Hoping for a great turnout. Post pics!
Sure thing. IndieMeet went something like this:
Build a backyard stage in 110 degree heat.
Strong storm comes in and blows down neighborhood trees...and the stage walls. Rebuild and reinforce the walls.
Repair picnic bench seats and repaint the benches.
Build an 8' X 8' photowall.
Get the carpets cleaned.
Get new ceiling fans installed and make home repairs (holes in walls, broken door, tiles, etc.)
Get the snacks and drinks together, including Sheila's incredible chocolate chip cookies.
Rent and pick up 80 chairs.
Plus a bunch of little stuff, like scheduling films and getting the event out on social media, and setting up an audio/visual table, which had wireless mics and internet. (We streamed the feature without a hiccup.) The projector is only 2 years old and much of the sound system was new, so audio and picture quality was really good!
All in all, a good weekend. Not the biggest crowd, but certainly one of the best spirited groups we've had. Lots of enthusiasm. Ironically, there was a short called ENTHUSIASM ABOUNDS, which was an appropriate title for the event. We showed about 30 films, including a feature from LA, made by Finnish filmmakers, called SOMEONE SOMEWHERE.
My friend, Garo, who cuts trailers for Lionsgate, has become an IndieMeet staple over the years. He showed his handiwork and shared Hollywood goings on, at his presentation. Garo also just finished shooting his "killer robot" feature, AUTOMATION, which looks like it will be a lot of fun when completed, so watch for that in about 6 months.
Thursday evening I stayed up all night cutting together the Mike Conway interview, which opened the event. I posted it on another thread,
HERE.
While it's probably not a good idea to go into hosting a 3 day weekend on no sleep, the adrenaline kicked in and we started outside, on Friday. The standout film that night was THE PHANTOM MENACE, which was about a married cosplay couple at a convention. The film is making its festival run, now.
This was the first IndieMeet held in July. Sure enough the monsoon rains came in on Saturday evening and forced us inside....
As you can see, the crowd was totally upbeat about the rainy situation. This is where the new ceiling fans really paid off! Fortunately, the A/V table and some Altec Lansing tower speakers were already set up for the afternoon demo presentations. I put up a Da Lite screen and the projector, and we were good to go.
Festival movie, ANGORA ROAD was amazingly well crafted, complete with a battle using explosive pyrotechnics. Also, a music video, ARTIFICIAL, was very well done.
Sunday, we were back outside. This turned out to be my favortie movie night, as there were a slew of cool shorts - KILL THE POOL BOY, GREY CANYON (discussed on this very forum, but not yet seen because of its festival run), ESCAPE FROM LAS VEGAS and STOVER HILL. There were many more that were also well done.
Monday afternoon, I packed up the chairs and brought them back. Until next year.