(Completing advice and lessons learned for the benefit of those who travel to further their creativity at conventions and festivals.)
21) As Weird as it Gets, There’s Always Stranger Places to Go, Continued.
As fascinating as any convention or festival may be, nothing beats an awards dinner for sheer sensory overload.And WorldFest Houston did not disappoint. Whenever there is an opportunity to experience one, nominated or note, my advice is … see that show!
The PreShow: It began calmly, as all wild nights do. People from various continents began to gather…
The waiting area was walled with film banners…
And the usual suspects began to show up…
And so did these guys, because Texas or Mexico, this is the music of the region…
And there was traditional cultural dress everywhere; Chinese, Korean, Italian, French…
Yep, that’s a cowboy couple on the couch and this guy in the center was one of a group wearing kilts.
And then the crowd descended. Starlets with toy dogs, corporate money, international investors, filmmakers from almost every continent. All of them looked splendid, wanted drinks, food, awards, seats. The latter proved challenging… but eventually , it all got sorted out, or abandoned, and we all moved to…
The dancers came from all over…
Dancing in all styles…
And awards were distributed.
Clandestine director David LaRosa was presented the gold for Crime Drama, and immediately shared it with the team. That would have capped the night and the trip, but he had also been nominated for Best Supporting Actor, and Nick DeMatteo (the “usual suspect” to the left pictured earlier in this blog) was nominated for Best Actor. What a night…
Here’s a close-up:
… then there was more dancing…
… and pictures were taken…
And then came a lovely surprise….
Kate A. McGrath won Best Supporting Actress from the Houston Broadcast Film Critics. Presenter Nick Nicholson made sure the crowd new that she also wrote Clandestine, with which he said he was quite impressed.
So much so that he had one more minor heart attack for us…
Yeah, I got nominated for Best Supporting Actor. Couldn’t believe it. Still processing it.
The lessons we learn when we leave the house….
The best lesson for me was what an honor it is to give all to a project with fine, creative people. So much is learned, so much life is shared…
And that’s the point of all this, isn’t?
Safe travels to each of you, and may you never stop learning.
chrisryanwrites 