Inheritance takes Second Place- 12/8/04

After floating into the Big Apple on a Jet Blue red eye Inheritance representatives Kris Kristensen, Brian McDonald and Jean Landry managed to squeeze in a few hours of sleep before attending a screening of the film later that night at HD Fest.

Kristensen, Landry and McDonald above ground.
After the screening, director Kristensen and producer McDonald fielded questions from a nearly full house.Although there were a number of tech questions, most of the comments were in regard to film's story and performances. Also in attendance were actor Carter Roy, who plays Neil, and singer/songwriter Celia Chavez who wrote and sang the film's opening melody - Lose Myself In You.

After the screening Kristensen took part in a panel discussion on indie film and Hi-Definition. Kristensen saved most of his comments for after the panel, "There was so much tech talk going on between the panelists, I really had no idea what they were talking about. It was like listening to a bunch of fax machines beeping and buzzing to one another."

He later commented, "What no one really mentioned is that Hi-Def, like any format, is a tool. We shot on HD because we could afford to. Had our budget been smaller, we'd have shot on DV-Cam or mini-DV if we had too. Had it been higher, we would have shot 35mm. People get so caught up in the technology, but the only thing it boils down to is the script. We're all slaves to the script, and I'm afraid that too often filmmakers get entangled in the technology and forget that every person and piece of gear on the set is there to serve the script."

McDonald and Landry under ground.
When asked for an example, Kristensen cited the film The Celebration, "Here's a film that I can honestly say looks terrible, but the drama on screen is so gripping, what happens between these characters is so compelling that no one cares that it looks so bad. It's about the story. It always is."

Sunday night at the HD Fest awards ceremony Inheritance received second place for Best Picture and Best Cinematography (DP Eric Adkins), meanwhile director Kristensen didn't even place for Best Director. When asked how his film could receive second place without acknowledging his directing Kristensen joked, "I don't know how that works. I guess I'll have to ask Steven Spielberg if I ever meet him." The reference is in regards to the 1998 Academy Awards when Mr. Spielberg won the Oscar for directing Saving Private Ryan. The best picture Oscar went to Shakespeare In Love.

According to HD Fest officials, voting was mighty close, in some cases coming down to as little as 2 tenths of a point.