Evans Above

David Letterman ran a video segment called something like Bored Arnold Schwarzenegger Supporter of the Night. The clip showed Tonight Show host Jay Leno applauding Arnie’s victory speech and sneaking a glance at his watch as he claps.

Very funny.

It’s October and you can tell the stores are just aching to start hawking their Xmas wares.

You know that they’re just waiting for Halloween to end.

Burning TIFF question: Why oh why is the press office at the not-close-to-anything Delta Chelsea? In previous fests, the press offices were close to the industry centre and close to the press screenings at the Varsity. Now the press office is about a mile away. David Poland and Jeffrey Wells are pondering the same question.

First Tribeca, now Toronto: Starbucks is providing free coffee to journos, who usually take the stuff by IV drip. By mentioning this, I have done what they hoped to achieve and become a cog in their marketing machine. I think I should at least get a coupon…hint, hint.

Lemme get this straight…

Multilateral talks are taking place with the wackos on North Korea. There’s a policy debate on whether more troops should be sent to Iraq. The shuttle report came out yesterday.

So CNN is devoting live breaking news coverage to a bunch of people protesting the removal of a Ten Commandments monument in Alabama?

Let me double check…nope, it is 2003. Must be a slow news day.

There’s an old military axiom that says, “No battle plan survives its first contact with the enemy.”

Certain things are in place:

• You have intelligence on the people you face.
• You know approximately where they’ll be and when they’ll be there.
• Your prioritize your targets.
• You allocate your resources.

Every year, a week before the festival, thousands of festivalgoers line up outside the box office to buy the 400+ page guide and pick up the magazine that lists all the screenings. The “civilians” then head off to the nearest coffee shop to plan their first and second choices for every screening they want to attend, as they prepare to submit their ticket orders.

My strategy is different. I need to prepare a schedule for ten 18+ hour work days. I’m not armed with all the info I need yet, as the press conference and press screening list isn’t released until the day before the festival starts. Until then, I scour the public screening schedule looking for all the red carpet photo ops that I and my other photographer will need to attend.

As I sit there, I realize that two people can’t be in four places at the same time. You have to prioritize. They didn’t mention that so-and-so is attending, but they really need the publicity boost so maybe they will stroll carpet? Do I shoot this 6:45 screening with this veteran performer or do I go out of my way by 7 to shoot this unknown with the buzz? Or do we both shoot elsewhere and hope that we finish in time to be somewhere else?

The battle plan starts to take shape, but will it survive its first contact with the celebrity?

The folks over at TV Barn ponder the question “Why was blackout coverage so New York-centric?”

Arnie’s running. Check out the poll.

The 28th Toronto International Film Festival is now just 29 days away…

Wow. Time does fly.

I really, really hate spam mail.

Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it. Hate it.

I spend too much of my day deleting it.

Argh!