I was a nervous wreck all morning! I downed about five of these free coffees that they offer folks in the palais (really excellent futuristic style stuff from "Nespresso" coffee cartridge machines) and passed out the remaining postcards and bookmarks like a madwoman! I ran into a friend in the palais and made him pace through the halls with me. I was getting nervous because I wasn't seeing anyone going into the screening room. My roommates (who I thanked in yesterday's post and thank again here) showed up- all smiles with their necklaces aglow. I was expecting to walk into the screening room and only see the four of them. I was shocked to see the room half full! It's impossible for me to know who ended up watching the film, but people with market badges get scanned at the entrance and Pericles tells me that nine different buyers/distributors ended up on the list of "scanees" in a 40-person screening room, along with about ten people that I had given special invitations to!

Nineteen people might not sound like a whole lot until you read my previous posts and see what LOOP was up against! This little film was competing with Steven Soderbergh's "Che" and about thirty other screenings slated for that time slot! I've been to other screenings in the market- even some with far better marketing campaigns- for which five or six people were in the audience. Some folks were speechless (it's an intense film- particularly where it leaves you), but others had quite a bit to say. I was told they loved the editing and the direction (one guy was shocked that it was directed by the director of "Redneck Zombies," which is a film he claimed to love and had no idea it was connected to "Loop" in any way). The effects got some praise, too. Of course, I was standing right there, so they had better said they loved them :) !

It took a good day for all of this goodness to really sink in. I left the theater a little shell-shocked and desperate for a beer! I was disappointed by the dismissal I personally received by some "friends" who didn't bother to show up after feigning excitement, but more on that later...

I felt this was a victory for LOOP. We may not have those "super delegates" of the film industry yet, but it's gaining momentum with the people. Only time will tell.