I just got back from the Trotsky party.  It’s 3 am.

The day started with a 9:30 am meeting that I was 15 minutes late for.  Spoke to a number distributors and broadcasters.  It was a good days work, pushing some of my projects.  As an indie producer I try to never pitch someone that I haven’t been introduced to first, or haven’t met while drunk at a party.  It makes for a much less stressful relationship.  There is nothing worse then pitching stone cold to someone you’ve got no connection to whatsoever.

By 4 in the afternoon I was pitched out. I needed to take a nap, and I did, though I could have slept for hours, but only got 15 minutes.

At 5 I forced myself out to the SODEC cocktail.  As supporter of a lot of my work, I had to go.  I have to admit that I’ve been a bit grumpy the first two days of the festival, and for some reason I thought I wouldn’t know anyone at the cocktail.  But within a minute of walking through the door and getting a beer at the bar, I realized in fact, that I knew at least half of the people in the room.

One of the great things about TIFF cocktails is the food.  It’s a known fact that an indie producer, if he is suave enough to eat while standing, can survive TIFF on cocktail snacks alone.  I, unfortunately, am not that suave.  Whenever I attempt to eat a meal of cocktail snacks, I inevitably spill food all over myself.

Once thoroughly drunk, I needed a real diner. I went out to a nice Italien restaurant with a group of four rowdy Saskatchewan filmmakers and actors.  I drank some fine wine while they belted out country tunes.  Thankfully, we had been seated in a back room away from the more discerning diners.  I think the maître’d sized us from the moment we walked in the restaurant and sensed we were trouble.  Thankfully our waitress was a good sport and didn’t make too much fun of us when we scoffed at their fancy Scotches in favor of Canadian Club.

By midnight, I found myself at a party celebrating the premiere of The Trotksy.  It’s a hilarious film, and judging by the reaction to it, a sure hit. The party was attended by an assortment of Canadian celebs. The vodka was abundant and free. The music was loud. What more could you ask for from a TIFF party?

It was a pretty good day.

John Christou is an independent filmmaker based in Montreal. His credits include Up The Yangtze, The Colony, Punk Le Vote! and more.  He’s currently producing films about David Lynch & Transcendental Meditation, the Clock of the Long Now, the Residential School system and a feature about a Zombie invasion of an aboriginal reserve.  To read more about these projects and others, check out www.ProspectorFilms.ca