Last night I attended Film Independent's Diversity Expo at the Hammer Museum. It was a well-attended event! It was great to walk around and look at all the different companies representing the diverse landscape that is independent film. There was a crew there from Stickam.com streaming the event live on their site! They grabbed me for a quick interview and I kept my camera going during the entire interview! (You can check out the video on my website.) I took some video but was having technical difficulties and so wasn't totally dedicated to it. I was mostly doing it so I would have stills later but it turns out I decided to upload the video. I really want to just show the events as they are so you really feel like you're walking around with me. I don't work for the festival so I'm not trying to sell or it market it... I'm here for YOU so you can experience the festival through my eyes. So they may or may not be fancy edits and transitions as I am trying to get these videos uploaded quickly. On a side note, I just finished uploading a bunch of pictures from the events so far on the home page of my website. I just completely bugged out last night trying to figure out how to upload and insert all my pics and video into this blog. I finally decided that there just has to be two separate locations: one for pics/video and one for written blog. So if you'd like to see all the pics from the events, as well as video, visit www.SkyLifeProductions.com

Meanwhile, back at the Expo...

So it was another open bar but the food wasn't as plentiful at this event as it was at the opening night gala. What food was there was gobbled up within minutes! It was delicious and people were hungry! The dj was awesome. He played stuff from the 90s like Bel Biv Devo, Bobby Brown, and Michael Jackson. There was quite a group of people dancing near the dj and he even pulled back the record a couple of times and you could hear everyone singing along with the lyrics! lol And everywhere I went, people were dancing where they were because the music just had a fun vibe to it.

Personally, I was frazzled at this event and it took great effort to just put that behind me and soak in the event. I am suffering from what many filmmakers and artists alike suffer from..stress overload. Sometimes I think I'm going to go crazy from working full-time and then "rushing" through rush-hour to get to the next thing, in this case, the festival, and then try to chill and get into the moment and network and hussle only to do it all over again the next day. It's a lot of gear-shifting! But if I want to become a filmmaker full-time, this is what I have to do. I have to hussle! I have to work harder than the next guy (or gal). This town and this industry is competitve and it's not a place for the weak. I can't believe I just wrote that but it's true!! You have to dig deep and put yourself out there over and over and over!

But this festival is about CELEBRATING that hard road, and for that I raise my glass!! Here's to all of the struggling, hussling artists out there... keep on keeping on. We'll get there. Everyone has a voice and every voice should be heard. And that is what last night was about- every voice. We all complain about the blockbuster Hollywood movies that they are all the same, etc. But this is not the case with independent film. This is where the voice of the people, my people, your people, all people, can be heard. This is why it is important to support independent film by attending the festivals.

And don't just attend the parties but attend the screenings as well.

The filmmakers need us to purchase tickets and get our butts in the chairs. A lot of people in Hollywood won't take a chance on a new filmmaker just because the film is good, they need to see the public's reaction and one way to gage that reaction is for the studio execs and agents to attend screenings and watch how the audience reacts (and how many people where there, etc.) So get out there and see ONE MOVIE at least!!! Tickets are still on sale on the http://www.lafilmfest.com website. And when you do see the movie, shoot me an email. I'd love to hear what you thought of it. Gotta go edit the video now. More tomorrow... Click link to view all pictures and video.

Lisa Murray has a blog on fest21.com http://www.fest21.com/blog/festivalsinla

www.SkyLifeProductions.com