Last night was another fantastic night at the Los Angeles Film Festival. I got there later on in the day, and had to scramble to get into the talk by Spike Jonze at 8 which was packed! He gave a most interesting talk moderated by his good friend and fellow filmmaker David O. Russell (The Silver Linings Playbook director). Spike is perhaps best known for his films such as Being John Malcovich and Adaptation, but also has directed music videos, skateboarding videos, has acted, writes, etc. After getting settled in, the discussion started in earnest after a brief showing of Spike's skateboarding videos, which were dramatic with the skaters jumping and swooping right before or, in some cases, in explosions or fire special effects. Very dramatic -- I worried about the skateboarder's safety!
Soon they showed a brief video on Maurice Sendak from the documentary Spike filmed while he made the movie Where the Wild Things Are. Maurice talked about how an artist has to remain true and passionate and honest about their work, and also let the characters tell the story. It was apparent that Spike and Maurice became very close over the time of the filing of Where the Wild Things Are. Spike himself said Maurice was a huge influence on him and his work.
There was some discussion of Spike's new picture, which sounds fascinating, and then he answered some questions from the packed and appreciative audience and left before I could snap a photo.
After the talk I went to the Filmmakers Lounge and a nearby party that had wonderful catered food, a disc jockey, and lots of nice folks, including the Director of the Film Festival, the lovely and talented Stephanie Allain, and David Ansen, the festival's Artistic Director. I congratulated them both on a world class film festival.
A wonderful evening, back tonight for the closing day, I'll miss all the excitement!
Some more photos from the after party on 6-22-13 at the LA Film Festival:
Soon they showed a brief video on Maurice Sendak from the documentary Spike filmed while he made the movie Where the Wild Things Are. Maurice talked about how an artist has to remain true and passionate and honest about their work, and also let the characters tell the story. It was apparent that Spike and Maurice became very close over the time of the filing of Where the Wild Things Are. Spike himself said Maurice was a huge influence on him and his work.
There was some discussion of Spike's new picture, which sounds fascinating, and then he answered some questions from the packed and appreciative audience and left before I could snap a photo.
After the talk I went to the Filmmakers Lounge and a nearby party that had wonderful catered food, a disc jockey, and lots of nice folks, including the Director of the Film Festival, the lovely and talented Stephanie Allain, and David Ansen, the festival's Artistic Director. I congratulated them both on a world class film festival.
A wonderful evening, back tonight for the closing day, I'll miss all the excitement!
Some more photos from the after party on 6-22-13 at the LA Film Festival: