CFVF 2003 Festival Summary

The 26th Annual UNCG Carolina Film and Video Festival: "A Whale of a Time"
By: Jaimie C. Parker

My views expressed here about the 2003 Carolina Film and Video Festival (CFVF) are my own, of course, and not those of the University, Department of Broadcasting and Cinema, or the Festival staff. For the opportunity of attending and reviewing the Festival, I would like to extend my special thanks to Dr. John Lee Jellicorse, Dr. Laura Linder, UNCG CFVF Director Chad Phillips, Ann Bryan, Jeri Rowe, and of course Sophie Wight for their help, time, and giving me the opportunity to have "a whale of a time" during the Festival, not to mention the panel of jurors, Leslie Hill, Marian Keane, and Brenda and Michael Lilly. I would also like to thank my friends the filmmakers who shared their time, their stories, and their artistic imaginations: Drew Martin, Kenny Wilson, Jonathan Campbell, Valerie LaPointe, Steven Mantin, Graham Sibley, Michael Kenneth Evans, Parker Bell, Charles Cagle, Mary Dalton, Tom Lipscomb, Tom Mumme, Mike Misconi, and Mike Horan. I cannot wait until the twenty-seventh Annual UNCG CFVF February 18–21, 2004. I hope to see you there.

The UNCG Carolina Film and Video Festival offers an outlet for aspiring filmmakers. Student and independent filmmakers get the opportunity to offer an eclectic glimpse of their artistic expression and expose their imagination. The UNCG CFVF is the longest consecutive running film festival in North Carolina, and entries for the Festival come from all over the world. The preparations for the UNCG CFVF start early in the fall semester, when the panel of sixteen students selected by faculty prescreen all of the entries, for about three hours, twice a week. The films are rated on a scale from one to ten (ten being the highest). The highest rated films make it into the UNCG CFVF. In the two weeks before the UNCG CFVF, it gets extremely hectic for the crew and the Broadcasting and Cinema Department’s faculty--final last minute preparations--but it all pays off in the end.The 2003 UNCG Carolina Film and Video Festival started Wednesday February 19th at 5:00 p.m. with a demonstration of interactive video art engineered the keynote speaker, Zachary Booth Simpson. The audience was encouraged to go up on stage and "interact" with the art. Despite how weird it sounds, I decided to experience this new virtual interactive art. It was a great deal of fun. Simpson created a computer program that projects images on a screen that respond to a person’s shadows like a sensor attached to a burglar alarm system in a house. When I stood in front of the screen and moved my arms, I would attract the images to my shadow. In one demonstration, if I stood still long enough the butterflies projected on the screen might land on the shadow of my shoulder, head, hand, or finger. There were several demonstrations besides the one with butterflies including sand pouring down from the top of the screen and the bubble ball game. In the bubble ball game, I had to use my shadow to separate the different color balls and keep them apart. The balls had a tendency to stick together, but to add to my difficulties I could not reach the entire screen because I am short like some of the others in attendance who participated. But I think the most challenging part of the bubble ball game was, when I separated the different color balls, they reacted like a rubber band being shot and would once again cling with the opposite colored balls.

At 5:30 p.m., after the challenging fun of Zachary Booth Simpson’s interactive art, the Festival crew, the staff, the faculty, the filmmakers, the director of the 2003 scriptwriting showcase, the jurors, as well as the entire UNCG Broadcasting and Cinema faculty, the artists and speakers of the Ashby Dialogues and some faculty from the Art Department, and the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, Dr. Tim Johnston, attended, by invitation only, the opening dinner welcoming the start of the 2003 UNCG CFVF. After everyone ate, Dr. John Lee Jellicorse spoke briefly covering the history and the future of the UNCG CFVF. Special thanks were given to all those in attendance. Dr. Jellicorse turned the floor over to the 2003 Festival Director, Chad Phillips, who introduced and thanked the sixteen-member student crew who began screening and selecting the films in the Festival in the fall semester of 2002. Phillips also introduced Michael Lilly, director of the 2003 scriptwriting showcase, and Parker Bell, an UNCG undergraduate and winner of the scriptwriting competition. After introducing the judges, Brenda Lilly, Leslie Hill, and Marian Keane, Phillips presented each of them and Michael Lilly with a gift basket.

Following the opening dinner, around 7:00 p.m., everyone moved into the Elliot University Center Auditorium for the keynote address by Zachary Booth Simpson, which included a lecture on how he created his interactive video demonstrated earlier. Expanding from his development of video games and sixteen years of professional experience in software development, Simpson has become one of the most innovative interactive artists.

During Simpson’s lecture, in the lobby anxious, eager, and tired from their journey to Greensboro from as far away as Florida and California, the filmmakers began to arrive. As the 2003 elite panel of jurors patiently waited to put their experience and judging skills to the test, the lobby was buzzing with excited and intrigued students, aspiring filmmakers, and movie buffs. Shortly after 8:00 p.m., Festival Director Chad Phillips made a brief introduction, and the first night of competitive screening began. All of those who attended were provided with a glimpse of the filmmakers’ visions.

Wednesday night’s screenings opened with an American Film Institute narrative, Today You Are a Fountain Pen, a cute coming-of-age story about an adolescent boy and the relationship he develops with his grandfather in the days leading up to the boy’s Bar Mitzvah.

Times Square offered a cool and different approach through computer animation to capture the intensity through the images and sounds of Times Square in New York. Times Square won an Honorable Mention.
The cinematography combined with amazing images of nature in the twenty-nine minute film, Yun Yu, helped me to follow the difficult story that often dragged on. Yun Yu also won an Honorable Mention.
One of my favorite documentaries, On Six-Mile Pond, came out of Florida State University. Do you remember when you were little and loved to ride your bike through a mud puddle after a big thunderstorm? I do and I am confident that anyone who did would love the twenty-three minute documentary, On Six-Mile Pond, as much as I did. It is an extreme four-wheeling adventure through some rather large mud puddles. To put it simply and accurately, "mud, sweat, and beers--this is the 4-wheelin’ way of life at its finest." Just imagine the laundry. Much to my disappointment as well as the others who found fun in getting filthy from mud puddles, On Six Mile Pond, did not receive any awards. Hannah Can’t Swim was a unique film. I still do not understand exactly how it ended. Hannah becomes infatuated with Pablo, a stranger on a train, and begins to write him letters and daydreaming about meeting him on her secluded island. Hannah Can’t Swim was also one of the films that received an Honorable Mention.

Bug Beat was an entertaining three-minute computer animated film in which a bug uses small common household items to build himself a drum set. With a straight pin for a drumstick, a thimble for a drum, and a bottle cap for a cymbal, this bug found his beat, at least until, oops, he dropped his drumstick. Bug Beat won the award for the Best Independent Experimental/Animation Film.

From Vassar College, Between Resistance and Community: The Long Island Do-It-Yourself Punk Scene was an interesting look at how teenagers and young adults attempt "to create an alternative community to the dominant, consumerist society." The forty-four minute documentary often dragged. It offered, however, a more productive alternative for young people other than going to the mall. Between Resistance and Community won an Honorable Mention.

Thursday started off at 11:00 a.m. with the first of three free filmmakers’ forums with Valerie LaPointe and Steven Mantin. LaPointe, an artist and painter, created the film Night Light, an experimental animation film including 1,200 individual watercolor paintings, which she painted. Mantin wrote the screenplay for the film, Don’t Nobody Love the Game More Than Me, that was screened Friday evening. I was unable to attend this filmmaker’s forum because I was in class, but I heard throughout Thursday evening by both the filmmakers and students who attended that it was very interesting and fun.

At 2:00 p.m. the 2003 keynote speaker, Zachary Booth Simpson, led a workshop on his innovative interactive video art. Every year, each member of the elite juror panel is asked to provide an hour lecture on the filmmaking and/or the media industry to the students, faculty, and community members who attend. Thus, at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, juror Leslie Hill explained her adventures in "reality television." Hill’s experience dates back over twenty years in producing, writing, and directing. Hill explained the drastic evolution from her days working on one of the originators of "reality television," the docudrama, Rescue 911, to the primetime reality based phenomenon now of shows like Joe Millionaire. I was extremely surprised to find out the target audience for Rescue 911 was from nine to twelve year olds. Hill worked on LA Law as well as Real Stories of the Highway Patrol and has worked on several other documentaries. "A documentarian with a drama background" is how Hill described herself to all those in attendance. In all the reality-based television programs Hill worked on, she strove to "emotionally impact the audience working with the truth." Hill’s lecture lasted about one-hour and was very interesting. She showed several clips from the programs she worked on and explained what the challenges and the rewards were for each story.

Thursday nights’ screenings began at 8:00 p.m. The audience is usually much smaller on Thursday night than any other night of the UNCG CFVF, but in 2003 a large crowd attended. The Festival Director, Chad Phillips, as well as the entire crew was thrilled at the number of people in attendance. A lot of the films on Thursday night dealt with a person’s self-image and self-discovery. Fear of Feathers started the evening offering a great glimpse into male and female anxieties when going on a blind date or just meeting new people.

The college animation film, Gladden, presented a fabulous approach to a person trying to find where they fit in the world and dealing with their insecurities. The emotional film, Love in an Elevator, told the story of "a man, 86, and a woman, 85, both partially paralyzed and confined to wheelchairs, dating each other in a New York City nursing home." Love in an Elevator was a popular choice by audience members but unfortunately did not win any awards. Fanfare for Higher Education had humorous moments but lacked originality because it was so similar to the original Sci-Fi channel program, Mystery Science Theater 2000.

The next film was a student production from the North Carolina School of the Arts, Fallout. In this work, director Will Joines produced a glimpse into "a young girl’s post-apocalyptic journey within." UNCG graduate student, Tom Lipscomb, directed the "wordy" documentary, Atlantic City Scrabble. In this entertaining work, the audience followed one contestant, Barry Keith, while obtaining a glimpse into the intelligent, quirky, and diverse group of people who attended a three-day Scrabble tournament in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Atlantic City Scrabble won Best College/University Documentary.

During the ten-minute intermission, audience members stretched and walked around, preparing for the rest of Thursday evenings films to be shown. Approaching 9:45 p.m. the audience trickled back into the auditorium waiting for the next film to begin. The Hit is a funny independent narrative about a woman who receives a phone call demanding her to go take care of a job. Throughout almost the entire eight-minute film, the audience is led to believe that the woman was a "hit woman" and that she had to murder whomever her boss told her to kill. The Hit ends with the woman delivering a singing telegram to a man celebrating his birthday.

One of the 2002 Festival jurors, Mary Dalton, introduced the 2003 audience to Sam McMillan, an artist who lives in Winston-Salem. As a collector of folk art, Dalton met McMillan, and their friendship blossomed, which inspired her to tell his story. The documentary, Sam McMillan: The Dot Man, is an interesting perspective of one man’s contribution to folk art in the Piedmont Triad. Dalton participated in Friday’s filmmaker’s forum, which is where she expressed that, whenever she visited Sam, she would "automatically feel better." The documentary at times seemed a little long, but the story of McMillan’s life was interesting. The production took one to two days to film with a three-chip mini DV camera and two to three days of editing to complete. The cost of making Sam McMillan: The Dot Man was approximately $650 including one-hundred copies of the documentary given to McMillan. Sam McMillan: The Dot Man won the award for Best Independent Documentary.

One of the Festival’s most beautiful and aesthetically pleasing films was Valerie LaPointe’s Night Light. Entering Night Light as an experimental animation, LaPointe captured the audience’s attention with bright colors and simple evocative images, which was explained best in the Festival program: "Completed with nearly 1,200 individual watercolor paintings, Night Light explores the spiral of existence, the complex and delicate nature of life, that even when shaken with loss, continues through memory and pursues with hope." Night Light debuted at the 2003 UNCG CFVF. LaPointe expressed her initial concern and fear about entering Night Light in a film festival, but after winning an Honorable Mention she was reassured that she made the right choice; and more than likely she will enter Night Light into other film festivals.

Parameters, an experimental black and white film about a young man’s struggle that ends in more than one death, was directed and written by UNCG undergraduate, Charles Cagle. Parameters raised an interesting question about a person’s inner strength and dealing with the decisions one makes. At Friday’s filmmaker’s forum, Cagle and Parameters' director of photography, Chris Schwab, explained the secret of how to create "realistic" blood--chocolate syrup, an old trick of the trade. Audience members questioned the meaning of Parameters during the filmmaker’s forum because the audience members were unsure of how the story fit together. Cagle and Schwab discussed issues common and well know to young college filmmakers, including acquiring equipment and attracting sufficient actors to auditions.

Closing Thursday nights’ screenings was Speck, which continued the evening’s theme of a character’s self-discovery and how one deals with his or her insecurities. The main character, Sam, creates his own reality to deal with his problems and insecurities within himself and in dealing with women. Speck was a humorous approach of Sam’s desire, which everyone faces at some point in life: to be accepted and be happy with whom they are. There is a "speck" of Sam in all of us.

On Friday, at 10:00 a.m. a long day of Festival events started with a presentation by Piedmont Triad Film Commission Director, Rebecca Clark. Clark expressed appreciation to UNC Greensboro’s Department of Broadcasting and Cinema for keeping the Commission going until 30 June 2003 by providing temporary financial support. She reviewed the purposes of the Commission, especially in terms of how it can assist young filmmaker such as those showing their work at the Festival. Clark noted the importance of the Commission’s Production Guide, and she encouraged serious filmmakers to submit their information for inclusion in the new edition of the Guide.

CFVF in association with the UNCG Art Department introduced the Ashby Dialogues as part of the 2003 Festival. The Ashby Dialogues was presented by the UNCG CFVF to help explain the present and future techniques of collaboration among artists with different backgrounds in interactive and web video. At noon, UNCG alumnus and an integrated media artist. Lukasz Lysakowski, discussed his approach to performing with "real-time video improvisation ensemble." The second free filmmaker’s forum began promptly at 2:00 p.m. Mary Dalton, filmmaker of Sam McMillan: The Dot Man, and director/writer Charles Cagle and director of photography Chris Schwab of Parameters spoke to community members and students. Festival Director, Chad Phillips, led the filmmaker’s forum by introducing the two approximately five minute clips that led into the forum. After the audience viewed the clips, Phillips started by asking some basic questions, which included the filmmaker’s inspiration and biographical as well as general background information. This gave the audience a few minutes to warm up to the filmmakers. Within about five minutes, the audience embraced their role and began asking questions. Discussion focused on the controversial storyline of Parameters as well as matters of budget, the timeline to complete a film, the filmmakers’ inspirations as well as the advice for other filmmakers on making films and entering them in festivals.

Between 3:00 and 4:00 p.m. I had the pleasure of starting but not finishing my interview, until Saturday afternoon, with the producer/editor, Mike Misconi, cinematographer/editor, Tom Mumme, and writer/director, Mike Horan, the production team of The Treaty. After coming all the way from Florida, these guys were so much fun to hang out with because they fed off of each other both creatively as well as sarcastically with friendly banter almost like siblings. They would, as I would put it bluntly, "take the free cheap shots or bust each others chops" when the opportunity arose. After an hour of interviewing--well actually a discussion and bantering--I discovered three incredibly talented filmmakers. Mumme played the role as the big brother, "the older wiser one" who said, "I know I never shut-up. These guys can never get a word in edgewise." Misconi played the role of the middle child, finding the most rational and best way of doing things, which is why he was the producer handling the finances and a good deal of the publicity of the film. Horan definitely fit the role of the youngest brother but in a positive way with the necessary attitude: I am going to tackle the world innocently with the responsible realization that it requires determination and hard work. Horan adapted The Treaty from a friend’s short story. Horan answered my favorite question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" without missing a beat: "A space-ninja jet pilot." I was speechless because he answered creatively and with imagination. Even Mumme and Misconi seemed slightly surprised by Horan’s quick wit and had to stop before they answered the question. Mumme said that, when he grows up, he wants to "get paid for doing what I love." Misconi aspires to "be a filmmaker in Hollywood and make money." I am sure each of these guys will reach the dreams they have set out for themselves both as individuals and as a group. Before we realized it, it was 4:00 p.m. and the second juror lecture was about to begin.

Author and critic Marian Keane discussed with a fairly large audience her enthusiasm for Alfred Hitchcock and more specifically Hitchcock’s movie Notorious. Between showing clips and lecturing about the film, Keane was animated, displaying her passion and understanding of the world of Alfred Hitchcock and his films. For example, Keane explained about Notorious that "the greatest or at least one of the greatest love stories is women’s quest to get a man to say three little words, ‘I love you.’" Once in a while, Keane would get distracted from the topic and would get extremely involved with one of the clips she presented almost like a child on Christmas morning staring excitedly at the presents Santa put under the tree. Keane explained the drinking metaphor by Ingrid Bergman’s character because "this is important because Sebastian and his mother try and poison her." Keane was quick on the draw with both knowledge and humor, making the juror lecture more interesting and fun.

Friday at CFVF 2003 continued at 7:00 p.m. with integrated media artist and UNCG alum, Lukasz Lysakowski, presenting a documentary covering the 242 Pilots performance cooperative in which he and his colleagues work on developing interactive video art. As Festival attendees entered the lobby area just outside the Elliot Center Auditorium, they caught a glimpse an interactive video art display. A man wearing shorts lay on bubble wrap in what looked like a human-sized aquarium with electrodes attached to his head that ran to a computer monitor on top of his sealed fish tank. The monitor depicted his "dreams." The Festival goers, the jurors, the filmmakers, and the Festival crew including me were caught off-guard and very curious about the man and his dreams on display. With raised eyebrows, many thought it was just plain funny and tried to get the attention of the man in the tank. I overheard several people wonder, "How is he breathing in there?" "Is he alive?" "How did he get in there?" "Is that a real person?" To add to the spectator’s humor, jurors, students, Festival crewmembers, filmmakers, and audience members began taking pictures of this unique art, essentially interacting with the video art.

Juror Brenda Lilly inspects the "Dreaming Man" installation

As 8:00 p.m. approached and the lobby filled, more wide-eyed spectators gathered around the oversized aquarium. Then it was show time, and they moved into the auditorium scouting the perfect seat for the final night of competitive screenings. The Festival Director, Chad Phillips, introduced Friday nights’ screenings. Flirting with Death, the second American Film Institute narrative in the 2003 Festival, was hysterical. Many audience members understood Mort Alvinson’s misery in life. After a near death experience, Mort falls in love with the beautiful angel of death, a girl he had a crush on in high school. Mort attempts to die to get back to his love despite the discouragement of his guardian angel. Mort will not give up until he gets his "true love." Between the story and the cinematography, Flirting with Death was one of the highest rated films by the student judge panel during the "pre-screenings." Flirting with Death won Best College/University Narrative, a well-deserved honor.

The Big White Wall, a story about one man’s happiness blocked by an oversized, white wall, was the creation of filmmaker Jonathan Campbell after he came across the wall in Burlington, North Carolina. During the third filmmaker’s forum, Campbell explained that he was satisfied with The Big White Wall’s screening. "People laughed and were quiet in the right places," but he was still unsure of the response. The thirty-two minute film was a little long, but extremely impressive was the use of color temperature to match the moods of the old man and his neighbor as well as the light from the sun and the shadow of the wall in the sun.
Intelligent Life, a cool computer animation, was great for a simple laugh. As described in the Festival program, the story asks the question, "Does intelligent life exist? A clumsy robot, a ship full of micro aliens, and a troupe of showbiz clams have the answer." The audience responded with giggles to the subtle jokes made by these adorable aliens that look like a teardrop with a face. Intelligent Life won Best College/University Experimental/Animation.

Don’t Nobody Love the Game More Than Me, a guy flick about basketball, was a great story written by Steven Mantin. The drawback of the film, however, was the repetition of the characters announcing, "Don’t nobody love the game more than me." It was funny the first few times but after that it became rather monotonous and took away from the idea of the story. The cinematography attempted some different angles while the characters were on the basketball court, which added a great element and really fit the story. Don’t Nobody Love the Game More Than Me received an Honorable Mention.

A funny look at a school bus demolition derby, Just Like Golf, was a crowd pleaser that offered a unique perspective of a rural town in New York. Do you remember as a kid in elementary school going through school bus fire drills? I found it hysterical watching the backs of busses get stuck together as another bus would plow into the body of the one of the now Siamese busses. The contestants worked very hard on their busses as if they were perfecting their golf swing or their putting. However, this "sport" is not Just Like Golf. I was disappointed Just Like Golf did not receive any awards.

Intermission began at 9:35 p.m., and the audience mingled among each other, giggling with others about the films they just saw. Everyone moved back into the auditorium for the last of the Festival’s competitive screenings. Straight Away debuted at 9:45 p.m. at the UNCG CFVF. Director Michael Kenneth Evans and actor Graham Sibley attend the Festival, flying in Wednesday night from California just in time to catch the first night of competitive screenings. Straight Away was a fabulous and very realistic portrayal of the difficulties of every relationship. This coming to terms film dealt with the touchy subject of homosexual feelings. During Saturday’s filmmaker’s forum, Festival Director Phillips brought up the "touchy" subject matter of Straight Away. Evans and Sibley were extremely pleased with Straight Away’s screening as well as the audience’s reaction. The saturated colors changed to match the various moods of the film. Both Evans and Sibley attended the group interview, which was an extension of the filmmaker’s forum that turned into a round table discussion. Evans commented that Straight Away was a "great learning experience" and that the UNCG CFVF was "a great place to premier." Sibley is "living a dream" and thought Evans was a good director because "a good director gives and puts trust in an actor." Straight Away received an Honorable Mention.

Jon Rotan entered the 2003 Festival with Note to Self. In 2002 he had been cinematographer for the UNCG CFVF winner in the category of Best College/University Narrative for the American Film Institute film, Boris. Note to Self was funny, offering an appealing approach to "A nightclub singer juggles too many women at the same time--while trying to remain suave and keep his sanity."

Traveling all the way from Florida to the Festival for the screening of The Treaty were Mike Misconi, Tom Mumme, and Mike Horan. The Treaty tackled a serious issue, fate. The program description summed up the story of the film best: "What if your fate had already been decided for you? What if your faith didn’t matter?" What if you had control over your own soul? That is the position that Joe, an everyday man, finds himself in." The audience’s reaction to The Treaty was great, and the filmmakers were extremely pleased. Misconi, Horan, and Mumme participated in Saturday’s filmmaker forum and the round table discussion offering advice to future filmmakers. The advice included "persistence and passion" from Mumme, keeping up with the "timing and pacing of the film" from Misconi, and Horan mentioned--despite that many other filmmakers may disagree--"shoot on film." The Treaty received an Honorable Mention.

The final film screened in the 2003 CFVF Festival was Fudgie and Jane. Fudgie and Jane was a different and hysterical approach to the silly yet emotional junior high romance: Do you like me? Check one yes or no. Giggles spread through the audience like a wild fire when Fudgie, an ice cream store mascot, would go to extreme lengths to win the affection of a struggling college student, Jane. Commuting back and forth between Raleigh and Greensboro, director Drew Martin and cinematographer Kenny Wilson participated in the third filmmaker’s forum. Wilson explained, "it’s about choices" to the entire group of filmmakers from Saturday’s forum that emerged into a round table discussion. Martin explained the idea behind the story of Fudgie and Jane "originated with an incident of a mascot." Some advice from Martin included, "I don’t really have a lot of advice for anybody because I haven’t figured out all the answers yet." Both Martin and Wilson were pleased with the audience’s response. Fudgie and Jane won Best Independent Narrative as well as the Kodak Award for Best Cinematography.

Around 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning in the Elliot University Center auditorium, audience members gathered for the staged reading of Forever Overhead, which won the 2003 scriptwriting competition. Written by UNCG senior Parker Bell, Forever Overhead originally was written for his scriptwriting class. Eric Rankins and Zora Medor judged the 2003 Scriptwriting competition. Rankins won last year’s scriptwriting competition, and Medor directed the staged reading of Rankins’s winning script. Michael Hunter Lilly directed the staged reading of Bell’s Forever Overhead. An UNCG Theatre alumnus, Lilly’s experience ranges from plays, television, and movies. Lilly offered words of encouragement to Bell. The audience enjoyed Forever Overhead and the humor and antics of cold feet before a wedding. The story is told through a series of flashbacks to the summer when the couple first met at the local public pool all the way to the day before their wedding.

The staged reading of Forever Overhead ended about an hour before the final of the filmmaker’s forums. Promptly at 1:00 p.m. Director Phillips introduced the panel of filmmaker’s to the audience. The panel included from Straight Away, director Michael Kenneth Evans and actor Graham Sibley; from The Treaty, director and writer Mike Horan, producer and editor Mike Misconi, and cinematographer and editor Tom Mumme; from Fudgie and Jane, director Drew Martin and cinematographer Kenny Wilson; and from The Big White Wall, director and writer Jonathan Campbell. After each of the guys introduced himself and his educational background, the forum began with questions about each film’s budget. The forum discussed the controversial issues within each film. The panel’s animation grabbed the audience’s attention as the forum maintained a fast pace all the way to the end. A conversation among the filmmaker’s emerged on the stage. Phillips pointed out the brief appearance of Tom Mumme and Mike Horan sitting at a coffee shop in the film, The Treaty. Mumme and Horan chuckled as Mumme explained to the audience, "We were discussing the next scene. You guys shoot this we’re gonna discuss what we’re gonna shoot next." The audience and the panel all laughed. Issues of audience reaction were dealt with in detail Panelist Misconi explained: