In the Cannes

Oprah says that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. I feel extremely lucky to have my little no-budget film be apart of the 2010 Cannes Independent Film Festival, however, this opportunity opens the doors to step or leap forward, depending how much risk you take. I may never get another opportunity to have a film in Cannes, so I obviously want to utilize this experience to the best of my ability; however, ability doesn't only mean how hard you work, but how much money you're willing to spend.

The flights alone will cost me and my producer over $2,000. The hotel probably much more. The food is easy to be frugal on, I can live off of baguettes ;) But the real kicker is the Marche du Film (the market where films are bought and sold). Besides meeting huge connections at Cannes, the other big possibility is to have our film bought for International distribution! The thing is, just by being included in the film festival does not enter you into the film market. It's about $500 per person to enter into the film market, and on top of that you need the press materials (posters, postcards, trailers on dvds, press packets, business cards, etc) to help SELL your film. It's quite an undertaking.

I absolutely want to be included in the film market, but financially I'm not quite sure how we can do it. All these festivals have been paid for out of pocket (from my winning a film competition last winter), and the funds are quickly depleting. Especially after San Diego and Oklahoma, and those are on this same continent! Obviously Cannes is going to be a MUCH more expensive endeavor.

These are the times I wish we had outside backing. We've never had a single investor this entire time of making "Daddy I Do", and now it's starting to weigh on us (not really starting... it's always been a struggle).

I wish there was an angel that would appear and say "I believe in your project and I want to help you get to Cannes". That would be a dream come true, but regardless, things will happen how they're supposed to.