Right after the animated shorts screening, I rushed downtown to go to the film maker’s welcome party at Ember. The bar inside wasn’t very crowded, but I noticed on of the large glowing Orbs that Full Sail uses to advertise. Ember has a large outdoor area with three different bars. The woman at the entry asked if I was there for the Florida Film Festival party and when I said I was, she gave me a leather trinket which was good for one Peroni beer and a red rubber wrist band which was good for Macker’s mark which is a brand of Bourbon. I immediately stepped up to one of the bars and asked for a Peroni. I then wandered around wondering what I should draw. I rather liked the tall arched architecture of this bar in the corner, so I sat at a wrought iron table and got to work.
It would be nice to say that I networked with some high powered Hollywood types but that didn’t happen. There was a brightly lit area where a photographer shot pictures of people. Rather than rather than doing any high powered networking, I just sipped my beer and watched the crowd. As I was sketching in the people, I realized that I recognized a local theater producer, so I stopped sketching for a moment and wandered over to shake his hand. One of the owners of the Plaza theater also spoke to me for a while and that contact might result in my covering more musical acts at that venue.
Once my sketch was finished, I packed up my art supplies and headed home. I didn’t cash in my free Bourbon, I’m not even sure I would have liked a Bourbon, I never tasted one. I will have to leave that life experience for another day.
2 thoughts on “Florida Film Festival – Filmmaker Welcome Party”
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Your work is awesome. I can only imagine the kind of discipline it takes to not talk to people and just do the work. I would have been way too distracted. In fact, I would have taken a photo and then sketched it later. Of course, it would have been vacant of soul and without the heat of the moment. Unfortunately, I missed the Filmmakers welcome at Ember. Instead, you have provided something no picture can capture, the soul. Great work.
Thanks so much Gabriel.