February 28 - We arrived in Sedona today after overnighting in Las Vegas (I won $18...time to make another film!). The last hour and a half we were in a snowstorm and by the time we reached the boxoffice at the Harkin theater, the woman with the filmmaker packets had left. So, we were directed to go straight to the opening night gala at the Hilton. There we were warmly welcomed and I was able to talk to the guy who arranged my hotel, which I was a little anxious about. It all worked out and it was a nice party. We met several other filmmakers, a crew working for an independent film web site, and some Arizona based student filmmakers who had come up for the festival. I also got to meet writer Dan Petrie Jr. who was there for a panel. My hotel, the Junipine resort, is several miles outside of town, but it's worth the drive. I have a two bedroom town house with a great view.

March 1 - Our screening was at 11:15 this morning at the Zaki Gordon film school which is the secondary venue where digital films are presented. Attendance was kind of sparce, probably due in part to the early hour and partly to the fact that the venue is not walking distance to the primary venue, the Harkin theater. There's a shuttle, but it only runs hourly. A good chunk of the audience came because they met us at the gala, so it pays to schmooze. The film was part of a program of about 10 shorts. It was very well received - lots of laughter. We were the only filmmakers there, so the Q and A was all about us. All in all, I'd say it was a successful screening. I spent the afternoon with my parents who happened to be visiting friends in a nearby town and drove up. Then, after seeing a film, Steve and I went to a filmmaker party where we met several more fellow filmmakers, including a group of fellow USC alumni who had all met the day before. It was a blast and ran into the wee hours. There's a lot of camaraderie among the filmmakers here. A snowstorm made the late drive back to the hotel treacherous, but we made it okay.

March 2 - Last day of the festival. I wanted to spend it watching movies. I did sit on a filmmaker panel in the afternoon, but I thought it was kind of a lame discussion, so I wished I'd skipped it for a screening. Our film wasn't picked as a festival favorite, nor did we win an award at the awards ceremony this evening, which was a disappointment. We thought we had a shot despite the low attendance at our screening because of the overwhelming audience response. One of the USC filmmakers won best student film. The awards ceremony was kind of weak...more like a PTA meeting than a ceremony. But, there was a great party afterwards at Luther's American Bistro. Then, a group of about 15 of us who had made short films went back to the Junipine Resort and had our own mini-festival since we'd missed a lot of each others' screenings. It was probably the best part of the festival. I didn't get back to my room until 3 a.m. which will make tomrorrow's drive to Durango a challenge.

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