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I’m back in Chicago and miss Cannes already. I started organizing my pictures to post online and realize how amazing the whole experience was. I’ve already received e-mails from people I had met during the festival. It was great to meet filmmakers from around the world. Hopefully Dave and I will return next year. (He did help me pack and see me off!) Thanks to everyone who took the time to read the blog. We appreciate the support!

Special thanks to David Hauka and George Johnson, as well as the VFS mentors on the program, Sebastien de Castell and Bun Lee : )

Until next year…

Robin

Off to Nice!

So, it’s really sad, but our Cannes adventure has come to an end.  I helped Robin pack in a rush this morning and put her on a bus to Nice airport.  I’m staying around until the 30th.  Tomorrow I head of to Nice (pronounced NEES) to spend two days before jetting on back to Vancouver.

It’s sad, but I know I’m leaving here with a whole new group of friends and contacts.  I have every intention of keeping contact with these talented filmmakers I’ve met.  Hopefully if things work out I’ll be back here next year.

Thank you to all of you who followed my adventure in this amazing place.  I enjoyed sharing every moment with you.

Bye for now  (until next year….?)

Dave Roncin

droncin@vfs.com

Wrapping things up

Hi again

So, it’s winding down.  They’ve begun to dismantle things and you can feel the energy around you starting to cool.  The awards will be tomorrow as well as the re-screening of everything.  We’re all trying to make sure we’ve got everyone’s contact info together so we can collaborate on future projects.

This has been an experience I find hard to fully convey.  It’s overwhelming how much I’m going to be taking away from this.  I’d like to say a big thank-you to anyone and everyone who made it possible for me.

 Until next time…

Results are in!

Hey everybody!  Congrats by the way to the community team from VFS for winning the community doc competiti0n.  I was most impressed.

So, we didn’t win best doc, but we picked up a few other awards:  Best Team Collaboration, Emerging Cinematographer, Emerging Editor, and Emerging Post Production (graphics, etc.)  We also made it into the top 5 (some kind of honorable mention, point system…I don’t know, but it’s all good.)

Can’t believe things are winding down.  We’ve been having such an amazing experience.  Went to Scorsese’s master class yesterday and was inspired all over again.  ‘Hope to catch a few more movies before packing it in.  I, like Robin, plan to enter a short next year so I can return in search of financing for projects and networking opportunities.

Until next time…

Two Days Left

Yesterday they handed out the awards for the competition.  My group didn’t win anything, but it’s been great being here and having the whole experience.  Dave’s group won an award for best collaboration, so I was excited for them. I’m submitting a short doc for next year, so will hopefully be able to return in 2008.  I’m spending my last two days going to as many movies as possible.  I hope to see Ocean’s 13 this afternoon.  We heard Robert Duvall speak at the American Pavilion yesterday. I think the most valuable part of the festival experience has been listening to the speakers discuss their process of making films.  I’ve taken a lot of footage with my camcorder, so will put something together when I return.

La Fin!

Hey all!  It’s done!  The doc is finished and on the website.  Today I go to see Martin Scorsese give a master class.  Then we put on our tuxes and go to the awards ceremony for our docs.  It’s been a long and exciting haul.  After today we are just going spend time watching movies and hanging out on the beach.

 See the doc at reelideasstudio.com, go to Team Cre8iv’s journal and look at our latest journal entry.  Tell every single person you know, because we need a lot of hits on this site.

Until next time

Cut!

So, we’re cutting like mad.  The hours of the student union are going to be extended indefinitely.  Ai Lene is splicing her heart out while Tarik is perfecting our post effects.  I, meanwhile am watching with enthusiasm – (Oh, the work of a director is never done.)

Honestly though, I’m feeling very enthusiastic.  I’ve been blessed with such a talented team that I know we’ll end up with something great.  After the doc is completed we plan to fill up our time with seeing as many movies as possible.  (Again, isn’t it a hard life?)

I’ll keep you updated.

Dave R

Michael Moore

We saw the screening of Sicko yesterday and had the opportunity to film the Michael Moore private Q & A session with all the students afterwards.  He ended up asking us questions at the end about what we thought of his film. I highly recommend seeing the movie when it gets released. I also finally made it to the red carpet last night for Gus Van Sant’s, Paranoid Park.  One of my favorites as well.  Tonight’s our last night to work on our docs.  It’ll be interesting to see how they turn out. There’s so much to do between the filming, movies and parties, I’m thinking I won’t get caught up on sleep until I get back. 

Filming

Yesterday we finished filming.  One of our interviewees is in
L.A. so we planned to videotape the interview through Skype, however we kept losing our internet connection, so we ended up recording a phone interview.  We had to place the boom next to the cell phone speaker and surprisingly the audio turned out clear, except for two trains passing by towards the end.  Today we’re assembling the rough cut, so we should start to see our doc come together pretty quickly.   Wednesday is the deadline!  I’m learning through making this doc to make the most out of limited time and resources.  Today, they arranged a private Q & A session with Michael Moore after the screening of his new film, Sicko.  I also had the chance to film a speaker panel with Harmony Korine, one of my favorite writers/directors, so that’s been the highlight of this whole experience and surpassed any expectation.  I have to figure out a way to come back next year because the opportunities here are amazing!

More at Cannes.