Lost in a sea of Filmmakers, I tread water and refuse to swim to shore. The Cannes Film Festival is the epicenter of hype and publicity for film. I’ve never seen so many cameras and so many salesmen. Every filmmaker becomes a salesmen at Film Festivals. Everything is hyped, everyone has an angle and everyone has a film. My film ‘Measuring Tape Girl’ screens on Friday, May 21st in Marché du Film. Palais F at 11:30am.
Walking around in a Blazer made of Measuring Tape at the Cannes Film Festival changes your perspective on the world around you. I’ve spent most of my life hiding behind a camera. Using a camera to tell stories and record images. I’m still a little uncomfortable being in front of the camera. The first hour was a little rough. I didn’t know what to except or even where to go. The Cannes Film Festival is a little bit of a maze. The core of the Cannes Film Festival occurs in a few interconnecting buildings that send you up and down escalators as you walk from Film Market to Film Market. As a filmmaker the world is your market and the world doesn’t always go to you. So what’s an introverted film geek to do? I didn’t know at first but then eventually came up with the idea of becoming a visual metaphor for my film. A visual representation of what was for sale. It allowed me to make an impact on people without saying a word. Some people smiled, some people were too cool to react and some people got excited and talked to me about my film. It was a great way of finding people who were actually interested in talking to you. People from all over the world came up to me and talked to me about my Measuring Tape Blazer. From a distance I was a story to tell your friend. At closer inspection you got a story, a marketing DVD, a business card and links to all things Measuring Tape online. I really didn’t know where to go or who to talk to. We just went because we had a screening. There where thousands of filmmakers all pushing their latest film, all reaching out to find an audience. The Cannes Film Festival is like a giant tidal wave of Filmmakers from every country in the world, all marketing their newest projects, all asking to be measured. Asking to be Judged. I’m not sure how much of an impact the Measuring Tape Blazer is making and I am completely making this up as I go along, but I am learning how to swim.
