"How did you fund the film?" The audience are listening to the struggles of an emerging director of gritty films with one ear, suddenly perking up when he says, "This man put some money in my shorts!"
"Errrm... that's not quite how it sounds," says flustered London to Brighton Director Paul Andrew Williams. He was referring to his previous short films, and the Cameo audience suppress their smiles of discomfort. He is dressed very casually, almost like one of the thugs in his movies. I ask him if he has ever met any dodgy characters - that he might have based his story on. He confesses to working in pubs and bars. When the audience realise he made his film with about £80,000 and friends cajoled into acting they probably forgive him any shortcomings in what is quite a polished movie.
The Filmhouse and Cameo Bars have a strange atmosphere just now. You can almost walk up to any stranger and start talking about movies. Anyone who wanders in with anything else in their head feels distinctly out of place. I have an intense discussion about last year's sci-fi hit Serenity and the true meaning of the word 'reavers'.
Tonight looks fun. Guest list for the EIFF Birthday Party includes many of the stars already seen about town, plus Sean Connery, Mike Leigh and Tilda Swinton, to name but a few. Our story about the US bias of the Festival movie Charlize Theron produced reached the Beeb. Come back Charlize! We love you! Really!
Till later...
