Day of missed screenings, more meetings

9 a.m. Sunday morning

Saturday was a long day of missed screenings, meetings, and more meetings capped off by a 10:30 p.m. screening. I left the condo at 9 a.m. to meet up with several other producers of “The Deal” to pick up my credentials and our ticket allotment for the premiere of “The Deal.”

Tickets are scarce at Sundance. Our tickets to “The Deal” were promised out a long time ago. Eighty tickets were doled out among the producers, CAA, Cadillac who is throwing the party and sponsored the film, our investors and guests and potential buyers and distributors. It's not nearly enough. Last week I was part of a lottery that allowed me to purchase four more tickets. It's still not enough. I am receiving e-mails and call every day from longtime friends and associates in the industry requesting tickets to the premiere or to be added to the list for the party in the Cadillac Lounge. The problem is the film was sold out 10 days ago and the party has a capacity of 250 peolple and we are already at 280. It's the norm out here.

All of the people associated with the film are trying to get more tickets to make sure that we take care of everyone and most importantly to make sure that the buyers and distributors get in. The door at the party will be a cluster with everyone claiming that they are on the list, plus one.

I arrived at Festival headquarters in the Park City Marriott and met Michael Prupas and Irene Litinsky, two more producers on “The Deal” who are holding the tickets and credentials for Keri and myself. Steven Schacter, the co-writer and director popped up to say hello and the discussion turned to the articles in the trades that have been discussing that because of the writers’ strike it is a seller's market this year for films. We all hope so. Everyone agreed we need to get more tickets.

I rushed out to make a 10:30 a.m. screening of “The Guitar,” directed by Amy Redford, and even though I was in line 20 minutes early with my press and Industry badge, the film is full and I missed getting in by three people. My next film, “The Wackness,” screens at 1:30 so I headed back to the condo for a little soup when my phone rang and it's Don Most. That's right Donny Most who played Ralph on “Happy Days.”

Don directed a film that was in the second Sarasota Film Festival eight years ago and has submitted a film to us this year. He's in town to support the film “The Great Buck Howard,” with John Malkovich, Colin Hanks, and Tom Hanks. He has a small role opposite Malkovich. We planned to meet later that afternoon for a drink to discuss his film and other projects. I decided that this would be a day of meetings for me rather than screenings and began to call others to set those meetings up.

By 2 p.m. I was at the Butcher's Block having a drink with Mark Burton of IndieVest. Mark brought “Beautiful, Ohio” to Sarasota last year with Chad Lowe and we are discussing the possibility of “Before the Rains,” a film about the Independence movement in INDIA in the 1930s, directed by Santosh Sivan. We also discussed the possibility of Don Cheadle coming for the Festival. He agreeed to follow up with Don's reps later next week and invited me to the IndieVest party later that evening.

I decided to drop into the Cadillac Lounge, a converted storefront, that will serve as the venue for “The Deal” party and is currently hosting a press conference with Stanley Tucci. The place is swimming in swag. Watches, boots, sneakers, makeup, jackets. I'm offered a purse for my wife and some makeup from Sephora. I look longingly at the boots, jackets and watches, but am not feeling the good will vibe from the vendors. I look silly carrying my knapsack and a flowery, print purse fill of makeup out of the lounge, but it's a great way to gain access to other places giving out swag. If they see you carrying some, it can gain you entry.

Then I met at a British pub with the producer of “Battle in Seattle,” starring Charlize Theron and Woody Harrelson and “Numb” with Mary Steenbergen and Matthew Perry. He promises to send me screeners of both films next week and is interested in coming to Sarasota. He believes that he can help bring some of these stars in to support their films and we will continue the discussion after Sundance.

I met Don Most back at the Butcher's Block, but it was too jammed so we walked into the Turning Leaf Lounge, another converted storefront that serves samples of Turning Leaf wine for a $1 entrance fee. It's impossible to find a place to eat or drink without a reservation in advance so it was the best we could do for a meeting place.

Don and I discuss the film he has submitted to the Festival and were interrupted by a fan asking for a photo. Then we discussed the festival and how much it has grown since he came in 2000 and were interrupted by another fan requesting a photo. We talked about the play he directed for me 15 years ago in Los Angeles and we were interrupted by another fan. Don was gracious with all of them. I got a phone call from the PR firm for Heineken that they were throwing a party next door at the Heineken Lounge, a converted sushi restaurant and that I should drop by. While there, I learned that this year they have engaged D.B. Sweeney to represent them for the Heineken Red Star Director's Award. D.B. was in for the second year of the Sarasota Film Festival and we had a small reunion at the party. Sweeney announced the 10 films that participate in this award and Sarasota is one of them. Of course, the party has lots of free sushi and Heineken.

Now, I'm late for the IndieVest party and it's over 2 miles away. Park City is a small, ski resort town with two main arteries that are really, small streets and they are both parking lots full of taxis, SUVs and shuttle busses that are crawling. I decided to walk and I was keeping ahead of all of them. It wasn’t that cold out and 35 minutes later I rolled into the party. I ran into Dan Mirvish of Slamdance again and chatted a little again with Mark Burton. This time I grabbed the hotel shuttle and rushed back to join my fellow producer Keri Nakamoto with two of our investors who were having dinner. Much of the talk centered on the fact that two of our investors who brought friends and needed extra tickets to “The Deal” had bought them on Ebay for $199. Unbeliveable to all of us.

It's now 9:30 p.m. and I excuse myself to take the shuttle back to the theatres to catch a 10:30 screening of “The Merry Gentlemen,” starring Michael Keaton and Kelly MacDonald and directed by Keaton. Keaton plays a hit man who befriends MacDonald. I love this film and hope we can get it. It's 12:15 a.m. when I get out and I have to grab a shuttle back to the condo. I pass people in the dark on their way to other screenings and see the rush line in the tent full of people trying to stay warm as they wait to see if they can get in. I finally make it to the condo at 1 a.m. and am exhausted. Fortunately, I don't have an 8:30 a.m. screening.

Jody