Elliot (Mr. Raindance) said he wanted to talk to me, and I needed to get my festival pass. This year they had something new called the Raindance Café - a place to meet between screenings and for events like my (FIVE) free classes. That’s where they had the festival passes, too. But I went to the Raindance office first - in Soho - where you walk down a very narrow steep stairway to their basement offices. They should make a horror movie about the stairway... it looks far more dangerous than any of the contraptions in the SAW movies.
When I got to the bottom of the stairs, they told me that Elliot had just gone to the Raindance Café a few minutes ago, I could catch him there. Did I know where that was?
I had my big festival book with me because I had been sitting in a coffee shop marking movies I wanted to see earlier, and the address and a sketchy map was inside. I figured I could find it.
One of the strange things is that for whatever reason (friendly face?) people keep coming up to me on the street and asking me for directions. German people, Japanese people, Italian people, Scandinavian people. And, I often know the answer. Not because I have “the knowledge”, but because they are asking for places I have been. Tourist places. So I point them in the right direction and smile, not understanding a word they are saying, and hope they find their way. But this has made me believe *I* know where I am going - and I do not. I find Poland street but can not find the street address at all. I wander up and down the street looking at numbers - but it seems that the number I want does not exist. After a few tries, I figure out my mistake and find the correct address... but can this possibly be the right place? It’s a record store with two chairs... are the two chairs the “Raindance Café”? I look around the record store for someone I know, and a salesman asks if I’ve been served. I ask where the Raindance Café is, and he says “Apparently, it’s downstairs” and points to a door at the back of the shop. There are stairs behind the door and I descend...
Into a huge basement that runs the entire block - the warehouse area for every business on the street! And it is in the process of being converted into a stage area and lounge area and a screening area. Cool. I ask for Elliot... “He just went to the cinema, you must have walked right past him.” I ask for my festival badge, and they tell me their printer / laminator has broken down, so they write my name on a badge card and hand it to me. I can now get into *any* movie at the festival. Cool.
I head to the cinemas - which is a bit of a problem because they are tearing up the Piccadilly Circus area and there are detours and construction areas and a million tourists clogging the sidewalks still in operation. I finally get to the cinemas...
Where they tell me I’ve just missed Elliot, he went back to the office. Did we pass each other in the construction bottleneck? While I’m there I get tickets for the movies I want to see, then head back to the Raindance office. It’s been warm in London, and I’m working up a sweat walking back and forth - and these places are not close to each other (London people will now think I’m a wimp, but as the song says - nobody walks in L.A. and this is several big city blocks). I get to the office, climb down the horror-movie staircase, and...
Ellliot is there! And he’s being kind of evasive. Something is going on. Seems that I’m doing my class for a cut of the profits instead of a flat fee, and they have neglected to print up any fliers for the class (though there’s a stack of fliers at the cinema for Elliot’s class) - this pisses me off, because I could have easily printed up some $39 Overnight post cards if I had known. Actually, I should do that anyway - and use stickers for the dates and locations. But, Elliot says I should sell the heck out of my CDs just to make sure I make some money... except I have only brought about 50 CDs. I can’t pack a whole suitcase of CDs, and I have brought 50 CDs for the weekend class with additional class materials on them. 100 CDs total - but only 50 that I can sell. I’m not here to sell CDs, I’m here to watch movies and drink Guiness and teach a class. Had I known, I would have figured out a way to bring more CDs to sell. Can I make more CDs in London? Well, I can burn them, but the labels will be difficult because they are designed on a template that uses US paper sizes, not UK paper sizes. I’ll have to find some way to create new labels. Elliot tells me that 140 people have signed up for tomorrow’s free class, but won’t say how many people are signed up for the weekend class. Swell. But, can I sell all 50 CDs at tomorrow’s class and then make more for the other free classes?
I don’t have time to think about that, because I have movies to see...
SCRIPT SECRETS: LONDON - October 10 & 11, 2009 - BIG IDEA class, using GHOST as our primary example and it includes the new Thematic element!
PS: I posted over the weekend, don't miss those adventures!
- Bill
TODAY'S SCRIPT TIP: Cut The Wandering and FARGO
Yesterday's Dinner: Packaged chicken sandwich from the store across from the cinema.
1 comment:
You can't blame Elliot for being restless -- he's wearing those terrible British underpants.
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