Day 3. Or maybe it’s Day 4. I’ve completely lost track. I’ve learned that you don’t sleep much here at Sundance. The inordinately large bags under my eyes can vouch for that!
I have to say, it’s been an incredible experience thus far. After a hellishly long and crowded ride on the local Park City shuttle and a quickie at the ICM/VitaminWater party, Boutonniere premiered late Friday night in Shorts Program 5 and the reception was astounding. The audience was laughing in places I’d never even anticipated. Unfortunately, I had to miss the Saturday screening so that I could attend the Directors’ Brunch at the Sundance Institute where Robert Redford gave us a very inspiring pep talk. But my producer reported back that that screening went even better than the night before.
Last night we had our Salt Lake City screening which was pretty special. Again, the audience really seemed to dig the short and there was a terrific 45 minute Q & A to follow. There were a lot of aspiring filmmakers in the crowd, so the questions were particularly insightful. After, a bunch of people were waiting to meet me and it made me feel like a pretty hot turd.
The press interviews don’t hurt either. I had great ones with the Associated Press and GLAAD yesterday. One of the local papers featured us too. And this a.m. I did a radio interview with the local station, KPCW. These ladies had done their homework. They’d dug up all sorts of dirt on me including my acting past and a stint with breast cancer. Anyway, now I’ve found a rare patch of free time to chill. I have an interview with a management company this afternoon. Then I’m taping a YouTube video for HP cause they were super generous and gave Boutonniere all sorts of fine free swag. Oh, we’ve been passing out cheesy pink silk boutonnieres, chapsticks, and even these jump drive bracelets that have a Quicktime video of my short as well as a PDF of the script of the feature version that I just finished.
Tonight I’m gonna try to catch another short’s program, then a William Morris party. And early tomorrow a.m., they’re picking me up to take me to the local high school where Boutonniere‘s gonna screen by itself with a discussion panel to follow. I still feel like I’m dreaming. I still feel like it’s not real. But I also feel like I’ll need a serious vacation after this to recuperate!