Last Thursday, “GRIM” (IMDB) premiered at the Lumiere Theater! And as part of the San Francisco 48 Hour Film Project, Square Marden, in addition to 15-17 other film teams had an opportunity to see what the other teams (in our screening group, 4 groups in all) cooked up. It was nice to see familiar faces while meeting new ones yet.
I had to rush out of work earlier than usual but was greeted with this dolled up bus stop sign. Perks of public transit.
Is someone trying to tell me something? What does it all mean?!
I trekked up to the city on Cal-Train and was met up with fellow Marden, Leejay. I was pretty hungry at this point, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that Anthony’s Cookies, once again, had a hand in my rescue! They gave Leej an extra handful of cookies, on the house. WIN!
So perfectly moist and utterly delicious...cookies & creme.
We arrived just in time to catch the intro trailer—phew, a bit of hakuna matata goes a long way!
Thoughtful Richard snagged us tickets so we wouldn’t have to worry about it when we arrived–
Woot, in we go! I love the cinema.
Our film was late so it had to roll in with a handful of other late turn ins (more than I expected). I’d have to say there were a handful of really well thought out shorts in our screening group (B). My favorite of the night was a mockumentary about racism towards Australians. It was well acted and wonderfully executed.
Because our film was late, we’re only eligible for the Audience Choice Award –meaning, every vote counted! We won’t find out until some weeks from now. But you can bet your sweet ass I voted for “GRIM”!
The audience turn out was fantastic! And I was doubly surprised when I saw two of my Meisner classmates were in attendance. They rock!
Meisner classmates! L-R: Shelly Rose, Jason Lieu, Tasi Alabastro, Victoria Wolter (photo courtesy of Shelly Rose)
I was especially giddy knowing that Jason (GRIM’s lead) was able to witness his first film with a real audience, in a real theater. I’m all about every one coming up together, you know? It’s hard enough trudging into the industry –a little helping hand never hurt.
Up front for the filmmaker's Q&A w/ Jason Lieu and Leejay Abucayan (photo courtesy of Shelly Rose)
A successful night for all the filmmakers, I’m sure. We made our way back to San Jose (missing the 9:30p screening completely) and linked up with Geoff –who, if you remember, was the lead in “UNSPOKEN” and “GRIM”‘s poster designer.
What better way to end the night than with some celebratory pho! Right?
We decided to go to Pho MAI 1 in Milpitas. I had a good tasting experience the last time I came here, so I recommended it to Leej and off we went.
Open late, and off of Landess Avenue...
I ordered the won ton pho and was not disappointed. The broth on its own was enough to please me. The won tons were okay, I’ve had it better here before. Maybe it was an off night.
The broth...man...
Geoff had the skewers…admittedly, they looked better than they tasted.
Stay tuned for the 48 Hour Film Project results! It should be up in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, feel free to follow us at:Follow @squaremarden
And me at:Follow @tasialabastro