At around 6:00 p.m. yesterday, the shorts program ended here at the Geneva Film Festival and I walked over to the bar across the street.  I sat down, got a drink, and on the back of the napkin began writing down the first things that came to mind after seeing my work screened (with other people’s hard, truthful work — but more on that in a later post). Here, unedited and unfiltered, is the list.

• Always keep story and quality in equal balance. Don’t try to over compensate one for the other.
• Never assume that your audience is coming to the theater wanting to think.
• Brevity is the soul of wit. So true.
• Spectacle helps.
• Better to have made a beautiful, meaningful film for $3000.00 than a kitschy, campy film with great production value for $65k.
• Don’t let your teeth rot.
• Never apologize for your work.
• Never get caught outgunned; always keep a shotgun hiding where no one suspects.
• Make something real.  Make something original.

I’ll post the complete write-up of the festival tomorrow on the flight back.