I volunteered at the Hollywood Short Film Festival this past weekend because why the hell not? It was something different and potentially interesting, a way to meet new people and see some films I wouldn’t see otherwise. Besides, it might even be fun.
I knew from the get-go that this was going to be an…experience. The volunteer page consisted only of a webform to submit your name, email address and resume (resume? I wondered whether there was competition for these volunteer positions from aspiring filmmakers) to become a volunteer – there was no information about how many volunteers were needed, the work we would be doing, the hours we work, nothing. No biggie, right? There’s probably some volunteer guide they’ll email me once I’m accepted as a volunteer.
After I submitted my volunteer application by clicking on the Become a Volunteer link, the first email I received from the volunteer coordinator was to let me know that this was a “volunteer (no pay)” opportunity – was I still interested?
That was the entirety of his response. No “hey, glad to hear you’re interested…” No “here’s what’s expected of a volunteer…” No “here’s the help we need and here are the shifts that are available – let me know what suits you…” I was very confused. Clearly, this was not a well organized event.
“Oh, God,” I thought. “Here we go…”
Over a subsequent series of emails, I was able to extract the basic details – what type of work I would be expected to perform, where and when to meet, and attire (“nice, neat, black-ish”). When I showed up to the playhouse on Saturday, it became immediately clear why everything seemed so disorganized. The volunteer coordinator wasn’t just the volunteer coordinator – he was the event organizer and the sole staff-member of the one-man show that is the Hollywood Short Film Festival.
This one-man show thing really took me aback. I didn’t know you could run a film festival on a shoestring budge with one staff member and a handful of volunteers the day of the event itself. There were dozens of films included in the festival, plus however many dozens more that were submitted and not included. All these films had to be screened and judged for inclusion in the festival. Communications with the filmmakers had to be managed, logistics had to be managed, facilities had to be procured, judges and presenters had to be recruited… For all the quirks and issues the festival may have, you got to respect a guy who’s willing to put on a film festival by himself. I was impressed by what he was able to pull off in putting this thing on.
The organizer is a filmmaker himself and, as far as I could tell, his festival is not associated with or backed by any of the larger festivals. In other words, this is his festival which he puts on by himself because he wants to. I don’t honestly know why he does it, though. I mean, it’s not a huge money maker, that was clear. There wasn’t any press there covering the event. And, I don’t see how putting on a film festival would boost his bona fides as a film-maker (or vice versa). Maybe it gives him inspiration and a chance to meet others he would like to work with?
I don’t know why he does it, but he does. Whatever his reason, I got to be there to see the magic happen.
The work was simple: greet and check-in guests and show them to the theater. Other duties included showing guests the bathroom and guarding the bathroom key, helping with set up and take down for Q&A’s between film blocks, Macgyvering self-locking doors to stay open, and whatever else the organizer needed help with.
What the duties apparently did not entail were answering questions about the festival itself since the organizer gave us no information to prepare us in advance and was sometimes unable to answer the questions himself. For example:
Q: Are the films suitable for children?
A: I dunno. You’ll have to ask the organizer.
Q: What are the award categories?
A: I dunno. You’ll have to ask the organizer.
Q: Are there separate awards for each block (e.g. comedy, drama, documentary, etc.)?
A: I dunno. You’ll have to ask the organizer.
Q: How are the winners determined?
A: I dunno. You’ll have to ask the organizer.
The awards were a special point of interest for the filmmakers, obviously, and we volunteers were curious, too, how the winners were decided. There were 5.5 to 6 hours of video across 32 films in the festival. Who would watch and judge these films? It didn’t seem to me that there was money to actually compensate anyone to do this work.
Some of the award results were…curious. For example, more than half the nominees for “Best Screenplay” were documentaries, and it was a documentary that won in that category. You can watch that film here, if you wish. Another inexplicable result was the “Best Actress” awardee, Carolyn Meyer for her role in Sweet Caroline, a mocku-mentary about a southern hillbilly stereotype, Sweet Caroline, who becomes internet famous for her self-recorded job interview videos and then moves to Hollywood with her hillbilly family to film their own reality series. It strikes me as a poor modernization of the Beverly Hillbillies. This film has won a few small festival awards and was talked up by the organizer as being terribly funny, but it was really just…terrible. The hillbilly bit is farcical; the show is like a parody of itself. I included the link above, but view at your own risk. When Carolyn Meyer was announced as the Best Actress awardee, audible gasps could be heard in the theater among polite applause.
So, how were the awardees determined? According to the festival website, there were 4 judges. I only saw one of them at the event and, while she presented one of the awards, I never heard her identified as a judge. After asking the organizer about it, it turns out that, well…the judges were a little too slow and, while they contributed their opinions in some capacity…really, the decisions came down to him.
…
Okay, so it’s not the most professionally run film festival in the world. It still had its perks. For example, I had a reason to dress up. After keeping it farm chic and tropi-cool for the last few months, dressing up was fun. I haven’t put on make-up base in almost a year – I was afraid I’d forgotten how to do it!
Also, I got to see some of the films. Some of them were pretty good. I saw almost the entire documentary block, which had a great short on The Last Bookstore in downtown L.A., an okay film about child kidnap and sacrifice in Uganda, a really excellent film on a grassroots movement to take back Pakistan from the Taliban, The Tip of the Iceberg mentioned above, and a light, amusing story about a man with a dress collection 55,000 strong (find the trailer here). Unfortunately, I missed most of the comedy block, but I did manage to see the very funny The Mooch (watch the teaser for it here) and the aforementioned “Sweet Caroline.” Meeting the filmmakers and actors was hit or miss, though hearing them talk about their films during the Q&As was interesting.
And, of course, I got to meet some cool people in the other volunteers. We had lots of time to sit around and chat, so it was nice to have the company of other smart, funny, engaging women (no male volunteers for whatever reason).
If nothing else, I now have something to list under “experience” on my film festival volunteer resume (wah wah). Sundance, here I come!
TL;DR: Shook babies and kissed hands at the Hollywood Short Film Festival.
