Sleep late this morning. The previous day had been long and I needed to rest.
Mike and I leave Santa Monica around 11:30 am. There is a panel today which begins around 1pm that we’d like to see and there are only 40 seats available. It takes about 30 minutes to get to Pasadena and when we arrive there is already a line for the panel. While standing in line we meet John LaFlamboy and Matt Brookens, the filmmakers behind The Art of Pain. We get a seat no problem. Inside we eat some free pizza and the panel begins. On the panel are Alan Bailey (CFO of Paramount) Sean Haley (owner of MultiVisionnaire Media – a worldwide sales agency) some documentary professor from UCLA, Mark Mahon (writer/director of a film called Strength and Honor, a film staring Michael Madsen and Vinnie Jones) and the producers of Red Canvas (a film staring Ernie Reyes Jr.)
Much time during the panel is spent discussing how much the film industry has changed in the past few years because of the changes in technology. The majority of the panelists agree that the market has become extremely saturated and that in order to obtain distribution your film has to have a good story and be technically sound. The documentary professor from UCLA is the Debbie downer of the group - Informing all, that the reality is the majority of us will not make it, it’s too hard (I don’t particularly remember what she said but it was mostly negative)… the Red Canvas guys fire back that failure is not an option and that you have to keep plugging away until you make it (I like the Red Canvas guys). After the panel I introduce myself to Alan. He tells me he enjoyed watching Cowboy Smoke and we should be proud because we made a really good film.
After the panel Mike, John, Matt and I grab a beer with Sean Haley. I actually met with Sean (a solid guy) while I was looking for a foreign sales agent for CS this past March.
Around 6pm we head over to the Red Canvas screening. I have been excited about seeing this film because it was shot on the Red (a new High def camera). The movie looks really dark and the colors are muted – which does not leave much of an impression on me. I wonder if it is the DP, the camera, or the projector. Any one of those factors can effect how the image looks when projected. I’m not a big fan of martial arts movies but the film manages to hold my attention. Kudos to the Red Canvas guys.
Mike and I leave the festival around 8pm and drive to Hollywood… he has tickets to the Secret Machines show at the Viper Room (a club formerly owned by Johnny Depp.) After the show we swing by Pinks (a famous hotdog stand in Hollywood) for a late night snack but the lines are too long so we opt for Carl’s Jr. instead. We finally get back to Santa Monica around 2pm. I immediately crash out.

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