Yeah, I was there. I know, it's almost tough to imagine it, me, Darren J Seeley, a screenwriter in waiting (or if you really wanna get technical, unsold at this this moment in time) to be there in the 3-D. Why? Because, despite my optimisms, I have been putting it off for the past few years, either due to procrastination, or my calandar not being cleared, or a combination of both. First of all,this year for me, I sent in "A House By The Sea" a supernatual type thriller about 1920's era gangster type spectres terrorizing a small coastal town and a portal to Putergory is a pitch black lighthouse which comes out of a cliff. It is one of many scripts I finished and worked on over the years, including a sci-fi actioner "All Of Our Yesterdays". As it turns out, maybe I should have sent in the latter instead of the former: "Sea" did not get past the second round.

So now, here it is -the end of August 2001. My script (which I admit could be better) got passed on. I bought the airline ticket, registration, and even an Awards luncheon ticket way back in late June. The question is, knowing that your script got passed on for whatever reason, do you still go? It took me less than a minute of recieving my umpteenth reject letter. YES! Of course I'll go. Perhaps I can find out what I'm doing wrong. Or worse, find out what I'm doing right. That's more scary.
When I arrived in Austin Texas on Wednesday night I wanted to do a bit of walking, and get a feel for the streets, where what is and so on. One place I wanted to eat out was Jazz. I staked the place out on the internet, and said "I'm going to eat there". (Rerember this: it's important.) Yet I did not know if I would have the time. One thing did catch my eye. Since the Omni hotel, which I was staying on the 6th floor (more on that, too) does not serve contential breakfast the way some other hotels do, I headed right to the local party store (open 24 hours!) I wasn't surprised to note most all the goodies were gone-but I grabbed the last four donut sticks and got the pop tarts. Finger food is always the first to go, because if you want to go to freakin' sleep after 1 or 2 am and get your hump up before 9 am, there is no time to feed your face. Coffee is good at the Omni. But there is one thing that baffles me-I drew a big ol' blankety blank on this. The Coke machine on each floor. It's 75 cents for a can of Coke/Diet Coke/Nestea whatever. Go downstairs, and for a George Washington you get this dinky glass bottle with the same soft drink. Now, I don't really think I'm a cheap bastard, but man...Give Me Liberty or Give me Cans! Well, enough on that.At least for now.

Panels and roundtables. Panels: I liked any panel that had Lawrence Kasdan on it; but I also attended the retro on "Silverado". And, I don't get it. I keep hearing the same question: "Could you tell us the why the 'Return of The Jedi' was once called 'Revenge of The Jedi' or something like that. I didn't see the "Body Heat" retro, but I'll bet some joker asked that same line of questioning. (Kasdan recieved the 2001 AFF Distinguished Screenwriter award.) Can't we talk about "The Big Chill" or "Grand Canyon"? Other memorable panels were with Shane Black, Scott Rosenberg and Jeb Stuart (especially when Scott Rosenberg answered a question regarding a writer-director relationship. " What's this Hack's name? Dominic...Sena? " Sena helmed "Gone In Sixty Seconds" which could also allude to the chunk of script that got deep sixed by the director)
But the best panel was...Steve Wolf? Yes, Fx Coordinator Steve Wolf, who did a demonstration on some FX tricks of the trade, like showing of an air cannon, exploding flower pots, and showing how minatures are set on fire. Wait- we can't forget the fog machine, which can double for smoke. The smoke looks real. We got proof! There were some folks out in the hallway or something who saw the 'smoke' spew out into the hall, and there was concerns (so we are told) about some of Steve's gadgets. I liked most of the roundtables I was at; especially the roundtables dealing with the independent film writers and directors that had films showing at the Festival. Onur Turkel -who I kept running into until finally on Sunday afternoon I kicked back with him and his crew on Sunday afternoon in the Omni lobby, and Turkel found me somewhat odd. First of all, I didn't like "Ding -A-Ding-LESS" all that much, (the DTV film he wrote and directed) but that was the least of his concerns. He wanted to know why in hell would I bring up the film "Mimic" in front of a Q&A session with director Guillermo Del Toro the previous night at the Arbor.( Del Toro's latest, "The Devil's Backbone" was screened; Onur was in the row behind me) Five minute discussion on "Mimic"??WHY DARREN WHY!!??" Well, I liked "Mimic", that's why. I finally caved in "Ok. I guess I would have preferred a five minute discussion on "Cronos" instead..." Onur is a cool guy overall, I was slightly amused by his antics, passing out "Ding A Ding LESS " cards and such. He gave me about five calling cards, six, seven..damn, I lost count. He did give a card to writer-director Eric Red, who I ran into on various occasions. It seems whenever I wasn't around Onur, I kept running into Eric Red. Hmmm... Well I tried to hang around writer Jameel Khaja-and the rest of the "Passage To Ottawa" crowd, but I didn't see them as much as Onur or Eric. Didn't hang around Cash Flagg Jr. , the co-star (and, under his real name, co-producer) of "Lethal Force", although I saw him around a lot too. Why? Probaly because I was either running into Onur or Eric Red, that's why. Another indie filmmaker I met was Daniel Kay, writer/director of "Way Off Broadway". I had planned to see his film, but I thought it's showing Sunday, right before Christophe Gans' "Brotherhood of the Wolf". So I'll see it then. Well, I said that on Thursday (10/11) when I saw Dan just before the showing of Patrick Strettner's "Business of Strangers" at the Paramount. I didn't know if I could see all the films, although I have been known to be in two places at once, or so people tell me (heck, even Eric Red told me that...) But when Sunday night came, I wound up hanging out with Onur and his crew in the lobby of the Omni for awhile, then I listened in on some conversation with some other AFF/HOS folks seated around Anne Rapp and Gayla Nethercott. Gayla commented on my Audio Audrenline T shirt, which is a lime green color and has a Skull & crossbones on it that bears legend ZOMBIE TOUR "Dead To Sin" (AA is a christian rock band, BTW) the shirt, which has the name of the band on the back, is oddly (?) always mistaken for something to do with Rob Zombie/White Zombie. Hmmm. Then I talked to Eric Red who mentioned that of all the short films, not one of the filmmakers behind them was looking for financing to expand the short into a feature. He found that odd. I told him if I ever made a film, at least one of them would be in black and white. He told me black and white film stock is not an easy thing to come by, since there are only a few places which develop black and white negative stock, most notably in the nation's capital. With all the hanging around in the Omni lobby on Sunday, I realized I was going to miss "Broadway". And then, something happened. This lady (a fairly attractive one at that) asks me and Eric Red if we could join her for dinner at "Jazz". Jazz! An Austin downtown resturant and bar where I had planned to go, but I didn't think I'd get the chance to. Namely because I didn't want to eat alone. Well, Eric was waiting for someone else and tus declined. She looks at me. I just got my excuse. I left with her. Ironically, she didn't want to eat alone (her birthday, she says.) Lisa Burett is her name, and we had a good time. The oddest thing?

After our meal, I'm taking out my mula (a $20 bill covered my end) and she waves me off, puts the bill on her card. Well, treating a near total stranger to dinner and NOT talking shop/film (her request) on her B-D she just has to get a mention here. Lisa, if you read this, or if anyone knows you, if we ever meet up in the near future, I'm treating YOU.
Let's backtrack.
Ok?
The Awards Luncheon. I got my ticket well in advance, I was not in a T shirt but in a suit. Sportsjacket. Tie. Did I tell you what I wore the next day? Yeah, I did. Anyway, everyone liked that I dressed up a tad. Two women whose names I can't recall, said I looked 'cool'. B.J. Burrow,the AFF Screenplay Competition Director, and scribe of the upcoming cable movie "Natural Selection", also complimented me, saying I looked "sharp". Now, why did I wear a sportsjacket, tie, etc.? Well, it was an awards luncheon, its something that doesn't happen everyday (like a mystery lady buying me dinner...but I wore a shirt with a...oh you know...)

Well, I figured -I'll look nice. Cause dammit, I'm in Texas. Well I'm at table 17, and I meet with the writer-director of the short film "The Accountant", Ray Mckinnon. Also at the table is his producers, one of whom is actress Lisa Blount, to whom he's married. I was very tempted to say to Lisa B:"I thought you were great in "Blind Fury!" because I really dig Rutger Hauer in that film, but then again I generally like every movie Rutger Hauer is in, especially "Blade Runner","The Hitcher" and "Nighthawks". Well, anyway, I didn't say that, because then I'd also have to bring up the fact that I liked this 80's B flick called "Radioactive Dreams" with John Stockwell and "American Ninja" Michael Dudikoff. (*About now, I guess to you I'm sounding VERY SCARY about now so I'll just cut through the history lessons.) The other producer of "Accountant", Walton Groggins ("The Shield"), was next to me at the table. He 'liked' having a writer, aspiring or pro, to be at his left AND right.

Well, "The Accountant" won for best short film at the Festival, and y' know it's always supercool when some folks at your table win something. Why? Cuz you were just talkin' to them a moment or two, then they are winners. Ray was already hyped; it showed. But after he won, then he was really hyped. Congrats again, and hey, around here there's a photo... Also saw Jonathan Silverman at the Luncheon. He appeared in the film "The Medicide Show",written and directed by Wendell Morris. "A Passage To Ottawa" won the Film Festival's Competition film prize. I saw the film ("Ottawa") later that evening. The Arbor Theatre's projector wasn't working right, so there was a few minutes delay. Then, about halfway through the midway point, something else happened. The reels got mixed up!
So, there was a good fourty five minute wait until things got back on track. You know it's a good film when you really DO want to see the rest of the movie. Jameel and Gustav Seth (the film's director) took a brief Q&A session, and Jameel noted that this was the first time he had seen the film in a screening. The reels were numbered right, the audience was told, Gustav even made sure the reels were in order, (He jokingly comes down the aisle "...they are all there, I counted, 1,2, 3..." It got a big laugh and some applause.) .

Hey, Gustav and Jameel, your film was GREAT! And I loved every minute of that 45 minute delay because wierd stuff happens when I am present, (and sometimes when I'm not!) and that's really the best part of a film festival.

Missing reels.

Winners near you.

A new friend has dinner with you on her birthday, eating at a place you wanted to eat at.

Meeting Indie filmakers and major ones.

Making friends.

Knowing there's a lot of people just like you in the same boat and someone's about to fall out. (Well, ok, wrong analogy. But ya get it, right? No? Huh? What? Ok nevermind.)

Knowing a indie filmmaker isn't really ticked at you for admitting that you were not the one laughing the loudest at his film screening. In fact, I think Onur liked debating me on it. If its any condolance to Onur, I saw a film that was twenty times worse that was there. "Business Of Strangers".

Courtney -who drove me in the van to the Arbor to see "Brotherhood Of The Wolf". When I told her I was at the "Ottawa" screening, "You were there?"

But -what do I know?! I actually had to explain the ending of "Donnie Darko" to people around me who asked if I understood that 'freaking wierd film'. I did understand it, I told them what the ending meant, and I wish Richard Kelly was there so I could ask him if I was on target or way off the dartboard. In fact, one filmmaker I wanted to show up but wasn't there? Christophe Gans from "Brotherhood Of The Wolf".! I wanted sooooo badly to ask, "Now that this film's getting attention, are U.S. audiences ever gonna see "Crying Freeman"?

At the "Heroes and Villians" panel which featured Shane Black ("Lethal Weapon"), Scott Rosenberg ("Con Air") and Jeb Stuart ("The Fugitive"), I noticed a film fan asking Stuart to John Hancock his copy of a "Fugitive" poster. Stuart signed it, that was neat to see. When I got home, I wondered why I never took any of my posters for writers/directors to sign. Aside from airline security,where posters could get torn or damaged in other ways (*a good bet to have the least trouble is to find a post office after your celeb signs it and MAIL it back to your address in one of those tubes.) I rerembered that, for the most part, I really don't belive in autograph collecting, since when I break into the industry such things would be moot. There are some exeptions. I would like to have Amanda Donahoe sign my "Lair Of The White Worm" poster, Vestron logo and all,and my film director /idol Michael Mann to sign a 'Crime Story' poster which promoted that TV pilot on video, for a few examples. But I noted in my personal poster collection , only a "Blue Steel"-written by Red, is the only one I would have taken, since it's practically the only one that I have that was written by anyone at the Festival! Then again, I didn't know I'd meet Mr. Red personally, and, considering "Blue Steel"'s black background, the only place he could have signed it is over Jamie Lee Curtis's face! Ah well.

Pix: (top to bottom)
1. Darren J Seeley. (who else?)
2. Lawrence Kasdan
3. Shane Black
4 & 5 :Steve Wolf
6:Jameel Khaja
7:Cash Flagg Jr.
8. Daniel Kay
9.Walton Groggins
10. Walton Groggins, Lisa Blount and Ray McKinnon
11.Jonathan Silverman
12. Onur Turkel (left), Eric Red

all pics on this page and links to jpgs were taken by Darren. Darren's pic was taken by his good/evil twin.


        

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