everywhere.

They even got to
premiere at the Roxie.

So how were these
indie filmmakers able to afford

such an inescapable
promotional blitz?

**

-The main reason why we did
so well in San Francisco,

we got funding, and then once we
hit the film festival circuit,

we went back and asked

for an additional round
of funding.

What came out of my pocket

and really killed me up there
was the beer factor.

A week before
the festival started,

I was staying at the Adante,

and I went to
all the college bars

by myself,
buying people drinks,

handing out business cards,
handing out flyers.

I ended up buying
the film festival guys beer,

and buy everyone beers.

-To further their success,
the "Jimmy and Judy" team

also excelled at handling
the film festival staff.

-[ Snores ]
-You show them

how appreciative you are,

you give them posters,
you give them t-shirts,

you take them to dinner,
you buy them beers.

We hung out with those guys
almost every single night.

I think we won the staff award

because they had a lot of fun
with us

and the crowd that we brought.

I don't care about the ceremony,

but I just wanted
to know if we won

and the film festival ended

and then we heard a rumor
that we may have won,

then we heard a rumor
that another film won.

I called Jeff Ross and I said,
"Jeff, what the fuck?

Did we win or not?"

And he didn't return
my phone call for a day or so.

Then I shot him an e-mail,
called him again,

and he said, "Yeah,
it looks like you did. You won."

I just want like,
a little plaque or something

maybe just a little tiny trophy

or just something
that says we won.

We got nothing.

**

-So it was official --
we'd premiered

and were now forever
a small festival movie.

But we kept thinking
about Sundance.

Why hadn't we gotten in?

We thought maybe we just
weren't good enough,

-Really?
-...but then we noticed

no one else
we knew was getting in,

and no one they knew was either.

So we couldn't help
but wonder --

where was Sundance
getting its movies?

-I think this is an experience
that a lot of filmmakers have.

In the early '90s,
every year it seemed

that there was somebody
that came out of nowhere

that made a film, you know,
with pocket change,

with their credit cards,

and year after year
after year

it became
this amazing discovery.

-There was a period there
where Miramax or New Line

or some company would come in

and buy some small film
for some insane amount of money.

-When they started,
it was like,

"Oh, those buddies
over at Miramax.

Yeah, come on over.
You can be a sponsor.

We'll show your film."

And there was nothing wrong
with that.

But as Miramax
became part of Disney

and started imposing their films
onto Sundance

and Sundance felt obligated,

they got into a lot of you know,
conflicts of interest.

-Those big money guys

started to have some influence
on the festivals.

If you're letting
all the buyers influence

what even gets in
this fucking thing,

it's not about film anymore.

It's about the industry.

-To me, Sundance is
a victim of its own success.

It's become overtaken
by the sponsors,

by the Indiewood studios
so to speak.

When you've got the number one
story over the weekend

is that Paris Hilton
was at Sundance,

something is wrong.

-It really isn't an independent
film festival anymore.

It's this stepchild of,
you know, the studios.

-It's definitely
not what it used to be.

And what it's really become
and what it definitely is,

is a back door market
for independent film.

-It's backed by many majors

that are studios
but aren't studios,

and they like to call it
independent film

because it gives it
some sort of street cred

but it actually really isn't.

-You can't just repackage

a huge
multi-million dollar movie

and call it independent.
It's just not true.

-"The Butterfly Effect"
with Ashton Kutcher --

Ashton Kutcher --

premiered at Sundance.

What?!

-The Sony classics,
the Warner "independents",

they have the power
to pretty much program Sundance.

The word independent
has sort of been pre-empted,

it's been stolen by the majors.

-You're competing against
a studio that's like,

"Yeah, we made an indie.

You know, its a $10 million film

and it's got Dave Duchovny
in it.

Suddenly it was like you can't
be the film from nowhere,

you know,
that just kind of explodes.

-I think it's almost impossible

for a small independent movie

that is a true
independent movie

to get into any big festival

at this point in time.

-If we made "Clerks" today
and submitted it to Sundance,

I don't think it would get in,
I really don't.

-Lowering the chances of getting
programmed even further

were the sheer number of
independent films being made.

In 2008, over 2,000
narrative features

were submitted to Sundance,

with only 16 competition slots
available at the festival.

-Now, everybody can make
an independent film

with a camera
just like this one.

-There are hundreds of thousands
of young people

who are trying to make
their own damned movies

and a lot of them
are making garbage.

-The medium
has been democratized

to the point where anybody can
make an indie flick

and I think our story
had a lot to do with that

because they look at "Clerks"
and they're like, "Shit,

if chimps like them
can make a flick,

I'm going to make a flick too."

-I only wish that people
understood that

just because you can make
a movie on a digital camera

doesn't mean you should.

-A lot of filmmakers I meet

will often have
a sense of entitlement

like "I made a film
so that's enough."

It's like, no.

-We submitted a film
to Slamdance and Sundance

and our film was not watched
by any of the programmers

because if our film was watched,

we would have been
in the festival.

-My understanding is that
Sundance

has this sort of open door
policy for return filmmakers.

If you've had a movie

that's been accepted
to Sundance once,

if you make another film,
you get preferential treatment

to return as a Sundance alumni.

They're much less open
to looking at new filmmakers

because there's just
so many of them.

-Still, Sundance was getting
its movies from somewhere.

So how does one actually get in?

-I don't know how people
get into Sundance anymore.

It's not the simple process
of sending in your film,

and hope that they watch it
and come on.

-In my opinion,
the only way you're going to

get into
the Cannes Film Festival,

the Sundance Film Festival,

the Toronto Film Festival,
you've got to have juice

and I don't mean people
whose names are Goldstein,

I don't mean
those kind of juice.

I mean juice!

You've got to have Mr. CAA,

you've got to have
some fucking door opener

because the gatekeepers
are keeping everybody out.

-The idea of having an in
at the festival

is generally a myth.

I've never spoken to
a single filmmaker

who had their film in
who said, "Well, you know,

I really pulled some strings
to get this in."

Not once, ever.

-There was a film that I saw
that sucked ass

and they got into one
of the major film festivals.

I was like how did you get into
that festival?

He said,
"Well, it was real easy.

We rented out a private theater
in Los Angeles,

we flew the guy in first class,

we had a private screening
for him,

we took him to a steak dinner,

then we took him
to a strip club,

flew him back first class,

the next thing you know
we're in the festival.

-You think John Sloss

or any producer rep
whose on board the big ones,

do you think they have to go
through the process

of we're going to submit this
film?

-We've got all these producers,
reps, and studios,

and studio heads, and agents,

and producers --
They're all getting in there.

Everybody is knowing each other,

rubbing elbows at fucking
cocktail parties,

I need this film in.

-Let's say I represented
"Ten 'til Noon"

and I'm trying to
get it into Sundance,

well,
it's me and "Ten 'til Noon"

versus the head of Sony
and Joey Pantoliano

calling with his new movie.
-How are you?

-Who's going to win?
Who do you want standing up

in front of the crowd of people
at your festival?

Do you want us, the losers
[Laughs]

or do you want Joey Pants
and the head of Sony?

I want Joey Pants.

-It has nothing to do
with connections,

or contacts, or who you know,
or who's in your movie,

or some phone calls
some dude at CAA made

to Geoffrey Gilmore or whatever.

All the stuff has to do
with the merit of the project.

So, yes. Oh, yeah.

-Not enough of this.

Gotta do some more of that

if you want to get
into the big festivals.

-So bypassing
the regular submission process

and having an in
can increase your chances,

but is there anything else
that can help?

-Unless you have star power
or names attached to your movie,

it's very difficult go get into
these big film festivals.

-Ah, so having big name actors
in your movie can help you

get programmed

even if it's a documentary,
just like this one.

We asked world famous movie star
Traci Lords what she thinks.

-I think
that it absolutely helps

having famous people
in your movie.

If that weren't true,

I wouldn't be in this movie
right now.

**

[ Ding! ]

-Any time you get a celebrity
to do anything for you,

it definitely ups the ante.

**

-Having an actor
who is named in your film

without a doubt is going to play
some part in the potential

that it can play
at film festivals.

Sundance certainly.

-They take the ones
that have name actors

and watch them first and make
what's called a short list.

Stars get flown into Sundance
and they get put up.

There's a budget
to take care of them.

-Do people cut in front of the
line you know,

because they have movie stars?
Yes, absolutely.

Bad movies with the right name,

that gets into Sundance,
you know, absolutely.

-That makes the program
look good, you know?

It's like we've got some movie
too with such and such in it.

-For all the filmmakers out
there who work so hard

to achieve their dreams,
they're going to be batted down

because Robert De Niro
is not starring in their film?

It's just fucking ridiculous.

-Sundance is often accused
of focusing, you know,

you've got all these movies
with stars.

Yeah, they've got
a chunk of movies with stars.

And then they have
all of the journalists

that only care about
the small percentage of movies

that have stars and that's lazy.

It's bullshit.

-If you look in the program,

you still do have
a lot of the small indies.

-It will never be a day
where Sundance is populated

by first time directors
and no name actors.

I think we're in a place

where they sprinkle
the independent spirit around.

-Sundance is so big, and it's
so much the premiere festival,

I don't know what they do really
for independent film.

And it sort of upsets me

that there can't be more
for the rank and file filmmaker.

-Sundance ain't doing what
Sundance means,

and the proof
of the failure of Sundance

is that there is a universe
of little film festivals

that have grown up
around Sundance.

-Which leads us back to the
Sundance alternative, Slamdance.

Why had they rejected us?

They were supposed to be
the anti-Sundance.

-We're not looking for names
to help decide

whether a film is going to be
programmed or not.

We're just as interested
in a no or low budget picture

to tell a great story.

That could be obviously
a documentary.

Documentaries have become
very big at Slamdance now.

-Hm, documentaries you say?

Slamdance had even played
Scott's first film,

but as it turns out,
that was the problem.

-We made a very clear definition
of what is a Slamdance film.

For our future competition,

they have to be
first time directors.

Now we've got a lot of alumni
filmmakers, and you know what,

they don't get into Slamdance
a second time.

-My name is Dan and I'm one
of the founders of the festival.

Thank you all for coming.

We always have
about three or four what we call

special screening slots.

Over the years,
they've tended to be films

by second time directors

who are usually alumni, although
not by any stretch always.

-There's a separate programming
committee

that does special screenings.

We turn down several alumni
each year,

including
our co-founder's films.

-It's very competitive
for the special screening slots.

I mean, a lot of those alumni
either have been programmers

or are friends
with all the other programmers

and, you know,
it would be a lie to say

that there wasn't
some sexual favors going on.

-Of course there were other
alternative festivals

in Park City,

but the question was
were they worth playing?

-The success of Sundance
at Park City

has created numerous

other festivals with "dance"
at the end of their name.

-There are all these
alternate film festivals.

There was Slamdance, which is
a perfectly legitimate festival,

then there was Slumdance,
then there was No Dance,

then there was It Dance,
and then there was Troma Dance

and it just went on and on.

And at the very height
of all of this,

there were festivals
that were renting

empty storefronts on Main Street

and there were other festivals

that were created
inside a trailer

and these people were insane.

-Besides Sundance and Slamdance,

I'm not too sure how valuable
those festivals are.

The buyers and the marketplace

is there to see the competition
films at Sundance.

They're not there to go sit
in a wooden chair

in a 20 seat makeshift theater
in one of the smaller venues.

**

-This is "29 Reasons to Run",

a film by Damon O'Steen
and Gary Weeks.

**

Damon and Gary decided
to play "29 Reasons"

at one of these alternative
Park City film festivals,

although at the only one

whose name didn't end
with the word "dance."

-You know,
if we can't get into Sundance,

we can get in this
Park City Film Music Festival

and still be at Sundance
to network

and try to get people
to come to the film.

-It's an interesting concept,
it's an interesting festival.

It's the only one I know of

that's entirely dedicated
to film music.

-We go straight from the airport
to the festival.

Our screening's at one
and there's no one there.

There's not even anyone there
to start the film for us.

-We don't get a lot of support
from the Chamber of Commerce

or Film Commission or anybody

because they don't want us
to have it during Sundance.

They want us to do it
at another time of the year

and draw
a whole bunch of people here.

But I'm not willing
to put that much work into it.

-Other than Slamdance,
I think

those other offshoot festivals
are kind of a waste of time.

I think you'd be better off

screening your film
in a bathroom

at like, you know, a Red Lobster
or something.

-And then, there's Troma Dance.
-Troma Dance!

Nice shirt. Looking dapper.
Come to Troma Dance.

-Troma Entertainment
is a New York based

independent film studio

that's been around since 1974.

This is why Troma Entertainment

established the
Troma Dance Film Festival

to try to bring back
the word "independent"

to Park City, Utah.

They were basically
excluding independent art

and they were catering
to the vassals of the giant,

devil worshiping,
international conglomerates.

-Come to Troma Dance,
guy in SUV.

-The people who come
to Troma Dance

are for the most part
independent filmmakers.

They're young,
they're idealistic,

we get a condo,
everybody sleeps on the floor,

everyone who works
on Troma Dance is unpaid.

-Rich people,
come to Troma Dance.

-The little independent
filmmakers

who come to Sundance
are treated horribly.

They're not allowed
to hand out leaflets.

-Park City regulations state
that you cannot hand out flyers.

You can get ticketed, I'm sure
if you piss somebody off enough

you can get arrested.

Somebody told me,
a law student told me

the only reason
they can get away with it

is because it's only
a temporary suspension

of your First Amendment Rights.

-There's two or three bulletin
boards

where they put up
their little handmade leaflets

and then immediately
HBO guys who are paid,

they come up with
these huge posters

and slap them right over

the little
independent filmmakers.

-They have these kiosks set up
all over Main Street.

-So, 4:00 in the morning
I go there with 50 posters

or so, smaller posters,

I'm punching those things up.

It's got to be 10 degrees.
I got them all up there.

I mean, I had them littered,

they're all over every kiosk
I could possibly get them on.

Fast forward to 10:30, 11:00,
you could see one of them.

-The first designated kiosk
just up to the left.

-Troma Dance, we have
a big army of volunteers,

so we're kind of winning
that war.

-You'd see a big poster
for some movie

and then 2 second later
50 Troma Dances.

-Yeah, you're just like, "Whoa."

-I put up one poster
for my movie

and try to be nice
to the other filmmakers.

-Trust me, these are going
to be covered up

in about 15 minutes.
-I was just walking up and I saw

that they had covered up
one of the kiosks

and I was like
that's fucking obnoxious.

This Icelandic filmmaker
came out

and put up her poster
and, you know, did she --

should she put up 50 posters

and cover up everybody else's?
-She's going to have

to because that's what
Park City has turned into.

-She didn't, yeah,
but it doesn't have to be that.

That's obnoxious.
-I tell you what,

you tell us what your movie is
and we'll leave it alone.

-I understand about trying to
get visibility,

but it really is about being
collegial and respectful

of the filmmakers that worked
really hard to get here.

-Thank you.
Thank you for sharing.

-As a filmmaker, I wish you
would stop doing that.

-In complete honesty,

I stapled over
other people's posters.

-You could build homes, I think,

with how thick that stuff
was by the end of it.

I'm serious,
I think you go to Home Depot

you could look up,
you know, Sundance,

they actually have Sundance wood

and it's just
those pressed papers.

-We are fighting a war

against the oppressive
conglomerates,

the conspiracy of elites.

-The key is the homeless gloves,
dexterity.

-The important thing
is keep your dignity.

That's what's important.

**

-Next up for us

was the Riverside
International Film Festival,

held about an hour away
in Riverside, California.

Taking a cue from "Jimmy and
Judy" and the success they had

socializing
with the festival staff,

we wanted to make sure
we attended

the Riverside
Opening Night Gala,

which would precede
the opening night film.

-We are headed
to the opening night ceremony

of the Riverside International
Film Festival.

We need to drive 70 miles
in the rain,

although it looks like the rain
has subsided temporarily.

-The gala starts, on the
invitation that they sent us,

it says 6:30
and the movie starts at 8:00.

-Every gala that I've been
to has never started on time.

-We left two hours ago.

They're going to be partying
for maybe another hour

until they go
into the opening night film

and it looks at this rate

that we'll be there
maybe in time for half hour,

twenty minutes of hello,

how are you doing schmooze

and then turn around
and go home.

The event that we have been
invited to attend

is over in 20 minutes.

I am starving to death.
-With this rain coming down,

do either of you guys
have to pee?

Between the hunger and the pee,

I don't know which one
hurts more.

[ Laughter ]

-We're potential new people.

We're here just in time
for everything to be over.

It took us three hours
to get here.

-We're just heading over
to the theater now.

-Is there any champagne left?

-There might be some champagne
left.

[ Indistinct, lively
conversations ]

-Wanna grab some food?

-How long does it take
for cheese to go bad?

Oh, shit.

[ Snap ]
Oh, shit!

[ Laughter ]

I broke the cheese knife.
[ Laughs ]

-I just want to tell everybody
I'm so glad to be here.

I'm sorry we're late.

I mean, the traffic and the rain
were just terrible

but I mean, "Ten 'til Noon"
playing at Riverside.

We are just so excited.

Thank you so much,
and we'll be around for the Q&A.

[ Applause ]

**

So this is the beautiful

and quite desolate
Riverside campus.

We're trying to get
university students

interested in coming to see
"Ten 'til Noon."

Perhaps we'll actually
see some today.

It's called "Ten 'til Noon".

-You guys made it?
-We made it, yeah.

He's the screenwriter
and I'm the director

and one of the stars

and we're playing at 8:00

at the theater
right down the street.

-You guys going to be there
any other time?

-No, just tonight at 8:00,
but it's going to be --

we're playing San Fernando
Film Festival in March,

exactly a month from today.

-What's it about?

I would but I've got --
my friend is performing

in a dance thing
in San Bernardino so...

-Our movie is playing
tonight at 8:00.

-No, we've got a gig tonight.

-Yeah, we've got a gig tonight.
Sorry.

We're going to play a song
for you right now

because
that's what we're doing here.

-That's what we're doing here.
-Ready?

-Yeah.
[ Samisens playing ]

[ Playing stops ]

-Does anybody
want to see a movie?!

It's only 8 bucks!

[ Playing resumes ]

-Two for "Ten 'til Noon".

[ Playing stops, applause ]

-Oh, my God. Uh...

-You gonna fill me in?

-Riverside.

-We do have our filmmaker
with us, Scott Storm.

-Does anybody have any questions
at all? Yes?

The Q&A typically is after
you've shown your film

to an audience at a festival.

You go down
to the front of the theater

and just field questions.

Anything outside the parking lot

like Mr. Duke walking to his
car, we totally grabbed that.

We almost got nabbed
by the cops.

-I love doing Q&A.

I hope that when I'm doing a Q&A

I can inspire somebody else
to do their project.

-That's when you're getting
the feedback about your film

and you're being challenged
just by the questions

and you're being asked
to think about things

that perhaps
you didn't think about.

-The most embarrassing thing
is when you go down there

and say "Hey, thank you
for coming to the screening,

does anybody
have any questions?"

Dead silence.

"Well, okay, bye."

-The only way that you're
going to be able to judge

if your film
is successful or not

is how many people
stick around for the Q&A.

If you have a massive bailout
during your end credit roll,

it gives them plenty of time
to escape

because they think it sucks

and they'd just rather avoid
seeing you.

This is also
the mark of a cult film.

Half of the audience goes,

and then half of them
are like all of a sudden

are just geeky about it

and asking you
all kinds of weird things,

then you've probably got
a cult film.

-A lot of times you get
the exact same questions

from screening to screening.

What's your budget?
-What did you shoot on?

-Where did you come up
with the idea for the movie?

-How long did it take?

-What movie
are you going to do next?

There's nothing wrong with it.

I mean, it's sort of interesting
to see how your answers change.

-Me, it's nerve wracking.

It took a while
for me to get used to it

because you have all these faces
staring at you.

Some of them are like this,
some of them are like this.

-In a way,
it makes it all worth it.

To finally get to stand up
and talk about it is,

you know, fulfilling.

-It's fun except when they
ask you, you know,

questions like why do you suck.

That's no good.

I get that a lot.

-And thank you so much
for being here.

[ Applause ]

**

-Where are all the film festival
closing things

happening exactly?
What room?

-In this room right here.
-It's all going to be in here?

**

-We started this
about four years ago.

We skipped one year in between.

Our goal is to bring
international films

to entertain the audience.

**

The commercial movies,

they get their glory everywhere,
so it's no big deal.

You can't expect miracles
to happen overnight

and have a big festival
overnight.

But it's just getting
bigger and better.

**

-Our mission statement includes

really provocative
leading edge films

from independent directors
and producers.

What we want to do

is Hollywood to come
and do business here with us.

**

-Yes, my movie is
called "Beyond Honor."

This first award is to a film
called "Beyond Honor."

[ Applause ]

-Riverside was
the first festival we attended

with an actual awards ceremony

and the first one
to ask for our autograph.

-Cool,
now I feel like a celebrity.

-Riverside was also
the first festival

where we received swag.

Swag, or "schwag"
as it's sometimes pronounced,

is a term referring
to the free stuff

given out to participants
at film festivals.

It's actually a clever anagram

for souvenirs,
wearable, and gifts

or perhaps more accurately,
shit we all get.

We we thrilled.
The stories of swag

at the major film festivals
were legendary.

-As far as the swag goes,

just like everything else
with, you know, Sundance,

it's gotten bigger, and bigger,
and bigger every year.

This year I got a parka,
a vest, a hat, a shirt,

and then there are
all the corporate sponsors.

Some of them are official,
many of them are not.

I drive a Volkswagen,

so Volkswagen
gave me a box of stuff.

-Filmmakers should get
as much free crap as possible

because their movies
are screening for free

at the festival.
-You get the swag from Sundance

but then you go to
all the different parties

and you never know what --
you can come back with a rifle.

Hey, look at that!
-There are shops up and down

that have been taken over
by some of the sponsors.

-Have you had
your Airborne today?

-You could walk away literally

with a truckload of stuff
that you hadn't paid for.

-My lady's like,
"I want to go see the places

where you can go around
and get free shit."

I said, "I hate doing that, man.
We got money now."

It's like, the time to get free
shit was when we were broke.

Now we can buy things.
Don't partake in that.

But being my wife and being
that she controls the pussy,

of course I had to go with her.

It's weird, you can walk away
with a refrigerator.

I was just like, "The fuck?
How do you get that home?"

And they just ship it to you.
I'm like, "Why?"

They're like,
"Because you're fabulous."

And it's weird to me.

-Remember when Uggs
were really hard to get?

I've never worn them.

-Are there levels of swag?

Everybody always talks about
wonder what the celebrities get.

-I got Halo 2
at a film festival as some swag

and my husband
was pretty excited about that.

-I went to
the Tribeca Film Festival

because my best friend
was in a film.

He got a Nintendo,
I got a Gameboy.

It was the most upsetting day
of my life.

-They gave me some beautiful --

-Breasts?

-People chase you down
the street

trying to give you like,
computers and cameras

and you're like, "No,

I don't want another
electric toothbrush!

Leave me alone!

-What I do now when I get
the schwag as they call it

is I'm the master at re-gifting.

I do like the electronics.

Unopened.

What the -- Oh,
in case I want to return it.

This is actually...
from my manager.

This is not a from a festival.

But it's the video iPod.

Because I already, you know,

I already have
three or four iPods.

-Yes, the swag at the big fests
was something to dream about.

So naturally we were excited

to see what goodies the
Riverside Festival had given us.

-This is the Riverside
schwag bag.

Let's see what's inside.

A City of Riverside coaster.

A City of Riverside key chain,

a purple Post-It pad,

a big large envelope

with the City of Riverside
printed on it,

which contains a brochure
about the City of Riverside.

Apparently,
it's a city of choices.

There is a CD
called the City of Choices,

which I'm sure is full of many,
many, many choices in Riverside.

A schedule,
which is now completed,

and an extra Riverside
Film Festival

keepsake
brochure/schedule type thing

to commemorate our being
at Riverside Film Festival.

In all honesty, it really was
a fantastic experience

and these are very,
very generous gifts.

EBay.

-You just broke it.
-I broke it.

I broke the Riverside --

[ Laughter ]

Oh, there's something else.

-Riverside condoms?

-A Riverside cuff link.

-Only one?
-Just one.

[ Laughter ]

Okay, I need a drink.

-I've heard stories about people
getting cellphones and jewelry

and plane tickets
to Australia.

You know, we get like,
pencils, coasters, and t-shirts.

That sucks.

-I got a hat with no label on it
one time.

I got like, you know,

at Vail,
we got a bunch of aftershave.

-A CD thing.
-Laxatives.

-It's a Chili's menu.
A dead rose.

-We had kind of some stuff
laying around the office.

Here's a notebook
and here's some pens, you know?

-All the swag really is,
is little bite-sized portions

of the corporate advertising
for the festival.

If the party is sponsored
by Absolut Vodka,

you get a little bottle
of Absolut Raspberry.

-An apparent
Sundance channel pen,

brochure for using the train,

Mr. Zog's Sex Wax,

I have no idea what this is.

-Yeah, take advantage
of all that free swag

because it's pretty much
all you get.

-Frigidaire
was kind of tempting though.

Even though we have a
refrigerator,

I was like, "It's fucking free.

We can throw it upon eBay,
make a few bucks," you know?

But I don't know.
I haven't gone that route yet.

It hasn't gotten that bad.

A couple years from now and shit

when nobody gives a fuck about
Jay and Silly Bob and whatnot,

believe me
I'll be going to film festivals,

catching me a free fridge,

throwing it on eBay
to pay the rent.

-The unthinkable has happened.

We are in two festivals
simultaneously.

-It was true.
We'd been accepted to

the San Fernando Valley
International Film Festival,

or VIFFI,

and the Phoenix Film Festival,

with both sets of screenings
and awards ceremonies

taking place
during the same weekend.

-I'm not really sure how we're
going to deal with it right now

because I certainly
can't be two places at once.

Missing a festival screening

really is not something
that makes me very happy.

If you actually get accepted to
a festival and then you miss it,

you might not get the support
that you ordinarily would have.

-The Phoenix Film Festival

had agreed to cover
our hotel and airfare,

so it seemed natural
that we'd choose to attend them,

until we received a call
from VIFFI.

-Just got off the phone
with Randy Salter.

He asked me finally point blank
in an e-mail,

"You're coming to the closing
night gala right?"

I said, "I really can't go

because
I have to be in Phoenix."

He said, "You know, it's really
in your best interest

to be at the closing night."

"Why?" He's like,
"Because you have

a very good shot
at winning an award."

-[ Laughs ]

-This is called the tip off.

Usually, if you're going to win

at a festival,
you'll get one of these.

But no one is supposed to know
this, so don't tell anyone.

Amazingly enough, VIFFI actually
rescheduled their event

so we could attend
both festivals.

And all was well

until another conflict
arose with VIFFI,

this time regarding
our Los Angeles premiere.

It all started when
we received a phone call

from another LA based festival,
Method Fest.

-The Method Fest is the only
film fest in the United States

that puts its focus
on the actor.

We believe the core ingredient
in great films

is sensational actings

and really strong,
powerful stories.

-That was Don Franken
at Method Fest

and he basically
is calling to say

"We really like your film."

This is
a much better film festival

than the Valley Film Festival.

We've never even heard
of the damned thing.

I really think you're doing
your film a disservice

by playing there
instead of here.

We really need an answer
from you at the end of the day.

The Valley Film Festival
had been really good to us.

How do you make decisions
based on this kind of stuff?

It's --
It drives me fucking crazy.

-We've experienced that
in the past

where one festival had said

to somebody whose
already been selected,

"We will show your premiere,

but you have to pull from all
your other festivals."

I don't get it.

We've never had any kind
of proprietary position

that way.
-We, like any quality festival,

are looking for as many
premieres as possible.

We look for world premieres
or US premieres.

-Film programmers are lemmings.

They ask you first
if you're a premiere

and then say,
"Thank you very much,

we're just checking,"
and then hang up.

That means you're out
because you're not a premiere

and those are the festivals
that suck

because all they care about
is something that's new,

not something that's good.

They just figure "oh,
I have 40 world..."

I could have nothing
but world premieres

if I just wanted to show
a bunch of crappy movies.

-We're disappointed
that so many festivals

strong arm filmmakers
into coming to their festival.

-Everyone cares about premiere
status and it's a fantastic

and fun thing to say
this is a world premiere.

Having said that, to let
filmmakers show their film

you can't tell them don't screen
at another festival

because I want you
to premiere at mine.

It's underhanded and
it hurts the film ultimately.

-Every festival
fights over films

and we all act like friends,

but its fiercely competitive.

-I feel that the public
wants to see the films,

the filmmaker should have
a right to have their film seen.

I don't really think it makes
that much of a difference

if it just shows
at one festival.

I think it's better to show
at multiple festivals.

-In my mind,
I go with the people

who are good to us
and do good things for us

and every way you turn, you're
going to piss somebody off

and I don't know what the hell
to do about it.

I just want to
throw my fucking phone.

Yeah, I mean, I have to tell you
that, if we had --

'cause we submitted
a while ago, you know --

and...

Well, I've been told that by...

I...

Every festival
needs to run it that way,

you need to give everyone
equal consideration

and, yeah, you would have
totally been...

And...

The fact is VIFFI has been
really good to us.

They actually
changed our screening

so we were able to go
to Phoenix as well as theirs.

Yeah, it's a matter
of being to our word.

We would rather play
small festivals

than play nowhere at all
because the big boys passed.

It's just not an option for us.

It's a matter of you can't sit
on your film all year long

waiting for the big festivals
to make up their mind.

I quite honestly
think these rules

are pretty ridiculous.

If your film is good it's good.

But it just seems to be
a very ego-driven thing.

One festival
bad mouthing another,

trying to undercut saying

we're better than them
for this reason,

we're better than them
for that reason.

And the poor filmmakers
with their small movies

are just sort of caught
in the middle

being bashed back and forth

and it's really kind of violent
in a way.

**

-We're reporting live
from VIFFI,

the Valley Independent
Film Festival

of something I don't know.

-I want to welcome you all
to the festival.

The wine is free of course,
have some wine, have some food.

-The reason why we volunteer
is the free drinks and food.

[ Laughs ]
For the unemployed actresses,

it's a big deal.

-Phenomenal,
phenomenal films this year.

The things you people created,

I want to thank you
for participating.

Enjoy the festival,
enjoy your screenings,

you deserve it and have a very,
very good time.

**

-Saw the postcard,
checked out the trailer,

and I was like,
"Hey, we're going.

It was playing like,
a block away from my house

but I had a prior engagement.

-Hey, it's that guy we met
at the Riverside Film Festival.

-What's it about?
I would but I've got --

my friend's performing a dance
thing in San Bernardino so...

-This is Justin Hoffman,

and I thanked him for traveling
the 70 miles to see our movie.

-It's worth it.
Well, we'll see, right?

[ Laughter ]

-This is
our first day of screenings.

We've had a fantastic day.

Terrific shorts this morning,

some great features
this afternoon.

The quality of the films
this year has been phenomenal.

-Congratulations, honestly,
it was awesome.

-Loved it, loved it!

-What did you think of the film?
-I thought it was great.

-It was awesome honestly.

I'm looking forward to anything
you guys do in the future.

-I've been here since 4:30

because I like to kind of
watch things happen.

I'm getting the vibe now
that we didn't win anything

because both of the guys like
Greg,

the long haired guy,
they just won't talk to me.

They're like,
"Oh, hey, what's up?"

**

-There is a lot of work involved
in the gala.

Securing celebrities to present,

securing honorees.

-And celebrities there were

including Jonathan Winters,
Gary Owens,

Fred Willard, Adrian Zmed,

Lorenzo Lamas,
Esther Williams,

Linda Blair, and Lassie.

-It's not Lassie, it's actually

a ninth generation granddaughter
of Lassie,

so genetically
as close as you're going to get

for this day and age.

-This has lived up
to the caliber

of the San Fernando
Valley Film Festival.

-I've been to a lot
of film festivals, you know,

from Venice to Cannes,
to Berlin, to the Sundance,

and this is kind of
the most natural.

[ Laughter ]

-It's only 10 blocks
from my house.

-We were up at 5:00 AM
on the day of the gala

in there doing dry runs,

making sure everything
is working right

because it really is
the grand finale of the event.

-The feature film is undeniably
one of the richest forms of art.

To have some idea
of these riches,

just look at the homes
of our top directors.

[ Laughter ]

-The award goes to

Best Narrative Feature award
"Ten 'til Noon."

[ Cheers and applause ]

-This was totally unexpected.
I'll try to be really quick.

I know it's late.
-It's the most fun when you win!

Imagine that.
-It's a good feeling.

It's a really good feeling

because you feel like at least
I got some recognition.

-Than you so much and everybody
at the awards here.

It may be a small festival,
very young festival,

but they gave us the vote
of confidence tonight.

"Ten 'til Noon" won the
Best Narrative Feature award.

And I can't complain anymore,
I mean,

unless I drop this.

[ Glass shatters ]

-And now, a few words
about programmers.

-Who are these people
watching your film anyway?

Who are these people watching
your film?

Who are they?

-I found it very difficult.

I watched
a little over 130 movies,

and it was just
a big time commitment.

-When I'm programming
a film festival,

I'll easily be looking
at a few hundred movies

and I go through them all.

-The reason there's 10 screeners
for 2,000 films

and most of them get rejected
is because they're shit.

-You get exited like,
"Oh, I'm going to program!"

And you start going through
the submissions

and you're like,
"Wait a minute.

I haven't really found anything
here that could actually play."

Like, and your heart starts
breaking and you're like,

"I want out of this gig.

I don't want to do this. Like,
somebody else help me out."

-I'm programming for Slamdance.
I'm a loser.

I'm programing for Slamdance.

I'm watching movies every day,
bad ones.

-I know a lot of people
are really wary about

whether programmers are actually
watching movies like,

did they actually
watch my movie?

I paid $50 to get in, you know,

and I didn't
even hear anything back.

-Yes, start to finish,
I never cheated a movie

out of
its entire screening time.

-Really?
-No, that's a lie.

-So programmers are overloaded
with submissions

and with so many bad ones,

good films can get lost
in the shuffle.

-I never just submit a film.

Don't harbor this fantasy

that you're just going
to make a brilliant film

and then everybody is going
to stand up and take notice.

There's a lot of great films
floating around out there.

-I don't suggest
just put your film in the mail.

I suggest doing these tricks.

I suggest in doing some tricks
why not send a blank DVD?

Why not put the DVD case in,
send it blank

and see if they call you to say
that it's blank

and if they don't call you, you
call them

and you'll find out
if they go it.

Oh yeah, we watched it, you
know, we're a selective team

and we're going through
the process,

you know what I'm saying?

And you'll know
if they did their job.

I sent a blank DVD to
San Francisco Indie Film Fest,

Bruce Fletcher, and he called me

and I'm like,
"Why would I send a blank DVD?

Are you sure it was blank?"

"I opened up my own mail
and I know it's blank."

and I'm like, "All right,
I'm going to send the DVD."

And then when he gets the DVD
and he opens it and it's there.

It's sort of like a girl
in a way.

It's like pre-foreplay.

You established
a dialogue with them now

because they called you
to say it's a blank DVD.

"Oh, my God, I'm sorry.
I made a mistake."

And then you can say,
"Well, yeah.

It's this film I wrote,
directed and, starred.

I shot it around New York."

And you've got like 30 seconds
to get their attention.

-It really helps to seek out
programmers

wherever you think they might be

and make a personal
connection with them.

-At every festival, you walk in

and you can tell who
is the Director of Programing.

They have these
self-esteem issues going on

and so they really want to be
somebody important

and so they get up on stage

and you know,
it's like, "Oh, yes.

I'm such and such, I'm
the Director of Programming."

-Filmmakers have done
some very interesting things

to try and get
their films programmed.

-Someone gave us
a computer once,

Heidi Van Lier,

and her film mysteriously got
in the festival that year.

-We have had offers of meals,
free trips,

very provocative photos sent in.

-We're quite forthright
on our website

that we accept bribes.
[ Chuckles ]

We're not above that.

I mean, we tell people "Look,

if you can bring chocolates,
or beer or liquor of some kind

to the office staff,
that's not going to hurt."

-I've actually received some
death threats.

-No.
-Yeah, they're on file

with the police department here.
-Who are these people in charge?

Who are these people?
Are they filmmakers?

Let these directors
of the film festival,

let them make a movie
and know what it's like.

-We were making movies
about 10 years

and we made a short film
called "Film Club,"

which is
a parody of "Fight Club"

except with filmmakers.

-They were trying to get
into festivals

and they were like,

"Why doesn't Phoenix
have a film festival?"

-There wasn't a festival here
in Phoenix to submit it to

and after submitting
and going to festivals,

we decided
let's start a festival,

let's see what we can do here.

-Boom.

-Hi, Jay.

Festival Director.

-Yes, the Phoenix Film Festival.

Even from the beginning they
were very filmmaker-friendly,

providing us with free airfare,
hotel, and other perks.

-One of the nice amenities
of this festival

is that they shuttle us
back and forth

from the venues
in a personalized van.

I mean, we could walk, but
we want to feel important

so we take the shuttle.

**

-Heading over to the
Cine Capri theaters,

we continue to be impressed
with the Phoenix Film Festival

when we met their
incredibly friendly staff.

-If I could get you just
to sign your name right there.

-The festival staff
is really important

for getting the most out of what
the festival can give you.

-A lot of people
who work on film festivals

are volunteers from the city

who are just passionate
about movie making.

-You have to get tickets
for everything you want to see,

so if you want to go through
your little brochure...

-We'll go through
and then come back.

-...and just circle everything.

-It's not because of the profit,
it's because of the passion.

The role of volunteers
is critical.

It's by far
one of the most critical things

at any film festival.

-You have questions that
need to be addressed, you know?

You have to know about travel,

if there's changes
in the schedule.

-They're almost universally
cooperative.

Sometimes they're overwhelmed

and they
don't have all the answers

or they give you
the wrong answer.

I mean, this stuff happens.

But their hearts
are 99.9% in the right place.

-And it was here we met
our favorite festival volunteer,

actress and model
Charlotte Bell.

-I am planning to conquer
the local Phoenix market

and then move to Los Angeles

and conquer that one too.

-In addition to her regular
festival duties,

Charlotte also gave us
some helpful promotional tips.

-Well, I have inserted my pass
into a --

excuse me, can I start over?

Well, I have taken my badge here

and I've inserted
a "Ten 'til Noon" flyer in it

because, honesty,
you guys are the coolest guys

I've met at the festival,
no joke,

and I've been telling everyone
that

and I'm not saying that
because I'm on camera.

You can go ask people
at Starbucks.

-The people here actually
genuinely love the film

and don't seem to have
any agendas whatsoever.

They don't seem to prefer
any film over another film.

-Thank you
for coming out tonight

and celebrating film in Arizona.

It's the biggest film festival
in the state.

You can not bring
in any camera phones,

any video cameras,

or drawing paper to emulate
the film in any way

and we're doing
full body cavity searches

compliments of
the Phoenix Film Festival.

-Some festivals are like,
"We only want premieres."

Premiere status,
we don't have a policy.

Just because a guy
has had a film out there,

that doesn't mean he doesn't
deserve to be at our festival.

That's ridiculous to me.

We want the 10-12 best films,
that's it plain and simple.

If we find out later
it's a premiere, sweet.

**

-I have a visual confirmation
filmmaker for "Ten 'til Noon"

is here on site.

**

-What we do is we'll go inside,
we'll project it,

and we'll take a look at it,

look at the picture,
look at the sound,

and all that,
and I'll relay it up.

I just care that it's in focus
and it sounds good.

-Frankly I'm a bit insulted.

I should be insulted,
shouldn't I, Larry?

**

-This is a better turnout
for a morning screening

then I expected.

Oh, my God.

-Yes, the Phoenix Film Festival
had terrific audience turnout.

-It started off
with three theaters

and we were excited

when 3,000 people showed up
the first year

and we're looking
at maybe 20,000 this year.

And where it's going to be
5 years or 10 years from now?

I don't know.

-Of course
it probably didn't hurt

that they had really good
coverage from the local media.

-We're live
at the Phoenix Film Festival.

Coming up we'll have
Laurence Fishburne at 8:00.

Patty, it's great to be back.

-The local TV's been coming out
every year

to do live spots and stuff,
so they've been very helpful,

especially
when the celebrities come out.

They love
seeing the celebrities.

-You know what, they've
never sent me to Sundance,

can you believe it?

-We're fortunate enough
the Arizona Republic,

which has a circulation
of about 500,000 daily

is one of our big sponsors,
so that doesn't hurt.

-Finally, "Ten 'til Noon"

is reviewed in print
in the Arizona Republic,

and of all the films
playing in competition,

we were the only
four star review.

-Reviews can make your movie
or they can kill your movie.

-Reviews are majorly critical
for indie films

'cause it's whatever
kind of word of mouth

you can get out there
is important.

Reviews are huge.

-Acquisitions executives
and distributors,

they come and go

but a film critic,
they never die.

They are on the scene
for a really long time,

and as a filmmaker,
it makes a lot of sense

to develop relationships
with those critics

because you know they're going
to be around for your next film.

-It's a four star review.

**

-In order to keep itself
centrally located,

the Phoenix Film Festival set up
a tent adjacent to its theater

in which all of its
events were staged.

There was so much in fact,

that some filmmakers found it
a bit bewildering.

There was live music,
merchandise,

free food and drinks,

a VIP green room,
sponsorship tables,

a chance to meet
their mascot Camerahead,

and of course
the film festival panels.

-It's about 20 minutes
before the panel

that I'm supposed to do
with Chris Gore.

I'm about three beers to the
wind as I normally have to get

if I'm going to stand up
in front of people

and try to sound intelligent.

We didn't get into
a lot of things

that we wanted to get into.

I thought we'd get into
Slamdance, we didn't.

-Are you kidding me?
Oh, yeah, well,

the festival circuit is --
-Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I hope its interesting

and I hope
I don't say anything dumb.

-They want to start the panel
early because I've got to bolt.

-The man, the myth,

the legend that is Chris Gore,

give it up for Chris Gore,
ladies and gentlemen.

-Thank you for having me.
I appreciate it.

I come to festivals
to see great indie movies

and emerging talent like,

I was just talking
to Scott Storm,

whose film I saw years ago

at the Slamdance
Film Festival, "Burn."

The reason I wrote
the festival book

is for people like Scott

that I think
are incredibly talented

but might not have
exactly the skills

to promote themselves.

And I guess
that's why we're all here.

So I want to say something --

not that
you don't have the skills --

here,
take all my drink tickets.

-I did one panel, one time,

and I ended up getting in a
fight with somebody on the panel

and I don't do that anymore

because I don't know
what I'm talking about.

-Scott Storm here, director.

His second feature
is "Ten 'til Noon."

Did that world premiere here?

-No, it's just an Arizona
premiere, I'm sorry.

-In my mind
it's a world premiere, Scott.

-It's just an opportunity

for people
who are attending a festival

to get to have access to people
who are working in the business

that they might not
otherwise have.

-The hardest thing is to get
someone to watch your movie.

That's the hardest part of
making a movie

is getting someone to watch it
once it's done.

-When you're facing
distributors,

ask them
what they're looking for.

-Get the biggest name you can

who is still capable of putting
in the good performance.

-How many shorts did you do

before
you got your feature going?

-None.
-None.

Okay,
I'm going to skip you then.

-I always
go into those panels really,

really trying to offer
practical maybe not advice

but just really practical
stories from my own life.

-Get your movie out there,

sponsored
by Baird Williams & Greer.

-We're here at the festival
all weekend,

and it's all about networking,
right?

**

-There are rarely times when
you're treated better in life

than as a filmmaker
at a good festival.

-Meeting every person
at a festival is an opportunity.

-We're here to network and just
to meet new people

and make films
and have a great time.

-There's nothing more exciting
than hanging out

with a bunch of like minded,

creative people and drinking.

-There's a rule
that you never ask anybody

what they do for a living

because while you're in
the middle of the film festival

you're maintaining
this illusion.

Most of the people's jobs
are really boring.

As an example,
I'm a financial consultant.

It pays the bills,
but it's boring, you know?

I would much rather tell people
I shot a documentary

and I'm in the process
of editing it.

-Yes, the parties in Phoenix
did seem to have it all --

drinks, celebrities,
and of course...

**

-There tend to be at these film
festivals...

-[ Laughs ]
-Yes,

there are lots of girls,
pretty girls.

-Hi!
-I can't answer this,

I really can't.
I will get in so much trouble.

-Well, there's the whole thing
of festival hookups.

-There's always people
of the opposite sex, you know,

for the ladies, too,
that go to festivals

there's always like, hot dudes
to hang out with and who knows?

Everyone's got hotel rooms
and things are happening.

-This question
is trouble right here.

-Film festivals can be fun

for people to meet
and play Yahtzee

because that's what we do.

-You're mixing in,
you know, booze and...

Yeah, I'm not doing anymore.
I'm done, I'm done.

[ Indistinct, lively
conversations ]

-Okay, we're winding down
Phoenix Film Festival.

This is incredibly depressing.

-You're not backed
by a studio per se,

so your promotional tour

is basically one coach ticket

so you fly out
to these festivals

and for a moment,
your film screens

and you've got
this very excited audience

ask tons of wonderful questions
and you feel really special,

and then you go back
to your tiny hotel room alone.

-Independent Film Making 101 --

Get one hotel room

and share with three
of your closest friends.

-It was definitely a strange
experience,

at times euphoric
and at times isolating.

-I can't have my wonderful actor
sleeping on the floor.

I don't mind making the writers
sleep on the foldout.

[ Airplane engines whooshing ]

-After being away
on the circuit,

I was looking forward
to getting home.

-[ Babbling ]
-But of course,

that means having to face
your personal life

and the toll the festivals
have taken on it.

-Hi!
-The welcome home is easy,

but to shove yourself
back into a schedule

when you haven't been
in that schedule,

that takes work.
-You get this high

from showing your movie.

You come back home
and you've got, fuck,

you've got
your credit card bills.

And you look at them
like "oh, fuck."

And you're broke,
and you're stressed,

and you still
didn't sell your film.

-Sometimes we get a gigantic
credit card, you know, bill

I've been known to pay it off
with our second mortgage.

-The costs and demands
of the festival circuit

can have
probably a profound impact

on a lot of relationships.

I've seen relationships
where the filmmakers

and their spouse
are just operating

in two
completely different worlds.

-I'd like to say it really,
you know --

when we're together
we're together and we're good,

but it is a little more
stressful than that.

-Every now and then we do have
a little bicker like

you're not paying attention
to me or whatever

but you just have
to trust your partner.

You know, they're working
and you've got to let them work.

It's work.
-[ Screeching ]

-Weekends away are hard.

I mean, the kids
demand their weekends with dad.

-I like it better
when my dad's around

because mom is really boring.

My mom, Katrina,
is really boring.

-It's funny, you know,
'cause I know

that when this film comes out
it's going to be, yeah,

another round of festivals
to get the documentary out

and everybody seeing it
and all that,

but you have to.

You have to go
or all the expenses

and all the heartbreak
that we've had so far --

and all the happiness too --
isn't worth it.

-I am now divorced.

-Chicago Indiefest
was kind of an anomaly.

We were going to go to Chicago,

and I've always wanted
to go to Chicago.

I've never been to Chicago,

only flown through it
a few times.

I started to notice we didn't
get any personal e-mails

just mass e-mails to filmmakers

that said "Do not respond
to this letter."

In tone, the e-mails
were really kind of belligerent,

and nasty,
and really inconsiderate.

-We get these e-mails right,
that are kind of bossy

and have a tone of like,

obviously you don't know
much about the film industry.

"Indiefest does not do publicity
for individual films.

This is the job of your
publicist."

Okay well, really?
[ Laughs ] Really?

Obviously, we're not going
to advertise your films

in any way.

We're not going
to update our website.

Their website
is still not updated.

I got two screenings
at their theater two,

whatever the hell that is,

and those are not listed
on the website that they have.

We find out
their dates are pushed,

they've lost their venue.

A couple more weeks go by,
they lose that venue.

We still don't know
when the dates are,

and still no personal contact
from anybody at all

and I'm like,
Well, I need time to plan.

I'm not going to be able
to go if I can't plan.

I've got to buy plane tickets,
and figure out lodgings.

Maybe about two weeks
before the actual festival

we get our screening dates
and our venues

and that's all the time
we have to prepare.

Okay, well, I can't go.

They give us
no hotel information

until right up to the very end.

-Their official hotel
is the Seneca Hotel,

which has been sold out

since the moment
I got this e-mail

so that's not very helpful.

But then I get this e-mail --

"If your film
is not selling tickets,

your film may be pulled
from the festival."

Is that
the most offensive thing?

I mean that's ridiculous.

I mean
that's literally blackmail.

This is a week
before the festival

and they're expecting us
to pre-sell tickets.

I don't know how you pre-sell
tickets

to a film festival movie.

I mean,
I don't know anybody in Chicago.

-By the way, it's your
responsibility to sell tickets

and if you don't sell tickets,

we're going to kick you
out of the festival.

Unbelievable.

-We're going to buy tickets
to "Outside Sales",

so that my film is not pulled
from Indiefest Chicago.

**

It's offensive.

-Traveling alone,
I arrived in Chicago.

My first stop
was the Seneca hotel

where filmmaker check-in
was to begin at 12:00 noon.

When I arrived at 1:00 PM,

I found the hospitality room
empty.

The Seneca was also supposed
to be showing films showing

the second day,
here in the Statesman South,

but that was locked.

Desperate for signs of life,

I decided to head
to the Village Art Theater,

Indiefest's main venue,

where the opening night
screenings were set to begin.

This is Margaret Barry,

board member of Chicago's
biggest festival,

Chicago International.

I asked Margaret what she was
doing here at Indiefest.

-Actually, I just wandered by,

saw the sign, walked in,

tried to find some information.

-So you didn't know anything
about the festival?

-Nothing, they did a really
bad job promoting the festival.

I mean, media relations
and marketing,

I was shocked

because I kind of pay attention
to that sort of thing.

-Let me ask you this, okay,
they gave the filmmakers

the media list
about two weeks before today.

Would you say that's actually
very late to get it?

-Very late, and worse,

the filmmakers
who I chatted with earlier

said not only was it late,
it was three years out of date,

the names on it.
-Really?

-Yes, the one guy was dead.

-I got here and
the airline lost my luggage,

which had my stickers
and stuff in it.

This is the extent
of the swag that I have.

So then I got in the cab
to go to my hotel

and I found out my hotel

is $150 cab ride
from the airport

and an $80 cab ride
from the theater.

So I didn't even go to my hotel.

I just came straight to
the theater, which looks lovely.

They're having projection
problems right now apparently,

which is unfortunate because my
movie plays in about 40 minutes.

-The official opening night
film, "Black Wine,"

was supposed to start
at 7:00 PM,

and "Outside Sales",

on a second screen,
was to begin at 8:00.

The audiences for both films
mingled in the lobby,

waiting for word that
their screenings would begin.

-We're going right now.
No big deal, not worried.

They're putting the shorts now

after our feature,
so that's cool.

Well, not unless
you're one of the shorts

who plan on getting dinner
around 7:30.

Yeah, so,
Chicago Indiefest, baby --

independent film at its finest.

-As the movies begin seating,
I noticed something strange.

Indiefest had not yet set up
its ticket booth.

-Let me ask you, what's the deal
with the ticket kiosk?

If you come to the theater
to buy tickets,

where do you buy tickets?

-You'd basically be buying it
from us as well.

-Okay, so where does the --

would you set up
a ticket booth before?

-You mean prior festivals?
-No, I mean tonight.

I mean, I didn't --
-Tonight we didn't have a setup

because we were running around
doing other things.

I was taking tickets.
It's pretty straightforward.

-The projection problems
continued.

While "Black Wine" finally
played next door,

the audience for "Outside Sales"
waited for their film,

which was already nearly
40 minutes late getting started.

-Thank you so much for coming
out and I really apologize

for the wait.
[ Electrical humming ]

I don't know
what the problem is.

It seems to be some kind of
technical difficulty.

I'll understand if you guys have
other obligations and whatnot,

but I'm considering getting
another drink next door

and I highly recommend it

for those of you
who want to stick around.

[ Laughter, applause ]
Thank you, thank you very much.

[ Indistinct conversation ]

-Somebody needs to talk to me.

Can I talk to Lee?
Can you talk to him

and say that the director
has just apologized

for the film festival
on behalf of the film festival.

You know,
I would like to talk to him

and find out
what the fuck is going on.

And I'm not trying
to cause problems,

but I need to talk to somebody.

-No, I totally understand.

As soon as he gets set up

and then that movie's going on
and everything is good,

then we'll beat him with a stick

and you can ask him
all you want.

-So I can't talk to him?
-He's not here.

He's getting --
It's not his equipment

and so they sent it all over,

and then
when they were setting it up,

some of it
was not the right cables

and so now he has to run around
and get the cables.

So there's different problems
on both sides.

-He's literally
not on the premises?

-He should technically
be in a Radio Shack right now.

-We end up looking like shit,
you know?

You guys are some anonymous,
you know, thing

that, you know, never shows up
and never speaks to anybody

about anything, you know?

And I'm the one who looks like
a fucking asshole.

I recognize this is not your
fault, and I'm sorry about that,

but this is bullshit
and I'm really upset.

-How many people
do you have in there?

-I had more, they left.

-Yeah, they moved.
-The people I do have

in there are connected
to my star and my family

and my friends, you know,
who bought tickets.

Yet there's no ticket taker
to take the tickets.

So basically they just threw
their money into the sky,

you know?

-I guess that's just how
a film fest usually runs.

I guess I am not too familiar

with technically
what's going on.

I know that there were a couple
of films that didn't get in.

I'm not in really a position

of too much responsibility
right now, so...

but, yeah, you know, this is --

I guess I was sort of expecting
it to be like this.

It's one of the first ones
I've ever worked, and...

Yeah, I guess I...

It's fun.

[ Electrical humming continues ]
-[ Snoring ]

-How far out are we talking?

If they're going to be in
the next five minutes great,

but if they're going to be
in the next 20 minutes,

I want to tell them
that they can go home.

-I was going to say
that they're more than welcome

to stay for the film after it.
-The film after it?

Okay, I assume that you have
a cellphone on you

with this guy's number.

Could you call him
and say I want to know

if I should tell my people
to go home,

and I don't want to hear he's
going to be here in 10 minutes

if he's not going to be here.
-He told me,

I figured you would ask that
question, he told me

it would be up to you
to tell them because --

-That's bullshit though.
That's bullshit!

-He still plans on showing it,
that's all --

-Yeah, I plan on, you know,

running a marathon
some time in my life,

it doesn't mean anything,
do you know what I mean?

I want to know when
he's planning on showing it.

Sorry.
-I don't know.

-Well, if I could call him
and talk to him,

I'd ask him,
but you're not letting me

so if you could call him
and say it's his fault.

I'm not going to make
the decision.

I want to know how far off
he is, like, realistically.

This is a big deal.
This is a big deal to me.

This is a big deal in my life.
This is a big deal to Indiefest.

I want an answer,
I deserve an answer

and not from you, from Lee,

from whoever the fuck
I need to talk to.

I want to talk to him

and now it's getting offensive,
you know?

You give me his number,
I will call him.

I want to talk to him.
I deserve that, don't I?

Call him and ask him
if I deserve that okay?

I'm not --
Please just get on your phone

and make something happen.

Make -- Make a connection
between he and I happen

because you running -- being
his bodyguard is bullshit.

It's bullshit for you
because this is bullshit,

and this is offensive to me
and my fucking movie,

and I'm this close to losing it.

And I want to fucking know
when he's going to be here.

That's not too much --

That's not too much
to ask, God dammit.

I know this is not your fault,
I want to talk to him.

What do I have to do to make
that happen?

-At this point nothing.
-Nothing?

It's not going to happen?
-He's going to talk to you.

He's just
not going to talk to you now.

-All right so let's get back
to before all this started.

Can you call him and ask him

when he's going to be here,
literally?

-I want to call him.
-Please, literally,

all I want.
-Honestly, you deserve answers.

-I'm developing a cyst
or something right here.

This is where it hurts the most.

-Here he is.
-Give me a small --

do we have a small --

-Do we have an ETA?

Like, is this happening soon
or -- Five minutes?

-Yeah,
I need to plug some cables in.

-Okay, 10 minutes.

I thought I'd let you guys
just experience --

[ Rock music plays loudly ]

[ Music stops ]

That was some of the music,
did you like it?

-I liked it.
-It's new.

-Three minutes?
-That's what they said.

But they have to empty everybody
out of the theater first

to adjust the picture.

-Are you serious?

-Yeah.

-Two hours after
it was supposed to begin,

the meager Chicago audience
for "Outside Sales"

was asked to leave the theater

so further technical adjustments
could be made.

Five minutes later,
for those few who remained,

the film began and was projected
at the wrong aspect ratio.

[ Crickets chirping ]

-We arrived in the morning to
just check out the theater

and see if everything was fine

because of what was happening
last night

thinking that everything
would have been perfect

after the debacle.

Come to find there
are four or five filmmakers

waiting
to have their films shown.

They ended up waiting two hours

and the films were still
not being shown yet.

They're running around trying to
do the whole cable thing again

and I'm thinking "Oh, my God!

How are we going to know

if we're going to be able to
show our film,

which is
just a number of hours later?"

The backup that we had was we
have two portable DVD players

and one laptop

and we were just going
to lay them out in the theater

and just have everyone gather
around

and just throw in our DVD's
[Laughs]

and have everyone sit there
and go okay,

and put them all on
at the same time

so everyone could just huddle
around and watch the film.

-With things not much improved
at the Village Art Theater,

I decided to go to the
Seneca Hotel screening room,

which was due to begin
showing films at 5:00.

When I arrived, I found the door
to the Statesman South locked

and the projection equipment
on the floor.

The hospitality suite
was still empty

and it was there I found
an amazing document,

the volunteer guidelines
for Indiefest.

Like the letters
we filmmakers had received,

these rules took a hard line
with those they addressed

telling would be volunteers

that they would be held
financially responsible

for any missed festival passes

to the tune of $250 each.

These rules also specified
that an announcement

must be made at the beginning
of every screening,

a practice that didn't happen

at any of the screenings
I attended.

Keep all areas neat and orderly,

do not hand write signs --

probably a good idea

since the Village Art Theater
is on Clark Street, not Wells --

and instructions not go give
Lee Alan's number to anyone.

This last rule was written
all in caps.

**

-We're here
at the seventh annual

Newport Beach Film Festival.

-It is the opening night
of one of Orange County's

biggest film festivals,

treating movie lovers
to a variety of films

from both the independent
and studio worlds.

-Yeah, that's good.
-Let's do it one more time.

-One of our hallmarks
is our treatment of filmmakers.

At the Newport Beach
Film Festival,

you've got a film liaison
that is with you.

When your film is accepted,
there is going to be somebody

that is your primary contact
person and working

with you to make sure
that your experience here

at the Newport Beach
Film Festival

is as positive as possible.

-What we do
when we work with filmmakers

is we try to get in touch
with them personally.

We want to make the film
festival experience a good one,

a positive one and as personal
and personable as possible.

-Hey, who's the guy
with the spill?

-We want our filmmakers to feel
like they're welcome here

and that they belong here.

We want our filmmakers
to be happy.

-At the very least we can say
"Hey.

I'm the programmer
that watched your film,

loved your film, thanks
for bringing in your film,

let's talk about your film."

-We look at the films
to be the true celebrities

and not someone who is
maybe the flavor of the week,

according to
some of the trade magazines.

-And Newport Beach
had a lot of films,

many we'd already played with.

It was like a class reunion.

There was "Johnny Montana",

"Pirates
of the Great Salt Lake",

"Self Medicated",

"29 Reasons to Run,"
and "Jimmy and Judy."

"Jimmy and Judy."
"Jimmy and Judy."

"Jimmy and Judy."
"Jimmy and Judy."

"Jimmy and Judy."
"Jimmy and Judy."

Don't worry -- This was shot
the day after "Jimmy and Judy"

had screened and those flyers
we'd found in the trash.

-Every time
you go to a film festival,

you're running
into the same people.

Every time you get into a
festival, you check the schedule

and you say okay,
who do I know, who do I know?

I know that guy, and that movie?
Get out of here, really?

-When you have your films

playing the circuit
the same time,

it's like, you know,
seeing an old friend.

"Hey, how are you?"

You reconnected again,
you hang out,

you meet even more filmmakers.

-I tell filmmakers every year,
you know,

look at the filmmakers
standing next to you.

That will be your best friend
for the next 10 years

so you'd better like him.

-It's very cool to have
a support group and people

that you can
ask their opinion of

and go through the same process
with.

What's cool to me
is that every year

there's a new batch,
you know, of us.

-You can go to a festival
for a weekend

and make some really deep
connections

with other filmmakers
and other people

in a really
short period of time.

-How are you? Scott.

-It's a nice
family kind of feeling.

-Hey, how are you?
-How are you doing?

-How are you?

[ Drumming ]
-* Come to "Ten 'til Noon" *

* You'll see lots of poon *

* And it's starting
really, really soon *

Didn't see you at San Fernando
Valley. How are you?

-Pretty good.
-Hey, it's that guy again.

Justin Hoffman,
apparently our biggest fan,

had come to see the movie
one more time,

only now he'd brought friends.
[ Laughter ]

-We are very proud
to have you here tonight

for the screening
of "Ten 'til Noon."

And again,
I want to reiterate and remind,

we do have people here for the
Q&A at the end, so stick around.

[ Applause ]

-It was an incredible screening
with a packed house

and most of our actors
in attendance.

-I just want to say, wow,
you guys did an incredible job.

-And afterwards,
we invited the audience

over to the Red Robin restaurant
next door

where we gave away

and were asked
to autograph posters.

And we realized

that of all the things
we'd been struggling

to achieve with our movie,

the most important
was finding our audience.

-* Sing I love you *

-I found that if you can make

a personal connection
with audiences,

you do pretty well.
-It's fantastic.

-We loved it.
-There were some people there

who were genuinely excited
to meet us

and get our signatures
on those posters.

-It's all about
the silver Sharpies.

-Those posters kept coming too.

People just kept putting them
in front of me.

I was like, "Wow, okay, yeah."

-If the movie is good enough,
things will come your way.

-You find out the reason
why you made your movie.

I believe that, no matter what,
if you've made a good movie,

it's going to get seen
and people are going to like it.

In other words, I believe
that the cream shall rise

at the end of the day.
-If you make a great film,

the kids are going to find it
no matter what.

You just need to get it
out there.

You need it touch the public.

And if it's good,
all the work is done for you.

The rest of it's
all just bullshit.

-I'm a star.

**

-In all, "Ten 'til Noon"

ended up playing 14 film
festivals and won 9 awards.

-We're so happy that it goes to
"Ten 'til Noon".

-Including
from Indiefest Chicago

a Best Director award for Scott.

-Probably the biggest slap
in the face I've ever received.

-The movie
was eventually acquired

by distributor
Radio London Films,

who kindly gave us
a brief theatrical run

starting on March 31, 2007,

you know, the same day
as the big Hollywood Hills fire.

-We were fortunate enough

to get a nice deal
for the film

given that it didn't premiere
at a large festival.

-Crystal Sky got us on DVD
around the world

where no matter the country,

they managed to find
interesting new ways

of spelling Scott's name.

And eventually "Ten 'til
Noon"came to DVD in the US,

with a big nationwide release

that was carried everywhere
except Blockbuster,

who didn't like our movie's
violence and nudity.

[ Laughter ]
Yeah, it's a good thing

Blockbuster
doesn't want to exploit women.

And, perhaps most amazingly,
"Ten 'til' Noon",

a reject
of every major film festival,

even got one more chance
to play Park City.

-I just couldn't get
the Slamdance thing

out of my head because
it was kind of like my college.

I broke my cherry there and I
just love these guys.

So I called and said, you know,
"Can I resubmit again?"

And they said, "Absolutely,
resubmit, we'd love it."

So I wrote my check
and resubmitted

and waited and waited,

and we didn't get it again
and they kept my $40.

**

-Ah yes, in Park City
some things never change.

* 'Cause I've got a thick skin *

* And I'm strong within *

* So sign me up
on your official rejection *

* Now I know *

* What's really important
in the end *

* So raise a glass, my friend *

* One day we'll be
an official selection *

* Started out
with the purest intentions *

-And now, film festival tips
with Charlotte Bell.

-Hi, I'm Charlotte Bell.

Postcards are an essential
marketing tool,

but don't make the mistake
of printing specific festival

and screening information
on them.

Any cards you have left over
will be trash,

and then you've wasted money.

Instead, make a generic card

and simply place
a sticker on the back

with the where and when
of your screening.

Ooh, sticky.

Because you can use them
at any number of festivals,

you can order these
generic cards in bulk,

further saving you money.

And any cards you don't use,

simply apply another sticker

over the old one
for your next festival.

That is, if you can get
into another festival

and your movie
isn't a big back of suck.

[ Chuckles ]

* No matter
how important you are *

-Do you think this documentary
could get into film festivals?

-No. Huh-uh.
-[ Laughs ]

-No, who wants to watch that?

-Oh, you'll probably get into
every festival you apply to

because if there's one thing
all these mother fuckers love

it's movies done about them and
their precious fucking festival.

-God, I don't know.

This film has a chance
to play festivals?

I thought you were doing this
for fun.

I thought this was like
a DVD extra.

-* Congrats, you're in *

-I saw documentaries

that were getting
accepted into Slamdance

about
a lot dumber things than this

and this
is pretty fucking dumb.

-Welcome to the Temecula Valley

International
Film & Music Festival

in hospitality suite.

If you're going to have
a panel discussion,

don't have it in the fucking
hospitality suite

and then have to tell all the
filmmakers

who have come there
to receive hospitality

to shut the fuck up.

-Oh, and your film is rejected
by the way from Method Fest.

-Excellent.
-It is. It's out.

In fact, get out of my office.

-* So serve me up *

[ Screaming ]

-I think a documentary like this

will be of interest to people
going to a festival

but at the same time
will run into problems

because
it's so industry-centric.

-You have Bryan Singer in it.
[ Laughs ]

You know, you've got names.

-Does this suit make me look fat
by the way?

-* And you can say
that we asked for it *

-I think most people are like,

I think I saw that documentary.

He's talking about
the word fuck.

No, that's the other
documentary he's in.

You mean the one
about the ratings board?

No, this one is about
film festival rejection.

It's like, well that's something

that dude will know a lot about,
rejection,

because I've been rejected
a lot in my life.

Not professionally.

Professionally
I've made out okay.

But personally,

it took me a long time
to get laid.

I don't know, whatever.

**

-I've never been boo'd yet.

John Schlesinger got boo'd.

He took that "Midnight Cowboy"
to Berlin and they boo'd him.

-She was making sure that
the filmmakers are very,

very comfortable
at her own expense.

-I couldn't let you guys
sit in the trunk.

-It was locked. Sorry.

Hi, I'm standing here
at the Blue Agave.

This has pretty much been
our hangout

here at
Phoenix Film Festival.

The waitresses are gorgeous,

the beer is good,
food is fantastic.

I just wanted to give them
a plug.

Even though it says "E Agave,"

it's actually Blue Agave,
so let's go eat.

-* And I've got a thick skin *

-And here we are,
we're watching the movie now.

See, we're at
a festival right here.

Go get a drink after this.

Yeah.
Go get a drink after this.

Just go booze it up, party.

See? You made it.

You made it, Paul.
You're in a festival.

[ Laughter ]

I'll see you guys
at the next one.

[ Laughter ]