A week before Glastonbury festival 2008, I emailed the coordinator behind the solar-powered mobile cinema, Groovy Movies. After hearing that my good friend Richard's film was due to be screened in their cinema during Glastonbury festival, I thought that there would be no harm in asking that Pernickety have a preview there. Hattie was very accommodating, and said that she would make a decision as soon as she received a copy of the film. I was aiming to send her a copy before the festival, but a few technical hitches with the soundscaping on the film meant that Alex was not ready to send out copies until the Wednesday of the festival.
After briefly setting up my camp, I ran to the Green fields to find Groovy Movies and hand over the film, very hot off the press! I found Hattie in a van surrounded by kids. She was cooking a stew, we had a bit of a natter, she said she'd watch it after lunch and text me her verdict. I had already printed off at least 100 flyers to hand out, so by this point I'm preying that she'll like it and give us the slot on Sunday evening.
Two hours later Hattie gave her consent, but changed the screening to Friday sometime after 10pm. This threw me a little, as I'd already told everyone it would be on Sunday.... and she hadn't specified a time, so that all felt a bit vague. But, we had a date! And how many people can say that their film previewed at Glastonbury?
The next day (Thursday) I set to work amending the flyers with a big fat marker pen, and text the invite like crazy to everyone I knew on site. My friends in the press office took a wodge of flyers, and I took loads with me on shift at my Information desk. How strange to be mixing business with pleasure at a festival like Glastonbury! It was tough to get the balance right, but made the whole experience all the more exciting.
With Friday came a bit more rain, enough to give me a touch of depression, but on the plus side, more people turned up to the screening to shelter from the rain, so I guess it had mixed blessings... surrounded by my friends on the front row of Groovy Movies, camera in hand, and drink in the other, I listened as the projectionist introduced Pernickety, my heart did not stop pounding from that moment until beyond the closing credits. I nervously looked around to try and gage people's reactions, there was at least 40 bodies absorbed in the film...
For a twenty-minute film, Pernickety raced by with the new soundtrack setting a pace previously unattained. We got a good round-of-applause, and most of my friends begged for a speech, but I was just too stunned to do anything other than breath. Alex and Al Butter were standing at the back of the tent, and they seemed equally over-whelmed. I remember asking Hattie if she would show it again on Sunday, before leaving the tent in search of the closest bar...
Since the showing, Hattie from Groovy Movies has contacted me to ask if she can take Pernickety to be shown at the International English Riviera Comedy Festival in Torquay in September. Of course I said yes! I'm in the process of arranging a proper premiere at the Engine Room in Bridgwater, towards the end of July. There are a few kinks that need ironing out in the soundtrack and a few minor editing issues to address before we send the finished film to more important competitions and film festivals, but we have at least 10 days before the next set of deadlines, so I think we'll take it at a leisurely pace.
Please excuse my shaky camera work here, seeing your name on the big screen for the first time is un-nerving to say the least!
