So of course a Cast and Crew screening is arranged to celebrate the fruition of all that work everybody did…

but even the organization of the screening with a small bar is a lot of work for 2 people with very little money. Ah the glamour! (We’re celebrating Canada and Mexico here… a representative from the Mexican Consulate might be in attendance, what do you mean we can’t serve tequila? Corona? We have homemade tortilla chips from La Tortilleria but we need cheese and fruit trays…)

Trust me, no one wants to see what happens when one has been running on an hour of sleep a night in order to just solve tech trouble and then the cheese trays go belly up. And by “one” I mean Chris. (And by “Chris” I mean that’s not true and I mean “me”.)

This is when somebody invaluable like Judy Evans is worth her own weight in gold. She’s a friend and enthusiastically supported our movie from the get go. It’s not just about the location and the work… when you mobilize a unit on location there’s a home you leave behind. Who looks after the animals? The house? Neighbour Alison shoveled the walk and collected the mail. Sue was dog-watcher extraordinaire. Judy was on cat patrol. You can’t set up camp in another country without those that hold down the fort while you’re away.

Back to the prepping the screening: Judy was enthusiastic on a buying trip for bar supplies and full of good advice.

She was un-fazed by t-shirts and having to prep cheese trays. Everyone should have a professional Judy. She is a natural party planner and really, she ended up keeping it together while we were up in the projection booth, talking to people, etc.

Even more incredible was she invited her friends to see the film and she pressed them into service! I turned around and there were Brad and Doug frantically slicing fruit and cheeses and arranging them artfully on trays!

Every crew doesn’t have Judys, Brads and Dougs, but they should, believe me.  And they may not have been on location with us, but their willingness to jump into action screening night makes them honorary crew as far as I’m concerned.

If you too would like a Judy, Brad or Doug, leave a comment here and maybe you can borrow ours or get a few for yourself.

With gratitude,
SS