I Would Have Paid THEM!!!!
Little did Salem Film Fest realize in 2014, when I volunteered to be a driver to pick up filmmakers, that I would have paid them for the thrill and honor of having an hour alone with a filmmaker whose film I made sure I saw before meeting them.
That was the year of the March snow dump. When I picked up Londoner Dan Demissie, producer of the riveting (and subsequently award-winning) "Town of Runners", he was wearing a thin coat and sneakers. We talked about his Ethiopian heritage and his reasons for choosing to explore his heritage through film. I later brought him boots, hat, gloves and a warm coat left by one of my sons. We continued to email all that year.
Sasha Friedlander, director of "Where Heaven Meets Hell", ended up having coffee with my daughter, who was also then living in San Francisco. Sasha and I got to chatting about more than her film and realized her parents and I had a lot in common, so it was likely she and my daughter would.
Leo Chiang, director of "Mr. Cao Goes to Washington", was generous in sharing small details about his project and also his favorite, off-the-tourist-radar-screen restaurants in New Orleans.
So, while there are still unfilled slots, don't be left out of the BEST gig SFF offers volunteers. SIGN UP TODAY!
Shelley A. Sackett, volunteer driver.
