Riley!

So I had a screening of my film last night - and it was fun! We had a couple of "sold out" shows - and by 'sold out' I mean that our RSVP list for each was full a couple of days before the event. We were taking donations so it wasn't like people were purchasing tickets, but it was good to get an idea of how many people would show. We have been VERY disappointed in the past.

I overbooked the theater so luckily we had a few cancellations yesterday - whew! I think everyone who wanted to get in to the 7:15 show did. No one was turned away. We were full for the early show & about 80% for the 2nd show - I'll take it!

It was FUN to watch the film with an audience. FRESH EYES. Eyes that are not related to me by blood or marriage. Eyes that were not simply pre-biased because of our friendships (although lots of those too!). One of my biggest fears going into last night was that people would be disappointed. We worked hard to make this a beautiful, lovely, film and when you put yourself out there, there's always a chance that you will be hurt. Luckily to this point those who did not like have kept their mouths shut. At least to me. And the general FaceBook world.

We've always called RILEY a "romantic comedy" but about 6 months ago Jason & I felt that the film was no longer funny. We'd stripped away so much in the edit that basically it was more romance + drama...with a little comedy. Well, I think we were wrong. I think we had just seen the film WAY TOO MANY TIMES to even remember because the audiences LAUGHED! And they laughed in the right places, and this put a big smile on my face.

The whole process of making RILEY was one of the toughest things I've ever done in my life. It was not all that pleasant. I felt bad...a lot. I felt frustrated, angry and helpless a lot. I felt useless. Spineless. I have learned...a lot. About myself. And so last night when I had an epiphany during the first screening - it was pretty darn cool. I'm NOT a bad director, I'm simply an inexperienced one. I'm not LAZY, I'm overbooked. My ideas are not ridiculous, in fact, they are often spot on. I need to be more confident. I need to stick to my guns. I COULD do this again. I WOULD have a different crew (not entirely...but definitely specifically).

Bubbling with excitement about this new thought (before this I pretty much considered my film career over), I had a really nice conversation with our insanely talented director of photography. I really like working with him. He knows all the technical stuff that I do not, he is mellow, he is nice, he takes really beautiful pictures, and he owns his own camera package. And I really like working with him. He likes working with me too...

You never know....