Just a bit more on the Filmmaker Forum

Without the gratis pass from the benefit of being in the Producer's Lab I would not have attended this event. Mostly because I just don't have that kind of liquidity to shell out a few hundred dollars on things like this. This year I am exceptionally blessed because I also get to attend the AFM in November as a guest as well. So I am most grateful for FIND and all the nice perks they give us.

Here's a good article on the rest of the weekend that was in my IndieWire feed this morning that sums up the event rather well.

Last night we began the Producer's Lab. They served us Indian food which along with Greek is probably my favourite. There was wine, another plus, and that seemed to make it slightly less awkward. The group all have varied levels of experience, some come from directing, some from development, some are writers. Myself and one other person seem to be the most experienced at physical production & the overall nuts and bolts of being on set. I was really inspired by some of my colleagues levels of passion for their material. I would certainly see each of their films because they all seem to embody universal themes of human existence: love, tragedy, missed opportunities. Some are already cast with ATL crew attached, some are just scripts (mine), others even have music. We are mostly women, with the exception of our "token male" whose project won the Alfred P Sloan grant of $25,000K. It's an unusual story and I hope it finds an audience. I do wish we were split a bit more between the genders, it's more of a reflection of our audience.

We are reading 2 scripts a week. Mine is up for discussion on October 13 along with one of the most developed projects.

Still no work. I'm getting the feeling that between the incredible upheaval in the global economy and the lingering labour unrest with SAG that this will be a very skinny and tough few months for many of us. What if there is another "Great Depression"? Well, last time we had one of those, people wanted escapist entertainment and someone's got to help make it. Or we can all stay home and eat Depression Cake!