AFM 2000 - Day 3

AFM – Day 3
2/24/00

Excerpts from Pete's personal journal.

It was Thursday and a big day for us. First, we had the RWA screening at a local AMC theater at 1:00 p.m. Second, we got a call that morning that we were to meet with the foreign investors that afternoon after the screening. But, first, we had to get there. And on the way down the interstate we ran into one of those classic L.A. traffic jams. Fortunately for us, there is a carpool lane, which was completely empty. Apparently we were the only people in the state that actually drove WITH someone else in the car.

On the way into the hotel entrance we passed the Troma people singing and dancing and making a lot of noise. They were dressed in their Troma character costumes (Kabuki Kop, Toxic Avenger, etc.) grooving to accordion music. Only in California can you see a man dressed up in a Kabuki outfit bump and grind to a Lawrence Welk-ish tune with a mal-formed melon head and a scream queen.

We arrived at the AFM around 10:30 to meet up with some people who were going to join us at the screening. Grady Bishop, our stunt coordinator on RWA, got in contact with some of the great women from the Stuntwoman's Association of Motion Pictures and they agreed to come out and help push the film. Nancy Thurston, Elle Alexander, and Cheryl Bermeo were all there to help us out. Originally they had planned to recreate the wheelchair down the cable stunt outside the AMC theater where the screening was to be held, but due to nearby construction, this had to be called off. I asked Nancy why they were willing to assist us and she said, "The more advertisement for women, stunt women, women directors, any woman in any part of the industry, we love to support." She also stated that it's hard enough for women in the entertainment industry and that they need to help each other out as much as possible. Their generosity and time were greatly appreciated. They were going to take our poster and postcards and hand them out in the front of the AMC, so, they donned some RWA t-shirts and headed for the theater.

Before they left, however, security had come to us twice about our RWA poster. Trying to enforce the "don't flaunt your stuff" policy, they told us we had to turn our poster toward the wall or else they would confiscate the goods. We tried to explain that we were handing it to these women to take with them (which was true), but they didn't buy it. We knew they were only doing their job, but we didn't see them stop the Troma people from dancing and singing through the lobby or tell some woman with a pet monster to take it outside. The best we could figure out was that you weren't allowed to display your film (i.e. large poster), but if you dressed up wacky and people initiated conversation, then you were then allowed to hand them a postcard and flaunt your film to your hearts content. A gray area, sure, but life's full of 'em.

Chris Templeton, RWA's lead actress, arrived and we then all headed to the theater. We got there a little early. We checked in with the stunt-women who were busily handing out postcards to anyone who walked by. Jeff and I then took a stroll down the main street and headed to Borders bookstore. On the way there we ran into a little guy (a friend of the stunt women) who handed us an RWA postcard and said "hey, you wanna see a great action movie?" Jeff kindly pointed out that he produced it and I pointed out that I co-wrote it. He smiled and walked on, going up to the next person.

After a stroll through the extensive film book collection in Borders, we continued down the walk and ran into Gregory Von Hausch, who is President of the Ft. Lauderdale Film Festival. For those of you who missed that episode, the RWA showed at the '98 Ft. Lauderdale Film Fest and won the Sunshine Celluloid Award. Gregory said that some little guy pushed an RWA postcard in his hand and asked if he wanted to see a great action film. Gregory said he tried to explain to him that he showed the film at his festival last year… he was certain the guy didn't believe him. You gotta love the little guy's enthusiasm for a film he's NEVER seen!

It neared lunch and Tracy, Olga, Chris and I headed across the street from the theater to Lago's for some lunch. The menu said they had pasta and a salad bar, but after seeing the meals, I wasn't too sure what they were serving. The ladies all got the "salad" bar, which was really like some food freak show with unpronounceable names and weird tastes. I tried to order a simple dish, fettuccini and chicken, but it came out looking different and tasting slightly off. I ate it anyway because I was starving.

Our lunch was interrupted by a parade of picketing janitors fighting for the right to higher wages. Thankfully there was no mop-water spilled or stain remover shed… it was a peaceful demonstration. Tracy and Chris had to leave early because a TV crew showed up at the theater, so Olga and I had a nice meal discussing many things. It was a pleasant lunch. I tried to pay (no, really) but Olga said Jeff insisted he pay for the meal.

The screening finally neared and we made our way to the theater. Outside the Mulder and Scully buyers approached, exiting an AFM shuttle bus dressed like attendees at an FBI convention. Postcards were given out aplenty. The little guy (I really have to get his name) wanted to know if he could sit on the shuttle bus and hand out the postcards to the buyers as they entered/exited (I LOVE his enthusiasm!). We thought that may be a bit intrusive, but we agreed he could hang out where they dump the X-File look-a-likes out and pummel them with advertising.

Ned McLeod, our handy-dandy entertainment lawyer, and John and Susie Millonig some of our executive producers, were in town and showed up for the screening. It was good to meet John and Susie. They are really great people. They've spent the last 12 years building a missionary in a village down in Honduras. They are almost complete and will move to a new village and start again. Great people.

We made our way into the theater and I was deeply disappointed to find out that Snowcaps were not sold in this theater. A movie without Snowcaps? What is this, Russia? Disappointed, I continued on, chocolate-less, and sat in the back of the theater. The way these screenings work is like this… there are about 10 movie theaters that are showing AFM films during the week. Each of the films the distributors want to show gets one, MAYBE two screenings during the AFM. So, during our screening there were other AFM films showing on each of the other screens in our theater… and there are also AFM films at all of the other screens at all of the other theaters all at the same time. So, we were pleased to have about 50 people attend the screening. It's not uncommon to have people come and go during these screenings. Some may spend 10 minutes in one film, 15 in another and 30 in yet another, getting a feel for if the film could sell in their territory. If they want to view the entire film they can always get video copies from the distributor later. We were very happy to have only two people leave after the first ½ hour and the rest stayed through to the end. That was very encouraging.

After the screening the rest of the people were now hungry, so we headed back over to Lago's for some post-screening feeding. Those of us who had lunch earlier indulged in some serious desserts while the rest of them played mystery-food roulette with the menu. This was the first time I was able to meet Isaac, who plays Mo in RWA. He had just finished a gig on the new Charlie's Angels film (like society needs THAT to be a feature film). I asked him what type of roles he's been getting and he stated most of his characters were morally challenged (i.e., bad guys). We joked that, someday, he could get a role where his character yearns to cuddle.

Also, during lunch, dinner or whatever this was, I got to meet and talk with Scott Dobbie, a director who's interested in directing a script I wrote called One View Only. Jenni ran into Scott a while back at a DGA event. Scott said he was looking for a script like Silence of the Lambs… Jenni immediately thought of One View Only, sent him a copy and he loved it! He's working on getting financing and all of the other stuff that goes into getting a film made. Jenni and Jeff will produce the film if he gets the cash in place. I tried to pay at this meal too (stop snickering, I'm serious), but Jeff insisted on paying for this meal too.

After eating we headed back to the AFM and met with our would-be foreign investor who, at this point, will remain nameless. First off, you don't want to jinx a thing like multi-million dollar financing and Second, you don't want to risk pissing off a guy who may invest in your film and Third, it's just not kosher in filmdom. So, we had a good meeting with them and Showcase. They stated that they needed the re-written Adrenaline to review with his people when he goes back home and we agreed to meet the next day with our casting director to discuss possible directions we want to go in casting.

On the drive home we got stuck in traffic again. The half-hour drive took about an hour and a half. On the way home Jeff cracked the whip and said that we should work on the script changes that night so we can make sure and get him a finished re-write before the guy goes back to their country. We didn't want to delay the process of getting financing at all. We also needed to do it before I left for home, Friday night.

So, Jenni and I stayed up as late as we could and worked our way through about 1/3 of the script. Before going to bed, I got on the computer and entered the changes, then crashed.

Remaining Cash: $4.87