This was my first year attending Fantastic Fest, and although I wasn't able to stay through the entirety, I had an amazing time. The festival has a great informal vibe. You always have the feeling that you can talk to anyone there be they industry folks, mega talented directors, or high profile actors. I've been to film festival before where I felt more of a separation between the 'big wigs' and small guys. It's great to find a place where everyone is coming together to celebrate cinema and offer up their own contributions. I saw some amazing films at the festival and was fortunate to have my Path of Blood short film in the program. Seeing my short film on the big screen was a real treat. All the textures from the paper stood out, the sound was excellent, and it truly looked like a old samurai motion picture (albeit in paper of course). I was very happy with the response and felt the film hit all the right notes with the audience.
Here's a review from the festival from Japancinema.net!
So now I am back in the studio and have begun production on the feature film! Things are ALREADY starting to take shape and it is only the second day of production. I will be making video diaries to chart my progress, so expect one of those to pop up in mid October. Until then, take a look at the very first image from the feature film!!!