Snowball in the Summer

Ha!  I love New Yorkers.  I was walking down the sidewalk today, headed for the grocery store, when a guy leaned out of a big white truck and shouted, “Is that your natural hair color, miss?”  Miss?  Who, moi?  He sounded so polite that I was forced to smile and tell him the truth:

“Why, of course it is!”  ;)

Anyway…

I met with Don and Katha Cato last night – the organizers of the Queens World Film Festival – and holy cow, they’re fantastic!  Funny, original, and upbeat, they share my enthusiasm for the art of independent film as New York sees it – which seems to be quite clearly, thank you very much.

There will be a lot to do over the next 3 months, but I’ve already started on it, leafing through the binders of info Katha sent home with me, looking up their websites and contact lists, and familiarizing myself with the whole shebang.  They’re even going to make me a business card with my name and phone # on it!  I haven’t had a business card since I worked at NAU.  For some reason, business cards with my name on them make me feel all fuzzy inside.

So I’ll get to finish out the week by helping them film a couple of events down in the Lower East Side on Friday and Saturday, then scramble to get the project edited by Wednesday.  Looking forward to getting behind the camera again, and then getting in front of the editing bay.  In the meantime, I have plenty of research and catching up to do so that I can get a good grip on the organization before I start throwing its name around as their representative.  They’re going to want some help with publicity.  So all that stuff I said about the Irish Pub Challenge?  Scratch that.  I’ll find plenty of opportunities to get over my timid nature just by helping to promote the heck out of this fabulous film festival that takes place during the first week of March in 2012, aptly called “Q2,” as it is the 2nd installment of the Queens World Film Festival (an upgraded, new & improved version of its previous incarnation as the “Queens International Film Festival”).

Not only did I have this great meeting with the Catos on Tuesday night in Queens (a fascinating city unto itself, by the way), but I had already previously scheduled a quick chat for noon on Wednesday (today) with a recent student, now producer of independent films here in the City, who was referred to me by my new hero, Chris Newman – you know, the guy I went all gabby about on Facebook when I met him at NAB, the one who won the Oscar for Best Sound Design for The Exorcist, and therefore my inadvertent idol since I was like, 9 years old, or something like that? 

Yeah, that guy.

So I met with her today in Union Square, and she told me about various internship possibilities, including a few websites to plunder.  Oddly enough, she’s from Arizona as well – Tucson, to be specific.  And Katha Cato, by the way, is from Dewey, Arizona.  All of us ending up here, now, in NYC; three Arizona women, converging, as it were, on the subject of independent film.  Coincidence?  I.  Think.  Not.

Okay, perhaps it IS a coinkidink.  But it’s still a little spooky, don’t you think?

So there I was, talking about what kinds of things I like to do - editing, scriptwriting, camera work, and so on - and she had some ideas, but wasn't quite sure offhand whether there might be any real possibilities...

But then I mentioned that I can do coverage, and lo and behold, she found that quite interesting, just as one of my instructors, producer/filmmaker Joe Cardone predicted.  He actually said to us in class one day, “If you can say that you can do coverage, you’ll most likely be placed somewhere, and that’s how you get your foot in the door in this biz.”

I now have a lead on a film producer who at this point shall remain nameless, but has certainly made a name for himself.  That’s all I’m gonna say at this point, because I don’t wanna jinx it.

And then I get another email from her saying that there may be yet another lead on a minor editing internship, and that I might be contacted soon by either a producer or director.

Snowball!  

(…or avalanche?)

Or, as Keanu Reeves would say as any given character, “Whoa.”

Ok.  So.  Priorities.  Of course the Queens Film Festival gets their 20 hrs no matter what.  They’re the reason I’m even here, in NYC.  But I feel like only putting in 20 hours a week, in only one venue, is just not enough to take advantage of the brief stint of time I get to spend right here, in the CENTER of the HUB of Independent Film and Network Television Heaven (yeah, to me, this is Heaven… don’t judge).

So I’m hoping to grow up big and strong and become a Big Fish in the Big Pond, so that if and when I want to move to a smaller pond, like, maybe Portland or Seattle, (or, dare I even fantasize about it?  Monterey, CA), I’m coming in as the Big Fish.  Or, perhaps New York will say it’s got room for me here – and only if I can live comfortably, will I agree to that invitation.  But right now it doesn't look good, as far as the cost of living here goes.  But we'll see.

Because New York and me, we’re like rival siblings, you see.  In a way, we often resent each other, but deep down there’s a strong bond of unconditional love.  We’re completely different from each other, but we have the same roots.  And if I’m going to find my way in this world, it’ll have to be through the boroughs and the subway tunnels and the deeply historical buildings that were constructed, brick by brick, by the hands of my predecessors, who had their own visions of the future.  I’d like to be one of the many who help to carry that vision forward, reaching beyond the boundaries of our mundane existence by helping to bring the collective unconscious into enlightened awareness – using the form of communication that I understand the best – that of independent film and mass media.

And THEN maybe I can qualify to meet Al Pacino.