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I'd like to extend my sincere and most heartfelt apologies to those who have waited so patiently for my blog to take shape.
A combination of extreme technical difficulty and general inability to manage my time has resulted in my not being able to pour my heart and soul out onto the computer screen.
But here I am, having far too much to say in one short sitting. Thus I am going to organize my prelimary thoughts in point form and blogs of greater eloquence will materialize in the next few days.
Now please turn off your pagers and cellphones, and DO enjoy this very short summary.
TOP FIVE THINGS THAT I'D LIKE TO SHARE ABOUT MY FIRST FIVE DAYS AT TIFF
1) I've seen a lot of movies. Yes this is the first thing I'd like to share and probably the most important. Orginally I had planned on listing them all here to remind myself for future reference, but I think that might be exceptionally boring to read.
So here's the bottom line - I have not seen one film that I haven't thoroughly enjoyed in some capacity. Soaring above all the rest for me is Lea Pool's Maman est chez la coiffeur, which made me cry embarassing croco-sized tears and want to take up filmmaking. My runner-up list would include Cooper's Camera (I'm off to the premiere tonight), JCVD, Borderline, Under Rich Earth and White Night Wedding. Reviews of some of these will follow shortly.
2) I've seen a lot of stars. Don't pretend like you don't want to know who I've seen on my travels. Here's a quick list: Dakota Fanning, Ralph Fiennes, Scott Speedman, Lebron James, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson, Liam Neeson, Michael Beaver, Fabrizio Filippo etc etc. If all goes according to plan, then this list will continue to grow, grow and grow some more.
3) I've gotten lots of writing experience. This is probably the greatest part of this experience so far for me. I have done SO much work and spilled out SO many articles since I've gotten here. So far (for the Festival Daily) I have written twelve film summaries, a big fat feature (and soon-to-be cover story) on the movie Down to the Dirt, a Q & A with movie producer Rob Merilees and two articles detailing the goings-on in Yonge and Dundas Square. I am also filing a piece for the Toronto Star on Tuesday. My clippings-books is getting thicker and thicker and I could NOT be happier about that.
4) I've made a lot of good contacts: I'm not going to go into great detail about this, but I must say that I feel like I am completely set to take on the arts-reporting world once I graduate. Everyone has been infinitely helpful, offering up tons of advice, encouragement and contact information. A special shout out to my editor Hailey Eisen, who has been AWESOME, even in her most delirious of moments.
5) I've had lots of fun: A quick glance over this blog so far and it would seem that this mentorship were over. But it ain't! It's just beginning. I have a whole week left to PACK full of stuff. But so far, I've been on the red carpet, I've been to press conferences, today I went to the big CFC barbeque hosted by Norman Jewison, I've gone to parties, met a million fascinating individuals. This really is a changing time in my life and there is still so much to come. Hurray!
Alright well I am going to hammer out a quick story for my 7:00 deadline and then I'm going to head out to the Cooper's Camera premiere. What happens afterwards is up to the powers that be, but let's knock on wood that I get to hang with Samantha Bee and Jason Jones at the CC afterparty.
Signing off for now, but I vow to blog daily from here on in, and get to the real nitty gritty of this crazy experience.
Toodles!
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