Film Festival Fever!

It is officially Spring and I am definitely sprung! My life as of late has been completely consumed by producing the events for the 28th Annual Mpls/St.Paul International Film Festival (aka MSPIFF) -- being I was hired merely 26 days ago. Yes, that's right - it's not a typo - read: twenty-six days to produce ALL festival events. I won't get into the sheer audaciousness required to pull this sort of feat off as I am literally too exhausted to do so. Working within crazy timelines and tiny budgets is quite possibly the most stressful scenario for an Event Producer -- so a lot of this has felt like pulling a rabbit out of a hat. Faking-it-to-make-it mixed in with luck and a dash of hoping-for-the-best will either be a recipe for success or disaster!

(The Opening Night Gala poster I made for the party I produced and am hosting)

(This is Kelsey - a festival intern helping me stuff the Opening Night gift bags I'm doing - it was A LOT of work stuffing 100 of them, but I think festival guests will dig them!)

 In addition to MSPIFF, I'm still plugging away on Sound Unseen Int'l Duluth -- the debut of Duluth's first international film & music festival is fast approaching. The amount of support we have there in forms of sponsorships and partnerships have been astounding and very encouraging. It makes the heavy load of festival duties feel much lighter - a feeling we aren't used to! The SU team is excited for what's to come and it feels great to be working with such a dedicated and passionate group of people. This festival is going to ROCK come hell or high water!

 (I suggested our SU logo be "freshened up" - here's one possible redesign. Lookin' good!)

Outside of work, which for the most part always ends up still relating to work in some way, shape or form, I've been hanging out with some new friends. My friend Steve asked me to be a guest judge for the 331 Club's monthly "Drinkin' Spelling Bee" which was absolutely hilarious. For every word you spelled right, you got a free beer. By Round 3, half the contestants were eliminated for predominantly being too drunk to spell....imagine that?! Ha ha! What else? The usual drop-ins to random karaoke nights w/ my friend Simon, who killed it last week singing Loverboy's "Turn Me Loose". I forgot how much I love that song! Guilty pleasures abound on my iPod.

Tomorrow I am seeing one of my all-time favorite bands play at one of my all-time favorite venues: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club at First Ave. A loud rock and roll evening - my kind of evening! I think BRMC may hold the title as the band I most frequently buy tickets to see. They continue to put out great records and I am still a big fan. Can't wait!

 (In memory of the former drummer, the handsome Nick Jago)

To add to an already great weekend, I leave on Sunday for the Dethluxay Family Reunion! Or as I'm dubbing it: the 2010 Yellow Fever Tour! Hey, I'm Asian, I can say these derogatory things. It's been too long since we've all been together - let the Dethluxay cackling begin! I can't wait to see my nephews together, I have a feeling we may have to pry them off the video games and force them to play board games. I'm planning on making a short horror film starring my youngest nephew as a zombie who only shows up if you burp or something silly. I can see the YouTube video now..."Burp Zombie" with a cameo by cute kittens. It'll be quite the long drive, but it'll be worth it as I really miss my family.

Well, as it's about to be 1AM...I shall retire my virtual pen and try to get the much needed beauty sleep I've been lacking. Isn't it appalling when you are so exhausted, but your mind is so wired from work that you can't sleep? Sweet dreams and stay tuned!