SXSW Leftovers PT3: GOOD NIGHT Premiere

I was post-supervisor on The Bounceback and had been working on it right up to its premiere. The second film I was a part of that premiered at the festival was a movie I co-edited called Good Night. I worked on this film on and off over the course of a year and a half. I thought director Sean Gallagher had a pretty unique and savvy approach to making a micro budget indie that tells an emotional story.

I've been looking forward to Good Night's premiere for a long time. I get attahed to each long-form project I work on. As an editor, I feel like I have to. I feel like I have to be on that edge of objectivity and emotionality. As Pacino said in Heat, "Keeps me sharp. Where I gotta be."

During the course of making this film, some of the events it depicts paralleled events in my own life in unfortunate ways. The themes of the film took on even greater meaning to me. I think grew close to this project in ways I hadn't to others since the first film I edited, I'll Come Running. That's not a slight at any other film on my resume. Circumstances just made Good Night uniquely entwine with my life.

At the first public screening we ever had, I brought my then girlfriend to screen this long (at the time), slightly experimental feature. She had an intense emotional reaction. When the lights came up, tears were streaming down her cheeks. She sobbed. It tore her up. In a sort of pervase way, as we worked on trimming and shaping the film and schedule pick ups, our (somewhat impossible) goal was to get the movie to work that way on everyone.

Between the time of that feedback screening and the premiere in March, my then girlfriend became my wife. We lost a dear friend to cancer. We're discussing the future, careers, kids, a house, that whole thing. All themes explored in Good Night.

When the lights came up a the end of the premiere, it hit my wife just as powerfully as it did at that first feedback screening. My first thought was, "Good - we didn't fuck it up!" Then I noticed no one was getting up to leave. As far as I could tell (and certainly, this is a biased report) the majority of the audience stayed in their seats for the Q and A. There was a quiet energy in the Rollins Theater. I'm not saying we made the greatest film ever. But it certainly felt like maybe we made a film that really connected with people in that room on that night. Maybe we did reach that seemingly impossible goal.

I initially wasn't going to walk up to the front of the room for the Q and A, but our UPM Chris Shea insisted I go. I pointed to the other editor, Don Howard, and insisted he go, too. This led to a superlative moment: The cast and principle crew had been introduced at the top of the Q and A. Midway through, actor Todd Berger was handed the mic and took the opportunity to point to the rest of us and say, "Who are these people?" Looking over his shoulder and up at executive producer Chris Ohlson who loomed over him: "Who's this guy?" Sean introduced the rest of us. We received a round of applause. As someone who works mostly behind the scenes, this was a nice moment. Don was my editing instructor at the University of Texas, so I was super pleased I convinced him to go up on stage and enjoy that moment with me.

The next day I met my wife for dinner before heading to the closing night festivities. I stumbled across a review on Indiewire for Good Night. I'll admit - I always hunt for reviews after a movie's premiere.

One of the best films I’ve seen at SXSW is “Good Night".... A striking ensemble piece.... The alchemy is in the editing, and the uniformly strong performances from the nine actors... 

Thank you Beth Hanna. This review floored me. I worked so long and so hard on Good Night for next to nothing. A bad review would not be the end of the world - every movie gets them (and yes, Good Night has a few). But this review validated the work our cast and crew put into this movie. It especially validated the work of producer Jonny Mars and producer/writer/co-editor/director Sean Gallagher. I think it's reviews like these that keep me going when I find myself underpaid, over-worked, or lost in the woods.

Another great review in Film Threat