Tales From Venice Biennale : The Good, The Bad and The Ugly with Tim Sutton

I mentioned the Biennale Cinema College grounds are a former insane asylum, right?  Because we have all gone entirely bonkers.  The schedule has been one of crushing deadlines on rewrites that have occupied much of our free time, budget analysis and re-analysis and production schedule fine-combing down to the dollar (and Euro) and minute. Okay, so,

The good:  Our project, Memphis, is looking really strong – the characters now feel like real people and a key scene at the end has gone from an interior to an exterior and, for some magic reason, it makes the entire concept work in a more natural and organic way. The budget and schedule are air tight and, even more important, truly feasible.  And it isn’t just our project – everyone’s film here has gone through transformations and changes and, with the bulk of the work done, each project stands on firmer ground than when they arrived – the lab works.

The bad:  during this process, we have all gone somewhat insane or suffered a flu/fever on this island.  I walked by an Italian producer yesterday and instead of greeting me he simply said, ‘Blah blah blah.’ And it was perfect because I knew exactly what he was saying!  A Thai film project has changed its title and storyline 3 times in 5 days (and it is awesome, btw).  A Spanish producer and I guzzled wine last night as the conversation around us was on a philosophical approach to immersive media.  I thought he might have lost consciousness twice during the conversation.  Maybe I did.

The ugly:  on Thursday, each project presents their work to the head of the Venice Film Festival, the head of the entire Venice Biennale, along with numerous journalists and students coming from as far as Rome to watch us deliver or melt down.  Pressure.  So, say a prayer for Memphis and, as everyone says right before festivals announce:  fingers crossed.