AT BELLY UP TAVERN

I get the score. I can’t wait to hear it. Should I hear it alone or with the film? I rush home and start listening, but then I start wondering what images the sound corresponds to, so I stop. I sync it up to the film. Wow.

Lesson: If you find the right collaborators, you will never be disappointed.

THE SCORE IS DONE

Cady calls me to inform me that the score is finished. He hopes I like it because they did whatever they wanted since that is what I told them to do.

I am worried. I still don’t have a sound designer. Am I really going to have to do it myself? I don’t know shit about sound.

HYPE-OPP AT THE SDLFF

Dulce and Israel get interviewed about the film and they can’t remember the name of it. They just make up numbers. I get interviewed by Avenida Libre and I can hardly enunciate the numbers and I fumble the synopsis because I am afraid I will mix Spanish and English and I will be called a pocha. It takes us forever, as always, to get out of the theater to go to the party. I start bitching about how we always get to the parties late and the food and booze are gone. Can’t we continue shmoozing at the party? Laura hasn’t even gotten dressed yet, so we have to stop at my apartment on the way to the Westgate. Giancarlo, Israel and I have a beer and watch my silent draft while we wait for Laura to get ready. Finally, we get to the party. Luckily, they still have food in the VIP section. I notice there is a lot more silicon around this year than last and that the hotel is now under fascist management. The security guards walk around with megaphones kicking people out. Of course, no one pays attention and I get in a fight with the security guards. They try to threaten me, but I just call them fascists. This is at the fancy Westgate Hotel. We squeeze into an elevator to go to one of the rooms to continue partying. Laura says that the girls in the room are hookers. How would she know? Just because they look the part doesn’t mean they charge. We get invited to another party downtown, but Laura and Giancarlo insist they want food. We go to a taco stand and I buy us dinner. We go back to the party, but it is dead and it is almost 4 a.m. , so we go home. We have to be back at the theater at 1:30 p.m. for the “Insecto” screening, so we better get to bed soon.

Lesson: You need to be prepared to talk about your film. Memorize and rehearse your spiel. Hype and buzz are key.

SOMETIMES IT IS A CRAPINTOSH!

Shit! I try to burn a DVD and my computer keeps spitting them out. Is it because they are not Apple DVDs?

Natalia and my friend Rafael accompany me to the Casbah. We get there right as the Truckees are starting their set. Later, I tell Cady about the problem with the DVD burning. He tells me there are two types of DVDs: DVD+R and DVD-R. Which one does my computer use? Oops. You learn something every day.

WE CAN LIVE WITH 14:30 MINUTES

We finish the final cut and we celebrate doing a shot of vodka. I think it was vodka.

THE HELL WITH WALTER MURCH

Chris Fernanco, the editor, had previously given me a rough cut which I had not looked at. We watch it together and I notice he has cut out entire sequences. That is not going to happen. I cannot let go. “But Walter Murch says--” nah, it is not happening. The film will be as long as it has to be and not a frame less. So we start all over. Chris asks permission to go to the bathroom. I AM NOT A FASCIST! His roommates are party animals. Chris informs me that he has to take a break from 9 to 10 to watch the Sopranos. His roommate suggests they watch a rerun later in the week since they can’t watch it together because they have guests. Chris is reluctant, but we convince him. I promised the Truckees a final cut on St. Patrick’s Day.

SDLFF OPENING NIGHT

I like being an executive producer. I think I’ll do it more often. At the screening of “When the World Went Away,” Aaron tells me Edgar is waiting for me and he wants to do the sound design. That’s weird. Laura told me Edgar was going to be too busy. After the screening Aaron, Israel, Giancarlo and I go to the opening night party. Free pens from Don Julio tequila, but no free booze--too late getting to the party. We take a few pens each and leave.