My official “new best friend” of the Month (can I start a calendar?), Brian Lui , created his own blog just to recap his awesome experience at Big Sky. Read his rundown here .

The first time I saw Portishead live was in 1997. I guess ten years really does fly by, because I was 17 years old then, and worshipped the entire musical output of Bristol. So yeah, that does pretty much mean I was a trip-hop fan – though I will now call the disgustingly named musical genre bummerhop instead. Anyway, it seems they are back with another delicately titled album: “THIRD”. Portishead are scheduled to appear on the main stage at Coachella on Saturday April 26, 2008, which promises to be a wonderful performance of slit-your-wrist music (and really, isn’t that your favorite kind?). Portishead are: Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley and Beth Gibbons.

Two nights ago at Soho House Bob Alexander spoke on the Alternative Modes of Distribution panel held by Jonathan Russo of IFP (BIG THANKS to Jonathan for reaching out to me for this) and moderated by the lovely Ingrid Kopp of Shooting People. Other speakers on the panel included Ryan Werner from IFC, Josh Green of Emerging Pictures, Slava Rubin of Indiegogo, and Erick Opeka of New Video Group. Here are some of my quickly-taken notes.

Josh: Emerging Pictures is a mechanism to help filmmakers self-release, an infrastructure to help get films out there. The upside of self-distributing is you have more control of your release. The downside is the risk you take and the additional money you will need.

Bob: We have resources that self-distributing filmmakers don’t. People behind new web technologies increasingly have begun to understand that the traditional Hollywood model is broken. Without diminishing the internet, we are re-examining the building blocks of distribution by looking into TV sales, booking films for a run of one-off screenings,etc. The focus is on building the audience. The audience has more money than anybody.

Ryan: If you don’t live in NY or LA you have to wait for months to see a film. As a filmmaker you’re doing all this press, and you want people to come see it, but they can’t because prints are so expensive. Day and date is a possible solution to that.

Ingrid: As a filmmaker it is no longer acceptable not to be educated on distribution. How do you get into it smart?
Ryan: A sales rep is indispensable.
Bob: A sales rep is a great resource, but an expensive one.

Josh: We’re in the post-studio/pre-internet era. Check out www.greatnewtheaters.com
Ingrid: You can take the audience with you to your next film now, thanks to e-mail, myspace, and other internet marketing strategies.
Slava: The internet allows you to collect proof that you have an audience in different ways.

Audience question: What’s your criteria to working with a filmmaker?
Ryan: Publicity is what we are looking for – we still need compelling PR behind a film.
Erick: We have to believe there’s a commercial audience for the film.
Bob: We try and diminish the negative power of choice. We don’t have to like it. We want the festival community to have approved it for us.

A FEW CLOSING QUESTIONS AND TIPS FROM THE EXPERTS

Josh: If you’re not spending money, how do you get people to come see your film?
Erick: How many links on a website equal a sale?
Slava:The music industry bows down to the artist now, and film will soon follow its footsteps.
Bob: More options = less choices.
Ingrid: As filmmakers it is wise to manage your expectations.
Slava: Even better than DIY is DIWO (”Do-It-With-Others”).

Whilst listening to some early morning TECHNO (and really, what other way to wake up for a non-coffee drinker?) courtesy of the ever-surprising (if confusing) WFMU Wednesday morning line-up, I was inspired to sort through my favorite vintage silly rave flyers from years past (not my own, ofcourse!). Here’s three.

Here is a teaser excerpt — “Both festivals are notoriously freezing. Both attract the crème de la crème of the film industry. Yet the differences in population and lineup demonstrate the perpetual schism between Eurocentric cinephiliac auteurism and the little indie-engine-that-could spirit of Americana Sundance hits—think the quirky, postmodern flicks like Little Miss Sunshine and Pulp Fiction.”

And here is the whole article.

Since AJ has charged me with writing the definitive BIG SKY recap, I will make my remarks here more informal. I’m now sitting at the Missoula airport, which is filled with wood, huge stuffed moose and eagles, electronic slot machines and poker games, and fireplaces. It resembles a Western lodge (or, as I texted Jordan, the Lodge from TWIN PEAKS) more than an airport. (And speaking of airports and plane travel, I am currently without an anti-anxiety pill, leaving me in my usual state of flying fear.) Last night, at our swanky and fun juror dinner (I highly recommend Montana syrah and Elk; not so much the bison, which is gamier), Brian Liu (my latest “new best friend” – sometimes I felt that we had become invisibly grafted at the hip during the fest), Damon Ristau (the wonderful festival director, who is stepping down from the Fest to focus on producing), and I had too many detailed extensive conversations about our knowledge of air traffic control, which does not help with my airphobia at ALL, but honestly, today I seem to be doing okay. I spent the plane flight (I’m now on a layover in Minneapolis) writing postcards, ripping ads out of Vanity Fair , and doing a crossword puzzle while the guy next to me (an adorable hip-hop type with a beautiful face) downed 3 screwdrivers and jammed to Ipod hip hop. And then, as I was circling all the places I’ve been on the airline magazine map, he struck up a very nice conversation with me about Missoula, Minnesota and how insane New Yorkers are.

Anyway, I digress. Where we left off, I was still on intense jury duty, and had about 3 more films to watch. Which I did. On Day Three, I rewatched one film, “Wild Horse Redemption,” in my hotel room as I did some stretching. Then I met Brian in the screening room, where we watched “River Ways” — a film that was actually the second best out of our competition, with an interesting and very complex issue at its heart and some amazing characters (and haircuts!). Then I ran into fellow juror Deborah Barkow , a wonderful editor and person, and we talked about all of the guilt issues of being a “judge” of films. Brian was stir-crazy at that point, so we took a walk over the big and scary bridge, where I revisited my college days of being dragged to record stores with vinyl geek boyfriends for three hours. We got an awesome, unhealthy snack at the so-called “healthy” Indian place, and then ended up at a lovely reception at a place called THE LOFT, where I met several cool filmmakers — but now, I must run to catch my flight! I will continue with this later!