Day Ten - VACATION!

Much needed, I might add. Today, my roommate Alicia woke up with a fantastic idea: let's go to the beach! She didn't really need to convince me. I think I was in my bikini before she even finished the sentence! (you couldn't ask for better lighting than this)

I spent the day passed out in the sand (with my broad-spectrum sunscreen, I might add- high praises for Bliss Lab's "The Big Screen 30SPF" spray-on sunscreen which did not smell bad and kept my pale skin pale). It was easily the sunniest day of the festival and although the water was cold, I managed to get a couple of good body surfing turns in! Alicia and her friends managed to finagle their way into P. Diddy's small private party the night before where they got to hang out with the likes of Lindsay Lohan and the uber-hip. Yes, her "girlfriend" was there and no she wasn't drinking- I was given the tabloid dirt LONG before it came out in the gossip mags, which I think makes me almost the coolest person in the world. The coolest, of course, is Linz herself, then the girls who were actually there, and then me.

I enjoyed listening to their stories, but I was glad that I had spent my evening on a quieter, more introspective note: watching Michelle Williams portray Wendy in Kelly Reichardt's new film "Wendy and Lucy." She was fantastic (and there in person, I might add- swoon). In fact, I can't remember the last time I felt so connected to and moved by an actor's performance. She is now on my list of "favorite" actors. The film was very sad, very quiet, and very good (Lucy is her dog- they are traveling to Alaska so Wendy can find work when her car breaks down in Oregon and she has to confront the reality of her finances and situation- I don't do spoilers, so I'll end it there).

After relaxing on the beach and eating ice cream for lunch, I realized that I still needed to return my rented cell phone, so I ran back to the palias, slid beneath the closing gates, and returned my phone, having just enough time to text a friend about dinner. Okay, the gates weren't closing. That was just an Indiana Jones flashback. After that, I got my last free Nespresso coffee, a free bottle of mineral water, a free glass of wine and a free glass of Asti, both from Piedmont. I finished the day with a fantastic dinner of mussels in white wine broth, calamari and tiramisu and topped it off with a glass of armagnac (my favorite French liquor- after wine, of course). That was one of two good dinners I had in Cannes. The dollar doesn't get you much these days. In fact, I was a bit disappointed with my cuisine experience in Cannes. Not that I have anything against omelet sandwiches and cheese paninis, but it gets old when you eat them every day. When you're visiting the country of haute cuisine, you would like your $18 to get you a little more than a salad with cheese (not an exaggeration). The free coffee helped make up for that, though. :)

My festival days ended the way they started, with a bang:

I'm definitely happy to be home with some built-up steam pushing me to seek funding for my own film. Only time will tell if I was able to help LOOP. This experience was a mix of excitement, frustration, and education and I feel quite a bit more enlightened about the film industry. I'll share my thoughts on that in the next post.

Days Seven and Eight- Guerrilla Filmfare

As the screening of LOOP approached, I had very little time to blog, so forgive the lateness of these posts! After a good talk with Lloyd Kaufman, president of Troma Entertainment, I felt a little better about my feelings for Cannes. It was nice to know I wasn't the only one who felt that it was an epicenter of film sleaze and that the real independent voice is getting lost in the so-called "low-budget" corporate conglomerate "independent" film world that includes companies like Miramax and New Line. Not that I have a specific problem with these companies or even the giants like Paramount and Warner Brothers- I like quite a few of the films they produce, but there should be room in the world for the "under $5 million" filmmakers such as Pericles and myself, too. The term "independent" is losing its original meaning more and more these days.

LOOP is the real deal, though. I have no idea what the budget for this film was, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't even close to $5 million! The marketing team at Cannes consisted of... well... me. Without a mini-Cooper with the painted logo of the film parading up and down the Croisette, a $200,000 party in a hotel lobby, full-page ads in Variety and a crew of market-savvy sellers and schmoozers sitting in a rented booth, LOOP was something of an underdog in a very bizarre world.

Case in point: I took an hour out of my over-busy schedule to help the guy who wanted me to do animation while I was at the festival (see my post from day two). He booked a 140-person VIP screening for his film (yes, those are expensive and tough to fill). He managed to get a couple of attractive interns to help him push the film. He managed to set up a "hot" (his term) party complete with shuttles that would take people from other parties to his own (for a documentary on Dante's Inferno- I bet Lindsay Lohan was just DYING to go). He even offered me a 5% finder's fee if I sold his film (which I had not even seen and had no interest in pushing). Yet somehow getting the actual film on DVD for the screening (meaning he had no film to show) was a last-minute priority...

With a mix of irritation, annoyance, vigilance and pity (mostly pity), I agreed to help him burn a DVD with Encore on his laptop. He offered to pay me back with dinner, which I refused. I only accept food as payment for the truly poor and passionate filmmakers of the world. All others must pay cash. After he made fun of my name (ha ha- it sounds like "Corney!" I bet kids made fun of you in school), I vowed to avoid his film screening and him for the remainder of the festival.

Aggressive measures needed to be taken. With this kind of well-paid competition, LOOP needed to become the Barack Obama of Cannes! What's a girl to do?

Shine, of course!

Courtney Hoskins at the American Pavilion, Cannes

I took a deep breath and went out on the streets, telling everyone I met (particularly if they had blue market badges with purple (buyer) stripes) about LOOP! Pericles sent me hundreds of these glowing necklaces to which I affixed stickers detailing the web site, screening date, time, and location. The American Pavilion students loved them and helped me pass them out (particular thanks to Alicia, Barrett, Amber and Brittany- my roommates whose names I'm sure I just butchered- for their extra support).

Courtney Hoskins and friends representing LOOP at Cannes

I managed to pass out hundreds of postcards, bookmarks, necklaces and bracelets in the film market before I was escorted out by security (it is "strictement interdit" to do marketing in the market if you haven't spent thousands for a booth- yet another little f*%& you from the money holders). I had no idea, so I made my apologies and leveled with them to find out just how far I could push the law. I discovered that I could stand outside of the palais doors and pass cards out to whomever I wanted...

...provided that they not drop them within 10 meters of my person. Such a thing is forbided

Still, I was able to distribute the rest of the day's propaganda, saving a bit for the next day for the last minute "what should I go see crowd." I ended these rather triumphant days by watching "Blazing Saddles" outside on the beach. The film was actually projected on 35mm film and looked great! It was much needed comic relief and brought me back to reality.

An extremely bright satellite passed overhead, causing me to notice the stars that had broken out from behind the clouds- the real stars, from which we all come, famous or not. In the end, it doesn't matter how much status we are given here on this planet. We are all human. I try to keep this in mind, especially when talking with people who have some kind of "power" over what I want to do. Later that night, the almost-full moon crept up from behind the ships on the water, seeming larger than life. I tried to photograph the effect to no avail- it's an illusion that only exists in the mind, just like human "star" power. I'll write a post about that little optical phenomenon later.

Cannes Day One- Setting Up

A helicopter just landed in front of me. I can’t see who got out of it, but an entourage met them at the landing pad and rushed them off from beneath the blades. I find this amusing. You see, I, too, was brought here by helicopter. Many many helicopters, actually. I modeled a swarm of 3D helicopters that got me started working on LOOP. I never would have guessed that over a year later I’d be representing the film at the Cannes film festival. And yet, here I am. And I’m excited.

After my flight ordeal, I was both exhausted and jet lagged. I slept in until about 11:30. Eventually, I figured I should get up to get my festival accreditation and cell phone, so I dragged myself out of bed. My hotel is about 2.5 miles from the palais where most of the festival activities take place.

I tried to get a week-long bus ticket, but the tabac where one buys such things was closed. I decided to walk:

Basic recap of my day: slept till noon, walked a couple of miles along the beach under the warm Mediterranean sun, collected access badge for biggest film festival of the year. Oh, and did I mention, boys, that the beach was a topless beach?

Yeah, it was a hard day.

I'm all official now. I missed out on the opening film, Blindness, but there are hundreds of others, so I'm sure I'll see something good eventually. A couple of quick pictures from the opening of the festival. This was the arrival of all of the judges. Natalie Portman is in there somewhere.