Saskatoon is a wrap. Regina you're up!

Phew! That was close. I really don't wish to cut it that close again. This morning involved anxiously checking the Canada Post website tracking monitor to see when the package would arrive.
1:03am arrived in Saskatoon. 3:15 am item processed. 5 am item ready for delivery 8:10am item out for delivery. Meanwhile, at 8:25 am I am on air on the local CBC morning show talking about a screening that may or may not happen tonight.

Then I spent the next few hours watching the clock. Finally I saw the postman across the street at my neighbor's house and I frantically ran out my front door and waved him down (he looked slightly apprehensive as he pulled out his earbuds). He told me he had a few packages in the truck and after walking his route would deliver them. Mine might be one of them. AAAAHHHHH!!! I took a deep breath and went back inside and tried deep breathing exercises. Fortunately (as the photo somewhat foreshadowed), the films arrived in time for me to do a very speedy splicing job and get all the films reeled up and headed to the theatre with a little time to spare.

The rest is now history with 25 filmmakers sharing 20 films in Saskatoon to an audience of over 185 including guests visiting Saskatoon from other cities across Canada (love that they chose our event for a Wednesday evening's entertainment). Thanks to the lovely Roxy Theatre for being such gracious hosts once again.

A lot of highlights to share, including returning filmmakers brother/sister duo Charles and Catherine Lemire who made individual films for the event A Birthday Bash / Latin Fever, but there's an auteur streak running their their family. Great use of in camera editing and planning your story in advance.

A couple of pet films (by chance screened back to back) by Chris Smith and Stephanie McKay, highlighting Cheeseburger that cat in a dramatic role in Smith's film and McKay giving her dog Quincy a lead role in demonstrating the finer behaviors of the canine species.

Adeel Salman returned to the festival with a dark romantic tale with a twisted finish. a perfect genre film, timed to perfection.

Brad Proudlove also returned to the event with a prairie music video to the song 'Tuff' by SK Rap duo Run the Pools.

Many other highlights from the night, and despite a few audio technical issues, a smooth presentation to a very appreciative audience. Already looking forward to next year, but first I have to get to splicing those Regina films!

Thanks to Reilly Forbes for the pic!

Dear mr.Postman

Well, we're about 48 hours away from our show in Saskatoon, and the programs are printed, the media coverage is underway, and we wait with baited breath for the films to make their way from Toronto to Saskatoon care of Canada Expresspost. If you're keen to follow the progress, here's the tracking #0101385000762737. If you're anxious like me, you'll be looking it up hourly.

The good news is that the expected delivery date is June 8th. The tough news is that will give me just a few hours to splice everything together and get it in a projector at the theatre. No biggie. 

Anticipation is ramping up and soundtracks are flowing in. We're going to have 20 films for Saskatoon and 24 screen in Regina. Thanks again to Emily Kohlert for designing the posters and programs. 

Spread the word and tell your friends. Show up at the Roxy on Wednesday night to see if I show up empty handed or if we'll get to showcase Saskatoon films in all their glory!

Vancouver's big show!

Congratulations to the Iris Film Collective on their very first and wonderfully successful OTS8 in Vancouver on June 2. Included a pic here of Alex MacKenzie performing the all too critical projector inspection pre-show.

We're hoping that we'll get to see some of the films from their event at some point, as they begin to travel the circuit. Check out their tumblr page for some great images from the event.

And a big round of applause to the 26 films that made their premiere at Western Front. Filmmakers included:
Eduardo Araquel | Jiles Barrett | Julianne Chapple & Ed Spence | Monica Cheema | Nick Dangeli | Chris Gallagher | Ariel Kirk-Gushowaty | Zoe Kirk-Gushowaty | Jessica Johnson | Jon Johnson | Alex MacKenzie | Laura U. Marks | Michelle Martin | Pia Massie | Una-Ann Moyer | Lisa g Nielsen | Nisha Platzer | Brad Poulsen | Christoph Runne | Alysha Seriani | Mina Shum | Dan Siney | Sydney Southam | Mackenzie Warner | Ryder Thomas White | Stephen Wood