One of the films I edited, Bedrooms, had its festival premiere at the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival on August 20, 2010. The producers and crew went into overdrive to fill the 450+ seats at Grauman's Chinese Theater.
The results paid off with a sold-out theater and Honorable Mention for Best Directing.
The film was shot in early 2009 and I hadn't seen or spoken to some of the crew since we wrapped. It was great to reconnect with Angel our composer, Jordan Belfi who played "Julian," Ben Kufrin (D.P.), Maury Rogow (producer), and many more.
As would be expected, the congratulations on a fine screening were spread far and wide amongst us. If a passer-by cocked an ear they'd probably think we were self-indulgent ego maniacs as we discussed how well the score fit a particular scene or how a nuance of Jordan's performance paid off.
Putting some thought to this, the kudos and congrats have little to do with self-indulgence. Quite the opposite.
Creating a feature film is an epic event. Pulling it together in post-production reveals everything about the footage: the good, the bad, the ugly. Great performances are ruined by soft focus or a boom and test screenings uncover new ideas leading to more work in the edit suite. Even when it's complete all you can remember about the film are the fixes and changes.
All of these congratulations and kudos are nothing more than a catharsis and genuine relief that we pulled it off. Self-indulgence? I prefer to call it self-assurance.
A few months ago I was honored with my first award in filmmaking when the Treasure Coast International Film Festival honored