So what was so interesting?
There has been a small but faithful following that has been growing around the first feature I ever did, Ghostkeeper, which I wrote and directed and produced through my Badland company way back in 1980.As most who read this blog know, the movie sort of came and went. But in the late 90's, it became a minor cult film in Germany and England, there were even good reviews!!
Last month I got a call from Jonathan Culp in Toronto who had acquired a 16mm print and asked if I wanted to introduce the screening and do a Q & A afterwards. Ironically Toronto isn't my favorite city but I figured it would be fun. I had my first film job that lasted for about 4 months. I was working as a news cameraman. As I mentioned I never really liked it. Toronto - T.O. Too many English tribes who think they own it. Well, they do own it.
So on the day, I gathered three Toronto buddies, Jim, Dave and Steve as my "peeps" and we entered a low ceiling basement in a late 1800's brick warehouse that once was a coffin factory. Perfect.
I was greeted by the owner and Jonathan, who had called me, there were a handful of people (I expected maybe 5 in total) already there, in costumes presumably for Halloween. We were led to the "Green room" and offered beers or liquor and for a moment, we felt like those guys in the HBO show Entourage. Just a lot lower on the food chain.
I was called out to intro the movie and the house now was around 70 or so, all of whom were probably not born when Ghostkeeper was made in 1980. The screening was great, laughs at the bad stuff, groans, some genuine scares in which my friends and I also participated in the comments.
When it was over, they had a raffle and I picked the grand prize, which was a collection of old movies and some t-shirts. I signed 3 autographs, and we talked with the kids for an hour or so and then hit the nearby bar until 2.am.
There was more on my agenda than just watching Ghostkeeper, I also saw friends I hadn't seen for up to 10 years and I met my ex-wife whom I hadn't seen in 26 years. She cooked a great dinner and we started too catch up to our present lives, which, after that long, barely got started. If you've seen Avatar, you might remember the line "I see you" near the end, it was most appropriate for our evening. And if you haven't, you should look it up.
As we boomers say "far out".
Damn us.
