After a long hard, but thoroughly rewarding year of making our short film, The Auburn Hills Breakdown, we started the festival circuit, or as filmmakers are prone to say, “My film is on the festival circuit.”
The experience so far has led me to one immediate conclusion. If there is any way you can attend the festivals in which your film is screening – do it. Obviously, a filmmaker without studio or trust fund support won’t be able to attend every festival out there. Be selective. Research and try to pick the festivals that will offer you the most exposure and personal satisfaction.
First on my list, and the calendar, was San Diego Comic Con’s International Independent Film Festival.
As a lifelong genre film and comic buff, this was a must go. Nerd Vegas, Nerd Prom, these monikers floated in the air like neon signs in the night. I told my producer in no uncertain terms that we were going.
CCI:IFF 2008 was everything you would expect from an international comic and film expo and so much more. 120,000 fanatics, freed from their shackles of society persecution. It was a massive party, where all judgment was checked at the door.
Ghostbusters were free to mingle with hobbits; samurai girls willingly smiled at well padded superheroes. In short, it was geek spectacle at its finest.
The festival was a mighty whale in an endless ocean of activity. Films from all over the world were screened, with the sole link being “genre.” Action, horror, humour/parody, animation, sci-fi were the sort of categories in which the films competed. We saw a several examples of great shorts, including Head Shot, from fellow Canucks Dennis Heaton and Karen Lam.
Everyone involved in the festival was awesome and our film was very well received. Our director of photography, David Geddes, csc and publicist, Sorrel Geddes were in attendance, as were some other out of town friends.
The Comic Con experience proved very motivating in terms of convincing cast and crew and friends to attend. As the icing on the cake, The Auburn Hills Breakdown won Best Humour/Parody Film.
Oh, we also met The Greatest American Hero – William Katt.