Another long drought between posts, sorry about that all. It's been a ridiculous month, and I've barely had time to sleep let alone blog.
So then. August, Part 1.
So when I last posted, I was preparing for the trip to Indianapolis. Broken Wall Films was bringing Something Remote to Gen Con Indy 2010, and most of the film's backbone was going along with. Alex Laferriere (director) and Steve DiTullio (assistant producer) were there on business, with C/J Haley, myself, and John Selig (leads) there to advertise and support. Dustin Deren (from the Fucked by Fear trailer), Matt Lowe and Neal Humphrey (the basis for my and C/J's characters Mat and Neil) and Scott Steinmetz came as well to check out the con.
But before we could get there, we had to get there. Seven of us (Neal and Scott flew) packed into the Dadmobile (Al's dad's van) and headed out Tuesday night. Fifteen hours later, we arrived at the Indianapolis Hilton. Sleep was had by most on the road. But not me. Oof.
Anyway, Wednesday was mostly getting acclimated to Indy (gorgeous city, by the way; if I had to leave New England/New York forever, I might set up shop in Indy first). We were all introduced to the wonder (read: delicious weight-gainer) that is Steak & Shake. Awesome. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to make any broad generalizations about the citizens of Indianapolis... but I felt very average-sized there. Even a little on the little side. There were some school buses disguised as people walking down the street. I feel like Steak & Shake had something to do with that.
Anyway, here's where it got problematic. My phone died the moment we landed in Indy. And the charger I had packed turned out to be a charger for my old phone. And thus, not useful. What's more, the Voyager has a very uncommon charger type, so no one had a compatible one. On top of this, the hotel did not have free WiFi. The lobby had WiFi... for $3. For 15 minutes. You could get it in your room, too. For more money. For less time.
Not happening. So no blogs happened while I was out, because of that. Honestly, I was pretty much entirely incommunicado, not by choice. Anyway, Wednesday and Thursday were spent mostly checking out the convention, hanging out with John, Dustin, and C/J. Friday, John and I hit the floor to help Al and Steve with advertising. We were psyched to see that many of the people we spoke to wound up at the screening itself.
Speaking of which, right before our screening, as we waited outside, we were pleasantly surprised to find that a line had formed. For Something Remote. For us. At a 30,000-participant convention. Hell yes. Anyway, right before we went in, I nudged John to have him make one last pitch to a guy and girl at the table right next to our screening room in the Westin. Most of us head in, followed soon by the pair John just talked to, yelling "Wait, this is Clerks.!?" "No, this is Something Remote. It's better than Clerks., it's in color!" (our manner of trying to hook people with an unexpected pitch; most of us are actually Clerks./Kevin Smith fans). They were not pleased to see us claim to one-up Clerks. I was a little nervous at this point. But we convinced them to sit and at least put the movie to the test.
And so the movie screened. To an audience of about three dozen of the most receptive people who have ever laid eyes on our film. Most notably... the pair that walked in at the end. They (and a few others) threw some audience participation in that really got everyone comfortable and made the experience even more enjoyable for everyone. When the film wrapped, there was some Q&A with the cast and crew (my first real Q&A!) and we wound up spending half an hour talking up the pair, who I've now dubbed our new favorite fans. While we managed to give them contact stuff for us and BWF in general, we stupidly neglected to ask their names. D'oh. Hoping we encounter them on the web someday.
The rest of my time in Indy was mostly split between playing various Zombies!!! games and hitting up the video gaming rooms with C/J, John, and Dustin. Rock Band was desynched (booooo), which made it almost unplayable for some songs. I found out that Ninja Gaiden is impossible to play, that my Button Mash Fu still works in Soul Calibur IV, and that I am the Holy DJ of Greatness sent to Earth to impress literally tens of ladies with my mad DJ Hero skills. Oh yes.
Sunday was pretty slow. Wandered the exhibition hall checking out stuff and managed to encounter Root Jack, an orange root beer. Oh yes. Rather than splurge on a $40 case, we decided to buy them individually, which meant going down to "Scotty's", which we assumed to be a convenience store of some sort. No, this was Scotty's Brewhouse, a kickass nerdy little bar/pub. How nerdy? They were celebrating Gen Con by playing the three Lord of the Rings movies back to back to back. And one of the guys in charge chatted us up about how long it's been since he gamed, and GCI '11 events he'd be hosting in the bar next year. And then proceeded to convince me to eat the most amazing thing I've ever tasted. A half pound burger patty, cheddar cheese, bacon, jalapeños, and peanut butter. Godly. Oh yes. And then we walked back to the Hilton for the long road back. The eighteen-hours-long road back. And once again, no sleep was had by Rickie-D.
I arrived home, and fell asleep. It was great.
Until the next post soon arrives,
rickie-d
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