Guest Relations: A Filmmakers Best Friend

Part 1 of an Interview with Linda Barry

Linda Barry has done Guest Relations for several film festivals, including most recently the San Diego Asian Film Festival. She chatted with letsschmooze.com about how Guest Relations can help filmmakers, and gave the benefit of her vast experience on how filmmakers can have a successful festival experience.

Letsschmooze: You’ve done a lot of different stuff for festivals. How did you get involved in doing festivals to begin with?

Linda Barry: I was at UCLA doing the Producer’s program, the Summer Producer’s program...I don’t even think they have it anymore, but anyway, I had to do two internships and one of them was at Sundance. So I used to read for Lynn Auerbach, who is the Feature Films, Assistant Feature Film Director. And she told me you should go to the festival, it’s good experience. So she sent me, they sent me. And then I’ve been going back ever since.

Letsschmooze: At Sundance you’ve mostly done...

Linda Barry: I’ve been at the same place. But I’ve also done other things, too. But I’m at the boxoffice for the dramatic competition films. And I’ve kind of pitched in, done some special events stuff, too.

Letsschmooze: And you also said you’ve done Guest Relations.

Linda Barry: Guest Relations at, let’s see, San Francisco International, that’s a pretty big one up in, obviously, San Francisco. I did Mill Valley. I was just a volunteer there. And then I did Guest Relations for San Francisco International Asian American which is NATA’s fest, which is probably the preeminent Asian film festival in North America. And then now, this is my second year of doing Guest Relations for San Diego Asian film festival.

Letsschmooze: So what does Guest Relations mean, exactly?

Linda Barry: It’s kind of like holding the hand of the filmmaker and getting them from their home to the festival and making sure the experience is awesome. Basically what I do is, once they’re accepted, I just start the contact. If they need help getting travel, I get their travel accommodations taken care of. Sometimes we kind of comp them or I try to get them the best deal depending on what their budget is. We set up their hotel. Sometimes we pay for it if we can, and try to find them something within their budget. I kind of get them in the loop of what else is going on, what other filmmakers are coming, what kind of events we have. We try to get them, like, we liaison with the press. We get them their interviews. We just kind of make them feel welcome, and just kind of take care of them.

Letsschmooze: How can a filmmaker help you when they come to a festival?

Linda Barry: One, answer e-mails, answer phone calls. Let me tell you, it’s amazing. It’s funny that people higher up on the food chain who have a few films under their belt are amazing. They are just right on top of it, they’re accommodating, no attitude, but I always find that throughout the festivals I’ve worked at it’s the first time filmmakers who have this attitude. They don’t know who they’re dealing with because a lot of times people at festivals do have backgrounds. They’re not these flunkies that are just doing these menial jobs. So, yeah, you wait ‘til the last minute and, like one experience, I had this one guy, first time film, never answered any...I mean I think I sent him the accreditation package way in advance, e-mailed, voicemailed, I mean every other day I kept bugging him. He shows up to the festival and his film’s sold out. He shows up and he goes, “okay, can I have fifteen comps for my family?” And I just went off on him in front of everybody. I went, “oh my God, how dare you walk in here and you haven’t even answered any of my correspondence and you expect to get fifteen comps? Who do you think you are?” So then I made him scalp tickets off somebody else. And I said, "okay, let’s get a picture of this because you know you’re successful when you have to buy scalped tickets to your own film." He’s like, “okay, I’m sorry, I’ll stay in the lounge and clean up.” And so he did. But he’s cool. He wrote me another letter and said I’ll never do that again, I’m sorry, blah, blah, blah, you taught me.

Letsschmooze: It was a good learning experience.

Linda Barry: Yeah, it was. It was. So, yeah, always just stay in touch with those people and kind of, you know, if you anticipate anything, just pick up the phone and call. But no waiting until the last minute because then you’ll get screwed. You’ll just totally not have a good festival experience. Look, we’ve had fist fights. We’ve had to call the cops on people over tickets. Okay, you know what? Just get your wallet out and fork over seven dollars. And they don’t want to do it! It’s just this entitlement thing. It’s like, no it doesn’t work that way.

Letsschmooze: So what would you suggest filmmakers should do to prepare for a festival?

Linda Barry: Do their homework on the fest. Like get to know the people who...well, I don’t know, on the bigger fests it’s kind of hard, but like at San Diego Asian, the programmers, get to know your programmer really well. Just stay in communication. If you can get to the E.D., the Executive Director, talk to them, because they’re the ones who can pull the strings to get you your interviews, to get you pretty much anything you want. Like I know of five different cases where we comped everybody’s hotel rooms because they just came and started pleading their case, like I can’t afford this. We went, “okay, you know what? We really like your film, all right, let’s pay for this.” So, I mean, really if you get to know them and they know you one on one, you have a better chance of just pretty much getting anything you want.

Letsschmooze: So what kind of stuff can you get?

Linda Barry: Hotel, vouchers for food. I mean, because a lot of filmmakers, they’re poor. So food, hotel, gas-we gave out this, oh God, this one group, they all boycotted, they all came to me and tried to scam me and they’re like, "you know, we were told that we’re supposed to get gas vouchers" and blah, blah, and they were turning in all these receipts and it was hundreds of dollars. And I was like, “well no one told me and I’m in charge of the money here and what’s going on?” So I go to the E.D. and she’s like, “Oh, yeah, one person complained.” And I go, “well it went through the whole crew and now everybody’s coming to me.” So she didn’t want to cause a scene, so she ended up paying for everybody. So, I mean, I think if you just get to know people, like if you establish a good rapport from the get go, I know I’d go out of my way to help that person out. You always have your favorite person. It’s like, oh this person always answers my e-mails, they always return my calls. They have no attitude. I want to help them out. And not only in my experience with San Diego, but San Francisco, too. In San Francisco International, I had five different people working guest relations. And they already had a list of pains in the ass, cool people, poor but small film but let’s do anything for them. I mean really there is this list that goes around.

Letsschmooze: So for filmmakers that are coming, would you suggest anything they can do during the festival to make it a better experience, and then conversely have you seen anybody do something that was a disaster?

Linda Barry: Well, basically not allowing us to do our jobs. So if you show up with an entourage of twenty-three people and then it just becomes this bad scene. I just think if you do your homework and know what you want to accomplish, if you want interviews, if you want that kind of exposure, just be really up front. Because we also set up all the media, too. With all the radio talk shows, we do them all a week or two before. We can set that up as well. So I would just say go in knowing, if you have an idea what you expect. Also, who do you want to meet, like the publicists. We have Sundance Channel come to this festival in October. If you kind of know ahead of time what do you seek, what do you want, who do you want to meet, that kind of thing. Tell me about the parties, tell me about the meetings. Come with press kits, come with freebies. Anything to promote.

Letsschmooze: You think that helps, giving away freebies?

Linda Barry: I think so. Oh yeah, God yeah. Especially at Sundance, too. And people just look for that stuff. I mean, I think, I honest to God, I think that people who come with some promotional materials, people will go to that film. It does work. You know, you’re like, wow, okay, this is kind of cool. They went out of their way to do this. Yeah, I’m going to go see this film.

Letsschmooze: What is the most important thing for a person coming to a festival for the first time to know?

Linda Barry: Don’t go in thinking you’re going to get a distribution deal. Don’t set your expectations too high. A lot of times, and I’ve gotten so much feedback from first time filmmakers who just become so depressed and almost suicidal. I mean, it’s just unbelievable. We get a lot of feedback and we get these letters and they’re just like, “gosh, ever since that festival, it was such a high, and now I go to other festivals and I still can’t find a distributor. What’s wrong with me, am I a loser?” And you know what, to me, this is my thing: If you get a film made, that is awesome. Anybody who can get a film made through post, that’s amazing. And I may sound bitter, but we treat these people with respect but they just think, “okay, this is it. My life’s changed.” And they don’t realize that, no, it’s still a pipe dream. I mean I have a really good friend who won a major award at Sundance and she has yet to make another feature. And she’s like, if you think winning a major award at Sundance is going to change your life, forget it. Yeah, it’s great, and it opens doors to other opportunities, you know, to get meetings and stuff, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to get any money.

Letsschmooze: What do you think reasonable expectations would be?

Linda Barry: Maybe getting some good reviews, getting some good press. Even if it’s just on a small local level, they can always take away. And word of mouth. I mean, we had one film come in, very small film, but I mean word of mouth, we had to add second screenings, and then other people in the industry, they had festivals and it just, that’s what happens. So, I’d just try to get as many people to see your film and hopefully it’s good enough that it’ll carry on its own.

Letsschmooze: Does it make a difference if you're there with a short or a feature?

Linda Barry: Oh God, yeah! Oh yeah. The features, obviously, get treated with a little bit more favoritism. Shorts, I mean, I think short filmmakers who kind of do their homework and know, they can go in and make it, turn it around for them. For instance, I know a guy who did a short, he was a Sundance volunteer so he already knew ahead of time. So he created his own hype and got access to Roger Ebert and did his own thing. And it was good for him because he ended up meeting all these people, and now he’s working on his feature. So, it’s like you just can’t be passive. You really have to kind of take charge of your own publicity and your own destiny in a sense.

Letsschmooze: So what do you think is a realistic expectation for someone with a short film to have from a festival?

Linda Barry: I would say just eyeballs seeing your film, getting your name out there. A certain amount of respect I guess if you have a decent film. I mean, they can get some press. At least they get their name out there and publicity. And I think that’s a good thing. And fun. A lot of times people have never done this before and it’s just all foreign to them and they're like deer in headlights, but they can make it a really fun, positive experience and kind of get that experience under their belt and kind of give them an idea of what to expect down the road.

Letsschmooze: If someone had a short at Sundance would anyone know it was there?

Linda Barry: You know what, if you’re in a good shorts program, they’re hyped. I mean, they’re sold out. They’re probably the most popular programs.

Letsschmooze: Is there anything a filmmaker can do to publicize their film?

Linda Barry: Any quirky type of P.R., that kind of thing. I mean that’s usually how it happens. Because if you don’t advertise it, nobody’s going to know it exists. So yeah, just hyping it. Getting the word out. Getting all your friends to just do a blitz. I mean that’s the only thing you can do, really.

Letsschmooze: Do you think it’s helpful when actors show up to a screening?

Linda Barry: Definitely. I think that’s definitely a draw. I mean, that’s one of the appeals of even showing up to the screening. And then hopefully the Q and A, all that hype, that helps. It doesn’t hurt.

Letsschmooze: The Q and A you think is a helpful thing?

Linda Barry: I think so, definitely. ‘Cause you feel like you’re part of the experience. And you don’t get that at any other screening. You get that at festivals. So that’s unique. It’s nice.

letsschmooze: Any other advice for filmmakers?

Linda Barry: My biggest thing is the attitude thing. I just can’t get over that. It’s amazing how many people just think just because they’ve made a film, that’s it. And it’s like, if you only knew that if you were nice you would go farther in this business. If you’re an asshole, you’re not going to get shit. To me that would be lesson number one. That’s like in anything, that’s just a given, but it’s just amazing. Every single festival that I’ve ever worked at that’s been the number one complaint.

Letsschmooze: I guess that’s a big problem, that people just aren’t nice.

Linda Barry: One of the things that I do at Sundance also is I used to be a bouncer at one of the big parties. It was for Redford. And they called me from L.A. to do this job and they didn’t tell me whose party it was. And I got the list, and I couldn’t believe this list, it was like everybody is on this list. But they’re like, “everybody is going to try to crash this, trust us. You’re not going to believe this. Be prepared. Do not let them in.” Well, these young filmmakers would come in, and one guy, I swear to God, changed disguises five times. And I went, “dude, come on, I know it’s you. That mustache, come on.” I mean, it was amazing. And then they broke through the fire escape to get in and the alarms went off. We had to call the cops. Unbelievable. And yet, if you’re going to be nice...if you’re nice, you know, I’ll let you in. But you throw this attitude like, “you don’t know who I am!” I mean I can’t even tell you how many times they were like, “do you know who I am?” “No, no. You know what, I don’t care. You’re name’s not on this list.”

Coming Soon: Part two of the Linda Barry interview where she speaks about different kinds of festivals and what it takes to make a successful festival.