Late in the summer of 2007, my partner, Robin, and I sat in a dirty little diner in downtown L.A., wondering why we’d wasted close to two grand of our company’s money to attend the L.A. Shorts Festival. A few months earlier, we were elated that our short film, “The Apartment,” had been accepted into a festival that we thought would have us rubbing elbows with Hollywood’s movers and shakers. But the only thing moving and shaking that cloudy day in September was my stomach from the greasy burger and fries I ate at the diner. Movie night at my sleep away camp was better organized and had more attendees than the festival we had trekked three-thousand miles to get to. And as I sat in a nearly empty theater, watching the film I’d slaved for two years to produce premiere in front of a homeless guy and some dude in a trench coat, I couldn’t help but feel that I’d have been better off premiering “The Apartment” at Camp Nachas.
On my flight back to New York, I vowed that from then on I would only submit films to festivals that would provide me with something more than jetlag, indigestion and a four-figure Amex bill. But short of the major festivals like Sundance, Cannes, and Tribeca, I knew of almost none that offered filmmakers a serious opportunity to showcase their wares in front of an audience that mattered. And since you need to either be a celebrity or have one in your film to get into one of the big festivals, I thought I, and every other filmmaker like me, was doomed to submitting films to festivals that would have me longing for those warm summer nights in upstate New York, watching Jane Fonda in “Cat Ballou” projected onto the side of a sports equipment shack.
The more filmmakers I spoke with, the more I realized there was a need for a professional, fun-filled festival that spotlighted independent artists from around the world without catering strictly to celebrities. That’s when the idea for WILLiFEST was born. I wasn’t entirely sure where and when to begin, but I knew I was about to embark on an exciting journey that I hoped would end in creating my very own film and music festival right here in New York City.
I’ll be posting regularly about my experiences trying to get this festival off the ground so check back often. In the meantime, visit http://www.willifest.com for more details about WILLiFEST and the exciting events we’re hosting throughout NYC to prepare for the debut on September 23, 2010 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
