Exciting day at the Market Arcade! I was a little late getting out to Buffalo, as my N. Tonawanda client required some attention in the morning, as did several personal matters. Parked in my cheap parking lot across from Coca-Cola Park, or whatever they're calling Pilot Field these days, and hit the metro schedule perfectly for my free ride to the front door of the Market Arcade theatre. Buffalo's theatre district is quite spectacular for a city of its size, and as opulent as the Riviera Theater was in N. Tonawanda, it's more exciting to be in the heart of Buffalo culture. I promise to never make fun of Buffalo culture again (fingers are crossed, though!).

I arrived just in time to watch a documentary, “Ballou,” about a D.C.-area high school marching band that scrapped its way to the national championships in 2007. It was obvious that the filmmaker worked at least as hard as the band and its director, and it was an appreciable effort.

In the lobby, a goateed man named Andrew, who reminded be of former championship rassler Luke Bushwhacker, asked me if I was coming to see his documentary titled, “Hard Coal: Last of the Bootleg Miners.” 83 minutes about anthracite coal mining sounds pretty dull, but this piece was fascinating. I marveled at the ability of the filmmakers to get their cameras into the depths of dark mines and excavate a riveting story about the dark days approaching for independent miners in America, who are being squashed by the heavy foot of bureauctatic regulation. They've been researching and filming for this piece since 2004.  Well done.

My raison d'etre on this day was to soak in the film panel on legal and business matters in the film industry, and it was very useful. The enthusiasm of the panelists helped make this a valuable experience. I felt a need to get home early, but as I was leaving, ran into Rob, the Volunteer-in-Chief, who has become a friend over the past week. We chatted with his lovely girlfriend Holly for awhile outside the theatre, and then went back in. I was invited to dinner with the event organizing team, but opted to head home to take care of some personal matters and planning for the Awards event on Sunday.

I'm not getting hopes up, but on this day, three separate key organizing committee members asked if I was attending the Awards event on Sunday. From past experience attending awards and organizing events, well, let's just say that's a positive sign.

Tony Miranda makes a point about film financing as Canadian Christian film producer Andre von Heeder observes.



The bulletin board at the Market Arcade Theatre displays the highlighted features for the week.



Just up Main St. from Shea's Buffalo theater!