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#AndradeSays, “I’ll admit, at first glance this “show” didn’t seem like much of anything to me, let alone something that was worth the intense hype surrounding it. But then, as if Stockholm Syndrome was finally setting in, I began to see the genius of it all.”

Full Article: https://www.mediavillage.com/article/no-emmy-for-megan/

Who Needs The Festival (2)

Last time on “Alex, Who Needs Friends”: Things about the festival. Really, the event and the last post were so long ago [do better, Alex - a new blog coming soon (not really, I’m already behind on this one)]. Anyways, I will continue recounting some Festival highlights!

Conference Story #2: I’m Your Biggest Fan! No, Seriously! I’m Still Not Kidding!

Right before we got our room assignments, our Conference Director asked which panel we were most excited for. I was most excited for our Legends of the Hidden Temple panel which would explore the new film based on the Nickelodeon game show. As a kid, I loved watching the Nick GAS (Games and Sports) channel! I wish that channel still existed (or that our family still had that channel). It was BOSS! I’m very PRO Nick bringing back the ‘90s. That’s one reason I was excited about this panel.

The other reason: ALEX JENKINS REID! Who is Alex J Reid!?!?!? WOW! OK! That doesn’t surprise me at all that you don’t know who he is. One amazing thing about doing a lot of film and tv research is that you learn A LOT about people and are often met with wonderful surprises. Alex J Reid is the screenwriter of the Legends movie. Since I hadn’t seen the film yet, that’s not why I was excited about seeing/meeting him. He also is the creator of the show Resident Advisors on Hulu. The show was released on Hulu my senior year as an RA. I talked about it A LOT that semester. It is an excellent case study in how NOT to be an RA, which makes it hilarious. I mean, obviously, when teaching residents about safe sex, DON’T staple condoms on a bulletin board! I digress. I LOVE the seven episodes of this show.

I was ecstatic to learn that this panel (w/ ALEX J REID) would be in my room! All the interns knew I was soooo excited for this panel. It was being held on the last day of the Conference, so it was also an amazing end for me. Well, it kind of was. It was actually a little stressful. Let’s stick to the good parts!

The morning of the panel, Nickelodeon wanted to have a quick run-through with the tech. I waited for them anxiously in the room. ALEX J REID (yes, it will be in caps EVERY TIME) was the first to arrive. Having studied his picture, I knew it was him the second he walked in. I went and introduced myself. Professionalism. He was early, so we talked(!!!!). He asked me how the festival was going and admitted that he was excited for this panel. I told him it was going well and so was I. I took a deep breath and said “I’m going to be mad at myself if I don’t tell you how much I loved your work with Resident Advisors.” He seemed a little surprised. I told him how much it meant to me my senior year as an RA and how I tried to share it with others. He told me about how he and his wife created the show. While he wasn’t a RA in college, his wife was. Fun fact: a girl falling and “breaking” her crotch was based on an incident his wife experienced as a RA!!! All the insider knowledge. As we continued to wait, we talked about our respective college years, and he told me about the trials of being a new father. In my mind, we totally bonded! Two Alex’s, taking on the world!

Truly, these 10 minutes, sitting and talking MADE the festival for me. Even though I worked long hours and was always a representative of the festival, it was nice to have time to feel like I connected with another creator. Thank you, ALEX JENKINS REID! I can’t wait to see what you do next!

The Rest of the Fest: Films

After four days of the Conference, all the Conference interns had all access passes to enjoy the rest of the fest. I was determined to take advantage of it all! While I didn’t get a lot of sleep during the Conference (a regular amount for a college student during exams), I was still running on adrenaline. All the adrenaline. I looked up all the films that looked interesting and planned out one to two possible viewing schedules for each day. On Monday, I saw three films. Since the Conference was over, most of the fest staff were the theaters helping out. I would chat with them as I entered and left venues. I really felt closer to the staff and the fest as a whole. On Tuesday, I saw three films. I was on a roll! On Wednesday, I started getting tired. I only saw two films. There was also a party on Tuesday or Wednesday, but I was too tired to attend. Or it was on Tuesday night and I decided to watch The Flash instead. Or both. On Thursday, I only had the energy to see one film, but I went to the closing night party.

Best film I saw: Brave New Jersey! Months later, I still think about this film. If you ever get a chance to see it, DO IT! And if you can, TAKE ME!

The Parties

I only had the energy to go to two parties during the fest. The first one was the night before the end of the Conference. A couple of interns and I went out for food after our nightly meeting, enjoyed a drink, and then went to the party. It was cool. A lot of people were there. Open bar. I met some college friends of another intern. They asked me about post-grad and I told them the truth: it is difficult and unexpected, but once you accept that it feels a lot better. They thanked me for being candid. I don’t want to say I was a hero… We ran into many staff members who reminded us not to get too drunk because we had to work the next day. We had casual, non-work related convos. Chill.

Only bad thing about that night: one of the interns drove me back to my car. As I hopped in my car, I realized I dropped my phone in her car as she was driving away. Dudes! That terrifying! I rushed home and hopped on my laptop to try and contact her. Thank you, Google Voice! I was able to get in contact with her and meet up to get my phone! Crisis averted. Otherwise, because my phone is my alarm, I was planning not to sleep. Thank you Google for being a GREAT backup plan!

I also went to the last party of the festival. I spent a majority of this party in an awkward situation after awkward situation. I was the first intern from my department to arrive. I saw some other interns that I vaguely knew, so I chatted with them for awhile. What are their names? I have no idea. Their faces were familiar enough. I think it was mutual. Then, those interns went to get more drinks and never came back. (Whatever.)

I was left talking to this one artist. He asked if I was an artist. I told him I interned with the festival. After moments of silence, I said I write screenplays sometimes. He then went on to lecture me about how I should present myself as an artist. Ok. No one asked you. Eventually, he said, “nice talking to you,” and walked away. It was for the best.

I turned around and started talking to another guy. He liked to talk and I was not interested. First, he talked about how this festival like “underdog/minority” stories, which he’ll keep in mind for next time. Bye. He was dressed in a suit, at a pretty casual final party (I think I was wearing jeans, like a majority of people). He then pointed out another guy from across the room that was also wearing a suit. He started making fun of that guy, calling him a pretentious, Eric Trump look-alike. As that guy came close to us to grab a drink, the guy I was already talking to stopped him and mentioned that he was making fun of him for wearing a suit too. They shared a laugh.

The three of us chatted for a little while before the original guy left and I was left with this new guy. Actually, this new guy was pretty cool. He was from London and his girlfriend had a short in the festival and he made a small cameo. Having studied abroad in London, we discussed London a little bit. He went to graduate school in New York, so we talked about that too. Then, somehow, he started talking about his love of American football. I’m more of a baseball fan, so I didn’t really care. But this conversation went on and on. Eventually, his girlfriend joined us, and his girlfriend’s sister, and some other intern who was friends with them. I was really done.

FINALLY, my boss saw me and said she wanted to talk to me. It was a perfect save. I had been over in that corner for 2 HOURS! My boss is BOSS! She was also sooooo drunk. Good for her. She deserved it for organizing an AMAZING conference. Anyways, we talked for a couple minutes, she introduced me to her husband, and then we joined the other department interns. Safety! The rest of the night was chill! We talked about our fave films (and our least favorite). By the end of the night, we decided that even though the festival was over, we would love to hang out again. We also began tossing around the idea of a writer’s group.

This Is What You Came For

I moved to intern with this festival and I don’t regret it. Definitely, one of the GREATEST experiences of my LIFE! I would love to continue to pursue a career in film festival planning. Who knows, maybe one day I will start my own.

#whoneedsfriends #festivals #filmfestival #ResidentAdvisors #BraveNewJersey