The Indy Fringe Film Festival has been going on for the past couple weeks. The third and final week is Labor Day weekend and I was lucky enough to be back in Indy to be a part of it.
My mom and I went downtown and to the Lockerbie Center area to put up Getting Lucky posters at local businesses, restaurants, and store fronts. It was nice to see so many generous people willing to support my film and the film festival. Not only was I putting up posters for the screening of Getting Lucky at the Indy Fringe Festival, but I also put up and handed out flyer's for my next film, No One Island. People were very responsive and were intrigued by the fact that I was a native Hoosier and had a film in the local film festival!
The screening was on Saturday. We entered a beautiful building downtown where the architecture appeared to be early Victorian constructed around the 1890's. On the ground floor was a hip coffee house with all kinds of art work displayed from artists from around the city.
I got a latte and within minutes my friend, Erin Patrick came in with her mom, her friend, and Erin's boyfriend. It was good to see them all and seeing Erin again was a treat--I haven't seen her in years.
Next, my friend from when I was 6 years old, Holly, came in with her sister Karen. Holly gave me a big hug and said to me "I knew you would be a big star by all the shows we use to put on for people at your house." Wow, she has a good memory! Again, it's good to see her and her sister and it was nice to reminisce and catch up.
I then got a call from one of my dearest friends, Judith,--- she was lost. I went outside and flagged her down and showed her where to park. She is one my closest friends and I was thrilled to have her be a part of seeing Getting Lucky on the big screen.
The film festival was about to start so we all filed into the screening room/area. It's always a bit nerve wracking when you screen your film. I knew I was surrounded by people that loved and supported me, but there were other people there that I didn't know --maybe because I'm my own worst critic---in any event, I was nervous and excited at the same time.
We got upstairs and there was a decent crowd--granted I had quite a posse come out and support me and my film, but for Labor Day weekend, when most people go away for the long holiday, I was glad to see a nice crowd come out and support the Indy Fridge Festival.
I was intrigued by this particular short film line up. There were six films and Getting Lucky was the only comedy in the line up. There were several dark, heavy, dramas and several with some graphic violence. When Getting Lucky came on the screen, people were laughing continuously. It probably was to my benefit, as Getting Lucky was the comedic relief from the other films. People seemed to thoroughly enjoying it.
Afterwards, my friends, mom, and I went down to the coffee house on the ground floor and chatted about the various films as well as talked about Getting Lucky. We literally shut the place down on a Saturday night!
As I was thanking my friends for coming to the screening and saying good-bye to them, I thought to myself, this was truly special--to see my film on the big screen with the love and support of family and friends. It truly meant a great deal to me, so I want to take a moment to thank all who came out to the Indy Fridge Film Festival to support the festival and my film, Getting Lucky.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I was literally exhausted the next day. I had been running non-stop for the past 4 days and my body was now saying, "enough". I went up to see my dad and spent some time with him. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather, sunny, and about 75 degrees. I went for a swim in the lake and simply relaxed. It was a nice lazy Sunday and I did just that.
I was a little sad leaving Indy on Monday. I had such an amazing week, but more importantly, I was not only able to share my film with my family and friends, but I also was able to spend some time with them, which is probably the greatest gift of all---time.
