Start Spreading the News
It's up to you, New York.
I became paralyzed by choice when we got selected for screenings in both NYC and Las Vegas. I was thinking I'd go to Vegas while Amy and Rocco went to NYC -- there were very good practical reasons for me to do so, plus, it made a sort of divide and conquer plan.
Then I thought about less practical things. About how, when my aunt was still with us and I would pass through NYC on some crazy adventure, she would take me to lunch at Bryant Park. And how when my best pal from college lived in Manhattan, I would scrape up the cash for a plane ticket. I was in art school when she moved there and it was amazing to have a place to stay while I went from museum to museum. About how New York has long been my "what if" city -- what if I'd moved there instead of Seattle in 1994?
It is impractical for me to go to NYC. It's is eye-wateringly expensive. I must get a sitter for Harley the Dog and delay the kind of work that pays for things like going to NYC, and hope that work it is still available to me when I get back.
But also, I am going to New York.
What novice screenwriter doesn't want to have their very first film premiere in Manhattan? I'd say it's like a dream come true, but I didn't even know I had this dream a year ago. We filmed last May and now, we're off to Manhattan.
I'm treating it as an unofficial film school graduation present to myself. (Should I register at Bergdorf Goodman? Saks?) It feels like the perfect cherry on top, the bow tying it all together, the exact right way to celebrate this project's entry into the world.
If you'd like to meet for lunch at Zabar's let me know.
We're also screening at Hollywood Shortsfest in May. This festival has a virtual component; I'm not sure where we fall on the schedule yet but I think it will be your first shot at seeing the film online.
If you helped fund the film, I sent you a screener link. It came from me directly, not via this email service. Please don't share it, we'll take that link public when our festival obligations are met. If you didn't get the link or can't find it, drop me a line, I'll send it to you again.
When I realized all this festival news was real, I kind of freaked out. I don't freak out, that's not my MO at all.
I've been trying to understand what set me off. Is it classic imposter syndrome? Stage fright? Relief that a thing we worked so hard to make is actually good and has the awards to prove it? General creative anticlimactic syndrome, where you accomplish something but you still have to buy groceries and submit invoices and work on presentation decks?
It took me a day or three and a long bike ride to calm down. Last night I finally got a good night's sleep and this morning, I booked tickets to New York.
I remain so grateful.
//Pam