On Screen Manitoba

The following article was written by James Swirsky and published on the Indie Game: The Movie website on December 8, 2011. Indie Game: The Movie was recently selected for the Sundance festival.

Hi Everyone, James here.

It’s been a week since the Sundance announcement and I’ve been thinking a lot about Kevin Smith recently. Not an overly surprising thing, given his near poster-boy association with Sundance and our film’s recent news. But, it’s not just that, there’s a couple more things at play here.

The picture above was taken about seven years ago by me. It’s a picture of Kevin Smith. We both were waiting to board a Los Angeles-bound plane from Minneapolis. He was in town giving a talk the evening before, and I was catching a connection from my hometown Winnipeg. He was likely returning to his very successful Hollywood life. While I was en route to the Erosion and Sediment Control Conference to do a corporate gig.

So close, but, my God, so far apart.

Being an aspiring filmmaker, I’ve always looked up to Kevin Smith. Not only for his films - which I completely enjoy and appreciate - but even more so for the enterprising filmmaker spirit he represents. If you’re familiar with his backstory or his online world, you likely know what I mean. The guy’s more than just a filmmaker. He’s kind of a force.

So when I found myself standing there next to Silent Bob, I felt compelled to do something. I really don’t think of myself as a celebrity-gawker type, but it was too cool a moment to not at least get a picture. So I said ‘Hi’, asked him how the talk went, and asked if I could snap a picture.

He was a very friendly guy, obliged with the small talk and the picture. In taking the picture, my arms were slung with waaayy-over regulation-weight camera gear, which had the unfortunate effect of making my arms shake while taking the photo. I came off as the most nervous of fanboys, which really was the result of poor muscle-tone. I could’ve explained away the shake to Mr. Smith, but the damage was done. I was a fanboy. That’s Okay, I’m sure he’s gotten much worse.

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