Cucalorus Paper

Films I saw:

1. Princess

2. Trinidad Shorts

3. 10X10 Connect commercials

4. The Devil's Candy

5. TAG

6.Wilmington on Fire

7. Hazing: How Badly Do You Want In? 

I had a Pegasaurus pass for last year’s Cucalorus, so I was able to see clearly that they must have lost a sponsor, and I thought the way they handled that was interesting. The swag bags took a hit – last year a t-shirt was included and the tote was a better quality. The food, beverages, and venue also took a hit. It didn’t seem like a bad thing, but it changed the tone of the festival. The open bar, and the amount of food they served would not work for visions.

I talked to a lot of the members of the staff, as well as Dan for a short period of time. The staff didn’t feel as though they had specific jobs, and that the animations and bumpers didn’t have a strong theme. I thought this was weird to say, because their art was similar to past years. They had red solo cups that they sold which played off the fact that it was their 21^st anniversary. I saw that they had a lot of different aspects that they pulled from, and this year’s theme didn’t seem as fully developed as last year’s “Chicken & Waffles” theme. I think it worked for them though, because the festival is already out there and weird.  

I spent a good amount of time in the lounge this year between screenings. They had popcorn all weekend and the same drinks. The atmosphere was laid back, but not many people were mingling. It broke off into cliques pretty quickly, which was not good for connecting. You kind of had to force your way into the conversations. Michelle and I developed a strategy at Virginia where you made up a ridiculously dressed person and open up the conversation by asking if they had seen him around. It was a good way in, and we always left a business card at the end. ($8 for 250 @Staples). I think for Visions we should have the Visions staff be the people who make others (as well as themselves) mingle at the after party. I also like that we have forced bonding time with the video race. Cucalorus does similar bonding with their connect sessions.

I would not like to be a mediator.  I feel like people would talk over me and we would never get anywhere, ever. Maybe I would like to be an usher? I honestly wouldn’t like to have any job at the festival the day of besides talking to people and getting them comfortable, or being stationed somewhere to make sure people get where they need to go – making sure people are where they need to be is my thing. I think I enjoy the back work of the festival atmosphere more.