09-15-2026, 04:29 PM
Indiewood Festival
My festival cherry has been popped and what better place than on the sordid streets of Hollywood. And much like losing your virginity, the first time was alright. Nothing to get too excited about. Don't understand the fuss.
I left Fresno early, despite the late night with Weird Al. My screening was at ten so I left at 5 to make sure I arrived with plenty of time before the screening. I arrived with too much time. I walked the block around the TCL Chinese theater and nothing was open. I wandered to my hotel which sits directly behind the theater. I thought I would get my checking in out of the way since I had time to kill. The desk clerk not only checked me but gave me an available room which happened to be a suite. The room was really big. The bathroom was equally big. I could see the Magic Castle and Hollywood Aids Church out my panorama window.
Since I had a room there probably wasn't a need for me to change clothes down in the parking lot
I drifted back down to the venue where I saw some equally lost souls wondering when it would be time to get into the festival. The group was a man and his wife and their niece. He had two films in the festival, both shorts. He wanted to know where the Chinese Theater courtyard was, so I took them over. I snapped some pictures for them (which are now on his FB page)
TCL 6 has two entrances and we went to a different one to see if anything had changed there. Nope. But there was another filmmaker hanging around. Her husband returned with the news the venue would open about twenty minutes before the start of the show.
About then, the Tu Family arrived. We caught up outside. Jenny played designated translator. Jimmy arrived with his wife. We took photos.
The doors opened and I went inside to get my badge. I asked if I could tape up my posters to the walls. The film organizer said no. Oh, well. They did have a small red carpet section where we could play Hollywood, so we did. I took photos. Sandy took photos. Lots of photos. Then it was time for the movie.
Actually, it was time for the three short films and then my movie. Because we took so long taking pictures, we only caught the tail end of the first picture. It had something to do with mental health screening for people incarcerated. The second picture just seemed to be a really long ad for some new robot that went to hospitals to talk to patients. Its speech patterns were tied into kind of a life like face. The robot was a bit creepy. The final short was called 13 seconds and was made by the man I met first. It was an experimental piece about 9/11 and was really well done. It was made up of recordings of people talking about their day leading up to the crash, then people experiencing the destruction, and finally talking about the aftermath. The visuals were rotoscoped lines and colors over actual footage from the day. It was all quite surreal and wonderful. I felt bad who had to follow up that performance.
My screening was fine. My film is too long. I felt bad for the people trapped in there watching it with me.
After the screening, we went back to the lobby. I think about 30 students and friends of Master Tu made the screening. They were all complimentary about Iron Crotch. Many people asked when it was going to stream so they could see it again.
At this point, Jenny invited me to go to dinner later that night. I asked if the whole group of students was going out. She said, "Nope. Just me and the family" Yikes. I couldn't turn that down despite built in problems of going out for Chinese food with a Chinese family. My rut is American style Chinese food not authentic Chinese food. Again, couldn't turn down the offer.
I bumped into the 13 Seconds director as I was going out to lunch. When I saw him, I was thinking I should turn around from embarrassment about my doc but I really wanted to tell him how much I liked his film. I sucked it up and greeted him. He beat me to the punch by saying how much he liked Iron Crotch. So, did his wife and niece. It was odd. But they did have suggestions. They felt it was too long and could do with a good trimming. Things I agreed with. But what they saw, they liked. It's always good to get reviews from outside the bubble. And it made me feel less bad about the screening.
Dinner went really well. Sandy and Master Tu gifted me another lucky painting to hang up. ( I must hang the poster between 5-7am for it to work. And I have to clap three times in front of the poster before I make my wish) It was a seafood restaurant with TV screening covering an entire wall of the place. Of course, they were showing Sunday night football. I lost track of how many lobsters I saw being carried out of the kitchen. Now, the Tu family knows I like meat so Jimmy ordered meat. And the dishes kept coming. I don't know how he thought I could eat three different plates along with the Walnut Shrimp, Crab soup, Clam Soup, and, yes, lobster on the table. The worst insult was when the sweet and sour pork came out, the lowest of all Chinese dishes. Don't get me wrong. The food was all fabulous. I sat between Jenny and Master Tu with Jenny treating me like honored elder, serving me food. But come on, sweet and sour pork?
After all the trouble I went through with contracts to get the film made and the apprehension Sandy had with me (You remember the calls, DM?) it was odd to hear the Master Tu is ready to make another film with me. We spent a lot of the night talking about what that could possible be. We had no ideas for the film. Although GM Tu wants to do something more focused on Qigong. I expressed my thoughts that I didn't know what the angle would be to make that dramatic.
All told, it was an enjoyable 24 hours. A nice change of pace. But I'm left with the thought I need to cut about twenty minutes out of the film.
My festival cherry has been popped and what better place than on the sordid streets of Hollywood. And much like losing your virginity, the first time was alright. Nothing to get too excited about. Don't understand the fuss.
I left Fresno early, despite the late night with Weird Al. My screening was at ten so I left at 5 to make sure I arrived with plenty of time before the screening. I arrived with too much time. I walked the block around the TCL Chinese theater and nothing was open. I wandered to my hotel which sits directly behind the theater. I thought I would get my checking in out of the way since I had time to kill. The desk clerk not only checked me but gave me an available room which happened to be a suite. The room was really big. The bathroom was equally big. I could see the Magic Castle and Hollywood Aids Church out my panorama window.
Since I had a room there probably wasn't a need for me to change clothes down in the parking lot
I drifted back down to the venue where I saw some equally lost souls wondering when it would be time to get into the festival. The group was a man and his wife and their niece. He had two films in the festival, both shorts. He wanted to know where the Chinese Theater courtyard was, so I took them over. I snapped some pictures for them (which are now on his FB page)
TCL 6 has two entrances and we went to a different one to see if anything had changed there. Nope. But there was another filmmaker hanging around. Her husband returned with the news the venue would open about twenty minutes before the start of the show.
About then, the Tu Family arrived. We caught up outside. Jenny played designated translator. Jimmy arrived with his wife. We took photos.
The doors opened and I went inside to get my badge. I asked if I could tape up my posters to the walls. The film organizer said no. Oh, well. They did have a small red carpet section where we could play Hollywood, so we did. I took photos. Sandy took photos. Lots of photos. Then it was time for the movie.
Actually, it was time for the three short films and then my movie. Because we took so long taking pictures, we only caught the tail end of the first picture. It had something to do with mental health screening for people incarcerated. The second picture just seemed to be a really long ad for some new robot that went to hospitals to talk to patients. Its speech patterns were tied into kind of a life like face. The robot was a bit creepy. The final short was called 13 seconds and was made by the man I met first. It was an experimental piece about 9/11 and was really well done. It was made up of recordings of people talking about their day leading up to the crash, then people experiencing the destruction, and finally talking about the aftermath. The visuals were rotoscoped lines and colors over actual footage from the day. It was all quite surreal and wonderful. I felt bad who had to follow up that performance.
My screening was fine. My film is too long. I felt bad for the people trapped in there watching it with me.
After the screening, we went back to the lobby. I think about 30 students and friends of Master Tu made the screening. They were all complimentary about Iron Crotch. Many people asked when it was going to stream so they could see it again.
At this point, Jenny invited me to go to dinner later that night. I asked if the whole group of students was going out. She said, "Nope. Just me and the family" Yikes. I couldn't turn that down despite built in problems of going out for Chinese food with a Chinese family. My rut is American style Chinese food not authentic Chinese food. Again, couldn't turn down the offer.
I bumped into the 13 Seconds director as I was going out to lunch. When I saw him, I was thinking I should turn around from embarrassment about my doc but I really wanted to tell him how much I liked his film. I sucked it up and greeted him. He beat me to the punch by saying how much he liked Iron Crotch. So, did his wife and niece. It was odd. But they did have suggestions. They felt it was too long and could do with a good trimming. Things I agreed with. But what they saw, they liked. It's always good to get reviews from outside the bubble. And it made me feel less bad about the screening.
Dinner went really well. Sandy and Master Tu gifted me another lucky painting to hang up. ( I must hang the poster between 5-7am for it to work. And I have to clap three times in front of the poster before I make my wish) It was a seafood restaurant with TV screening covering an entire wall of the place. Of course, they were showing Sunday night football. I lost track of how many lobsters I saw being carried out of the kitchen. Now, the Tu family knows I like meat so Jimmy ordered meat. And the dishes kept coming. I don't know how he thought I could eat three different plates along with the Walnut Shrimp, Crab soup, Clam Soup, and, yes, lobster on the table. The worst insult was when the sweet and sour pork came out, the lowest of all Chinese dishes. Don't get me wrong. The food was all fabulous. I sat between Jenny and Master Tu with Jenny treating me like honored elder, serving me food. But come on, sweet and sour pork?
After all the trouble I went through with contracts to get the film made and the apprehension Sandy had with me (You remember the calls, DM?) it was odd to hear the Master Tu is ready to make another film with me. We spent a lot of the night talking about what that could possible be. We had no ideas for the film. Although GM Tu wants to do something more focused on Qigong. I expressed my thoughts that I didn't know what the angle would be to make that dramatic.
All told, it was an enjoyable 24 hours. A nice change of pace. But I'm left with the thought I need to cut about twenty minutes out of the film.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm