And the, well, nature of some of the guests confused us. We knew we had to do some weeding. That stunt cleared out half the people in the room. The last issue of filmmaker thoughtfully probed the issue of whether it helps to seek stars for your low-budget debut feature. Don't worry about puzzling this out when you start your own film festival.
Stars are good.
They usually don't stay long, there are no SAG concerns, and somehow they lend credibility by their presence. Tim Robbins, fresh from receiving honors at a Sundance ceremony that celebrated him as that festival's guest of honor, showed up on Slumdance opening night. He smoked a cigar in the screening room, but still it was good to have his picture to show the press, who would suddenly look upon Slumdance with new eyes. When the mainstream entertainment press comes around, don't even bother to tell them how innovative your festival is or try to get them to see some of your films. The orange smiley hats were the ugliest things any of us had ever seen, and we promptly put them on our heads.