Last week I made a decision that was eating at me since I wrapped the first ConvergeSouth Film Festival which I produced in 2007. I’m not going to be a part of this year’s ConvergeSouth Film Festival. I have to focus on my professional career and be more assertive with my freelancing opportunities and help make All Aces Media become a highway of ideas for feature films and other work.

If I had to work with the same boundaries as last years festival I would’ve declined right after the festival. The reason I mention that is I had a zero budget for marketing and promotions. It was difficult getting the word out. I used myspace to build a networking community by hitting as many film forms and befriending as many filmmakers as I could find. As the year progressed our friends list kept growing. It is a great resource to contact filmmakers and inform them about the film festival.

As a first year film festival I had to call on many filmmaking friends to submit work. I would say about 50% of the festival were people I knew. I only received 25 submissions from the rest of the world. I put a lot of time and effort in making the first year of ConvergeSouth a memorable festival. I was glad to receive a budget for the event and got some really cool sponsors. I hit the streets of Greensboro and was really surprised how many businesses wanted to be a part of the film festival. During intermission I handed out door prizes that were from local businesses. We also handed out an audience award for the top two rated non-fiction and fiction films. The audience raised about $150 and ConvergeSouth donated another $150. I was extremely happy with the outcome.

That being said I also recognized the flaws that I overlooked and I made a note not to repeat the following year.

• The festival was too long.
• The chairs were uncomfortable.
• A longer Q&A session with the filmmakers.
• An after party to allow the audience and filmmakers to talk.

This year I was presented with a budget and a crew of helpers and a guarantee that no other events will coincided with the film festival. That was another hurdle that I had to endure last year. While I was scheduling the film festival, ConvergeSouth had hosted dinners across downtown Greensboro that would run simultaneously with the film festival. Some dinners were moved earlier so people could come to the film festival.

The taste that won’t leave my mouth is the fact that ConvergeSouth got Current TV to host a dinner during the film festival. I motivated Current TV to be a part of our festival. The only reason they wanted to come to Greensboro was to be a part of the festival. They showed up an hour into the festival. It wasn’t a slap in the face, it was more like a knee in the balls with a wedgie from Yao Ming while eating dung that was double cooked with diarrhea dipping sauce.

I was told I wouldn’t have to worry about that this year. There will be no interference. Which is great and I’m glad that everyone learned from last year. It should be a better festival this year due to more exposure and with money for marketing which should go towards withoutabox it can only get better. I enjoyed meeting the filmmakers and made some great friends along the way. I learned a lot from this experience. I wish the best for whoever takes over this year.