"A young Hal Hartley"

Hey each and all,

Three hours of sleep and fatigue is kicking in. Last night was amazing, absolutely. It went better than I could have imagined.

The screening at 6:30 for friends and family went well. There were a bunch of people that hadn't seen it and they all seemed to enjoy it. They laughed and cheered and I got hugs and handshakes from my nearest and dearest. There were a couple of people I didn't know in there and they seemed to have a good time with it too.

After the screening was over I was ushered back into the room for the Shoot The Writers section. I sat with the other film makers and felt like a bit of a fraud. These guys and girls were older, wiser and considerably richer than I. I felt like I'd crashed a wedding or something.
People filed in students, aspiring writers and media types and they wouldn't stop. It was packed to the rafters and they were turning people away (including The Steve and a bunch of my friends)
Peggy Paterson kicked off the Q and A and I sat there in all my casualness (both in dress and in attitiude) and felt the nerves kick in. When it came for me to speak I was very nervous, honest and more than a little self-deprivating. I had to be. I wasn't on par with the BAFTA award winners and producers so I told it how I saw it. I think the students liked it because of all the other guys were already there and secure. I was (and am) still winging it.
After a threat of only being able to show a clip of 'Death...' I rejoined the crowd to watch the films. The first two were good. They were very serious, gripping films that looked and felt like proper films. They were also very heavy. I wondered what people would think of the jokey-talky effort that would follow.
'Death..' kicked in and so did my nerves. I was expecting no laughs and for it to be cut off at any moment. People laughed and laughed some more. I think that it was because of the response that it played all the way through and got a HUGE round of applause. It really popped. Peggy the organiser, really loved it. I sat next to her and she was laughing from start to finish.
After another Q and A where we had questions from the audience, we filed out to the after show. I'll bullet point the rest of this because of the creeping fatigue.

• I had lots of people come up to me and shake my hand and compliment me. I was thrilled. Some even brought me drinks. I thought: "This is what rock stars must feel like!" There were no strippers or anything.
• Geoff Thompson, writer of 'Brown Paper Bag' (His film played second) said that I "really had something" and that he thought I was going to be huge. His wife loved it too and he said that she doesn't really care much for comedy. He knows Ray Winstone and Paul Abbot! It was a huge compliment. I was honoured.
  
• Another guy said I was like a "young Hal Hartley"
• Peggy said that she was pleased with the film and the way I handled the questions. She suggest another screening of 'Death...' in the near future because she felt that more could be said on the subject and that I was encouraging to students because, well, I'm around their age and I'm really into what I do.
• I was invited to another film screening to meet a reknown director.
• We went to The Planet after for our very own aftershow. I met up with Steve and the others and we did some drinking and dancing.
• I wonder what's going to happen now and next.....