03 Jan CINEMA CONFIDENTIAL: A Memoir Series
Above: An objectively bad photograph, likely shot by accident. I think it was in the screening room at the Princess Royale.
DON’T ASK ME ABOUT SEASON 8, because I will struggle to cohesively explain it to you. Technical execution? Brilliant. Attendance? Pretty damn good. All in all, the least stressful festival we have hosted to date. Which is saying a lot for me personally as I had a 3-month-old juggling both thrush and a head cold for the duration. He’s much better now.
I have been struggling to draft a blog post to recap, but I’ll try to do it here. Day by day, almost one whole year after the fact. Priorities, right?
DAY 1, THURSDAY MARCH 7th. As is my tradition, lots of pacing around. To-and-fro. Here and there… There and back again (A festival programmer’s tale by B.L. Strang-Moya). What began as a dreary morning soon blossomed into an absolute monsoon of an opening day. First thing on our list was to get our seats to the Unscene Productions Studio. Trevor, a member of our tech A-team came by 94th street with a truck. In a moderate drizzle, we loaded approximately 50 of the Art League’s sleek new cushioned folding chairs into the bed. Quite conveniently, the tailgate popped out of place just when we finished loading up. Like a bunch of teenage slackers we thought “his dad’s gonna be pissed!”, but we made it work. The Unscene studio, in its immaculate glory, received us warmly to unload. Most of their team was on site to help us and offer well-wishes for the incoming storm- and festival.
DON’T ASK ME ABOUT SEASON 8, because I will struggle to cohesively explain it to you. Technical execution? Brilliant. Attendance? Pretty damn good. All in all, the least stressful festival we have hosted to date. Which is saying a lot for me personally as I had a 3-month-old juggling both thrush and a head cold for the duration. He’s much better now.
I have been struggling to draft a blog post to recap, but I’ll try to do it here. Day by day, almost one whole year after the fact. Priorities, right?
DAY 1, THURSDAY MARCH 7th. As is my tradition, lots of pacing around. To-and-fro. Here and there… There and back again (A festival programmer’s tale by B.L. Strang-Moya). What began as a dreary morning soon blossomed into an absolute monsoon of an opening day. First thing on our list was to get our seats to the Unscene Productions Studio. Trevor, a member of our tech A-team came by 94th street with a truck. In a moderate drizzle, we loaded approximately 50 of the Art League’s sleek new cushioned folding chairs into the bed. Quite conveniently, the tailgate popped out of place just when we finished loading up. Like a bunch of teenage slackers we thought “his dad’s gonna be pissed!”, but we made it work. The Unscene studio, in its immaculate glory, received us warmly to unload. Most of their team was on site to help us and offer well-wishes for the incoming storm- and festival.
Opening night was a success. It always tends to be. Well-attended by filmmakers, locals, dignitaries, and even our local law enforcement who were prominently featured in a striking promo by Unscene Productions. The opening showcase was an eclectic mix of highlights for the weekend.
Above: Joe Joyce at the opening night. Ocean City’s sweetheart.
DAY 2, FRIDAY MARCH 8th. I spent most of Friday at the Flagship Premium Cinemas in West Ocean City. If you’ve never seen a movie here, I can’t recommend it enough. Modern, spacious, cozy. It’s just a forreal no-nonsense movie-going experience. Elevated by not only a snack bar, but the Pig & Whistle Lounge, where you can enjoy libations and appetizers.
I was anchored at Flagship all day as the Baltimore School for the Arts was taking a field trip to the festival. My own students- a hell of a crossover episode. It was about 30 kids and some faculty. Much to my own flattery, nearly everyone attended the local showcases where A Center for the Arts was playing, the ALOC documentary I directed. And they got to see the Ocean City Film Challenge.
I don’t have much to say about the Friday night reception. It was fun. Popping off. Everyone who was anyone (who had already made it into town), was there. I honestly missed my A-Team buddies who were out in the trenches while I schmoozed and boozed. I finished my night at the Rudy Childs film Dogmatics: A Documentary. I adore Rudy’s films. He has a formula whether the film is about sports, veterans, or music scene legends from the 80s. Dogmatics was a punk band from Boston who are now making a comeback. Rudy told their story through interviews and archival footage. It’s no History of the Eagles, but as a kid who grew up watching VH1 Classic, this film is absolute comfort viewing.
DAY 2, FRIDAY MARCH 8th. I spent most of Friday at the Flagship Premium Cinemas in West Ocean City. If you’ve never seen a movie here, I can’t recommend it enough. Modern, spacious, cozy. It’s just a forreal no-nonsense movie-going experience. Elevated by not only a snack bar, but the Pig & Whistle Lounge, where you can enjoy libations and appetizers.
I was anchored at Flagship all day as the Baltimore School for the Arts was taking a field trip to the festival. My own students- a hell of a crossover episode. It was about 30 kids and some faculty. Much to my own flattery, nearly everyone attended the local showcases where A Center for the Arts was playing, the ALOC documentary I directed. And they got to see the Ocean City Film Challenge.
I don’t have much to say about the Friday night reception. It was fun. Popping off. Everyone who was anyone (who had already made it into town), was there. I honestly missed my A-Team buddies who were out in the trenches while I schmoozed and boozed. I finished my night at the Rudy Childs film Dogmatics: A Documentary. I adore Rudy’s films. He has a formula whether the film is about sports, veterans, or music scene legends from the 80s. Dogmatics was a punk band from Boston who are now making a comeback. Rudy told their story through interviews and archival footage. It’s no History of the Eagles, but as a kid who grew up watching VH1 Classic, this film is absolute comfort viewing.
Above: John Waters (Photo by Jarret Bigsby)
DAY 3, SATURDAY MARCH 9th. I got to sleep in and start my day slowly. Before I could even shower and get dressed, my phone rings. Davis is telling me we have a laptop compatibility issue at Princess Royale. Oh? Well, how long until showtime? 25 minutes. Who can bring an adapter? Dylan is across town right now. How long is a file transfer to a different computer? — After the usual ping pong, it was time to hop in the CRV and queue New Noise by the Refused. This is my Carmen Berzatto moment. I stuff my backpack full of AV gadgets and spare laptop, apologize profusely to my wife, caress my son’s face, and command my pets to behave as I scramble out the front door practically on all fours. 15 minutes to showtime.
On a good day, it’s about 10 minutes to north Ocean City from North Ocean Pines. What’s a “good” day? Midnight in January. Here I am, mid-morning on a Saturday. My drive to town can be likened to Principal Rooney’s school hallway sprint in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
I can’t think about anything, except shifting my gaze constantly between the road and the clock. Blinking? Forget about it. I focused on my breathing and before I know it, I’m hurrying down the center aisle of the audience at our Princess Royale screening room. New computer plugged in and booted up with 5 minutes to spare. Stressful as it can be, these are my favorite moments of the festival. The remainder of my day was a whole lotta pacing around, Q&As, and the usual miscellaneous goings-on until my traditional annual mid-festival afternoon lunch with my family. Papi’s Tacos, baby. The evening was admittedly a blur. I was panicking, as always, over the John Waters situation—mainly because I am so severely unaccustomed to not having to panic. Everything was in place thanks to the AV team and festival committee. If anything was slowing us down, it was my dumbass spinning around trying to figure out what was going on. Nevertheless, things were squared away for another night of John Waters. After getting too drunk at the happy hour, I spent the night watching from backstage, and quite possibly at one point raiding the green room fridge. Don’t tell anyone.
DAY 3, SATURDAY MARCH 9th. I got to sleep in and start my day slowly. Before I could even shower and get dressed, my phone rings. Davis is telling me we have a laptop compatibility issue at Princess Royale. Oh? Well, how long until showtime? 25 minutes. Who can bring an adapter? Dylan is across town right now. How long is a file transfer to a different computer? — After the usual ping pong, it was time to hop in the CRV and queue New Noise by the Refused. This is my Carmen Berzatto moment. I stuff my backpack full of AV gadgets and spare laptop, apologize profusely to my wife, caress my son’s face, and command my pets to behave as I scramble out the front door practically on all fours. 15 minutes to showtime.
On a good day, it’s about 10 minutes to north Ocean City from North Ocean Pines. What’s a “good” day? Midnight in January. Here I am, mid-morning on a Saturday. My drive to town can be likened to Principal Rooney’s school hallway sprint in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.
I can’t think about anything, except shifting my gaze constantly between the road and the clock. Blinking? Forget about it. I focused on my breathing and before I know it, I’m hurrying down the center aisle of the audience at our Princess Royale screening room. New computer plugged in and booted up with 5 minutes to spare. Stressful as it can be, these are my favorite moments of the festival. The remainder of my day was a whole lotta pacing around, Q&As, and the usual miscellaneous goings-on until my traditional annual mid-festival afternoon lunch with my family. Papi’s Tacos, baby. The evening was admittedly a blur. I was panicking, as always, over the John Waters situation—mainly because I am so severely unaccustomed to not having to panic. Everything was in place thanks to the AV team and festival committee. If anything was slowing us down, it was my dumbass spinning around trying to figure out what was going on. Nevertheless, things were squared away for another night of John Waters. After getting too drunk at the happy hour, I spent the night watching from backstage, and quite possibly at one point raiding the green room fridge. Don’t tell anyone.
Above: Me and Jack Ford of WBOC TV.
DAY 4. Exhaustion. A lot of pacing around Seacrets, hugs, revelry, the works of any final day. Quite shamefully we mistakenly duplicated an award-winner’s plaque and compromised our ceremony by neglecting to announce Sheri Ratick Stroud’s Best-Of win for Encore Learning, 20 Years and Growing. She was surprisingly understanding. Her producer’s, less so (as is their right).
What’s my takeaway for season 8? Not sure. We fought a good fight and it was undoubtedly the most error-free, technically excellent season that we have ever had. That is not without the relentless dedication of the OCFF team and Dylan-freaking-Jones, our lead AV director. As time goes on, the weekend becomes hazier. They always do. Season 9, here we come. Another year to learn, another year to fight.
DAY 4. Exhaustion. A lot of pacing around Seacrets, hugs, revelry, the works of any final day. Quite shamefully we mistakenly duplicated an award-winner’s plaque and compromised our ceremony by neglecting to announce Sheri Ratick Stroud’s Best-Of win for Encore Learning, 20 Years and Growing. She was surprisingly understanding. Her producer’s, less so (as is their right).
What’s my takeaway for season 8? Not sure. We fought a good fight and it was undoubtedly the most error-free, technically excellent season that we have ever had. That is not without the relentless dedication of the OCFF team and Dylan-freaking-Jones, our lead AV director. As time goes on, the weekend becomes hazier. They always do. Season 9, here we come. Another year to learn, another year to fight.