Anyone who is interested in seeing me crack under pressure is in luck. There is actual video footage of me falling apart on camera from the Cinequest Film Festival and I am going to share it with you, but not before setting the scene.
CLEANFLIX just had three wonderful screenings at the 20th Cinequest Film Festival (with a special encore screening on the way). Cinequest is a cool, quaint, well-organized fest in San Jose, California. The audiences there have been our best so far. The fest organizes nightly soirees for the filmmakers. All of the venues are close to each other and high quality. But there is one thing about Cinequest that I could do without: the word "Maverick" is closely associated with the festival.
While that may have been cool, indie, and empowering just a few short years ago, the word has since been tainted (at least for me) by the 2008 Presidential election. The first--and only--thing that comes to mind for me now is Tina Fey's impression of Sarah Palin. If you don't know what I am referring to, you can check out this video. On the other hand, you may want to just avoid watching the video altogether as there is a good chance the word will be permanently ruined for you as well.
A couple of Mavericks.So, how does this affect me? Really, it doesn't. If Cinequest wants to stick with their nifty catch word, more power to them. So I don't buy a festival t-shirt with MAVERICKS plastered across it--big deal. Sure, I'll think of the fest as that geeky co-worker in Mike Judge's Office Space who refuses to change his name even though he is constantly berated because his given name is Michael Bolton, but what do they care what I think. Actually, Bolton has a point when he exclaims, "Why should I change? He's the one that sucks!" So, I can't fault Cinequest for sticking to their guns in the face of Sarah Palin comparisons. Hell, it is the Mavericky thing to do.
Not much of a Maverick.Then, all of the sudden and without warning, their little buzz word went from a peripheral annoyance to something that was actually affecting me personally. I was walking through the Camera 12 theater after our second screening of CLEANFLIX when a festival employee grabbed me and put me in front of what appeared to be a web cam. "Do you mind answering a few questions for our site?" he asked. "Not at all," I replied. Then it happened: he hit me with a barrage of lame Maverick-related questions including "How have Maverick innovations played a role in your life and work?" Uhhh... Before you continue reading, just think about how the hell any normal person could answer that question on the spot. "Maverick innovations? What exactly are we talking about here?" I asked. "Whatever you want," he said. The high I was on from our amazing festival Q&As had stalled out and I was in a tail spin.
Don't get me wrong, I like Cinequest and all, but there was no way that any answer to this question could be more than total BS. My mind raced, but before it got anywhere, my mouth opened. In a state of sheer panic, I searched for the words to say, and words that wouldn't bring to mind Tiny Fey's "I just think about what a Maverick would do and I do that." I cracked under the pressure, I fumbled through a stupid answer, I made a fool of myself, and I am posting it here for your judgment. Watch the video here.
Hopefully our next festival won't have such an abstruse theme. Let's see, Florida Film Festival theme: "Film Sweet Film." Huh. Stay tuned for more embarrassingly incomprehensible videos!
