September 19 - I arrived in Palm Springs a little before 5 p.m. Traffic was terrible the first two thirds of the trip. Checked into the Courtyard by Marriott. Not exactly a luxurious room, but spacious with a desk and a couch. Should be a good base of operations. Went immediately to the festival headquarters - about 3/4 mile away; I could walk it easily if it wasn't over 100 degrees out. They had just closed for the evening but kindly gave me my badge anyway. It's a good set-up. Three screening venues are all in one multiplex across a parking lot from the festival offices and hospitality suite. I decided not to immediately catch a program and instead relax until the Justin Lim program at 8 and filmmaker party at 10. Perhaps the best news of all is I got e-mail this morning from a short film distributor who's interested in taking on the film. He apparently viewed it in the film market. The festival's paying off even before I arrived and before we screen!

September 20 - My room has a balcony overlooking the pool. Should have brought a swimsuit. Oh well. The party last night was decent. Good food, anyway. Met some cool filmmakers and some who were sterotypically bitter/arrogant. Apparently the post cards I made are good - a couple people remembered the film from them. Started the day today with an okay panel about how to take the next step after making a short film. Ran into an AFI student I'd met once before who has a film in the festival. Then I went to a couple of the film programs to actually see some of the other shorts. Producer Steve Foody and actor David Zimmerman arrived in town and we went out to dinner. Then we closed out the day at the festival filmmaker party which was very productive. I had a nice chat with the woman who pushed my film for inclusion in the festival. She said it was the way the camera work increased the humor that primarilly impressed her, so kudos to Sasha! Also met several short film distributors and buyers, including the ones interested in our film and a programmer from a TV station in Canada who gave me and a couple other filmmakers some inside scoop on the way short film acquisition works. This festival is more businesslike than the others I've been to, but it seems like there's a good chance something positive will come out of it.

September 21 - Went to a panel this morning on short film distribution. The consensus was opportunities to make money off of short films are about to grow dramatically, which is encouraging. Then came my screening at 1 p.m. Cinematographer Sasha Rendulic and lead actress Jamie Elle Mann showed up and we all participated in the Q and A. The crowd was a little sparse, but responsive and asked a lot of questions. Afterwards everyone who worked on the film went out for a late lunch, which was difficult since most restaurants in Palm Springs close in the afternoon. Then I went to the awards ceremony where I spent a good deal of time talking to the distributor interested in the film. We didn't win anything, but I wasn't really expecting to. Then it was time to drive back to L.A.

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