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WIFF Under the Stars recap · Kvetch & Release

• 0:00
  This was a event filled weekend. There was a lot going on around Windsor.
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  And one of the cooler events I can say that I'm allowed to it's
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  I'm hosting the show I can make that claim was with Under the Stars.
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  It took place in front of the Aquatic Center, just adjacent to the Art
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  Gallery of Windsor, and it was really cool. I was there. I
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  think it was like ten thirty in the morning. I went for a walk
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  and ended up walking by the place inadvertently and there was a big LEDTV screen.
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  One hundred and one Dalmatians was playing. There were families, there were
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  kids, there were people just passing by. It was just such a fun
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  event. And then I actually ended up running into my Bell Media colleague Rich
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  Garton, who was heading over to do his story about With Under Stars,
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  and he told me, did you know they're doing Blair Witch Project later tonight.
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  I had no idea, Vincent, you're going to scare the kids totally,
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  John, Yeah, I mean, thankfully for Blair Witch Project. It
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  was clearly an adult crowd that showed up for that on Saturday night. They
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  had some fun. It was very different than the one hundred and one Dalmatians
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  crowds there that morning, but we had a lot a lot of fun this
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  past weekend right there on that beautiful spot right there by Adventure Bay. But
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  there were over fifteen hundred people that joined this this past weekend, so it
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  was really really fun to see people come out and just enjoy some free movies
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  outdoors. And that's the coolest thing, right, It's completely free, and
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  it's a way that like, you know, everything's so expensive these days.
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  We hammer on that often here on the Station of course, from grocery bills
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  to gasoline to everything in between. It's so great to be able to have
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  an event where it's completely free. Just show up, bring some chairs,
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  bring a blanket, bring some picnic food, and you know you're not policing
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  it and people can just show up and enjoy themselves exactly exactly right, John.
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  It's you know, we really value the community and want to tangibly give
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  back to it and are very proud that every you're able to do this event
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  and make it free for everybody. So that way, it's a really light
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  hearted event. And you see families of all shapes and sizes showing up and
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  friends and you keep runder dogs and you know, really just a very lighthearted
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  event. And also it's really experiential because it's outdoors. You've got a beautiful
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  view of Detroit, you got a view of the water. People just really
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  enjoyed it as a really relaxed weekend. We also quite a few people take
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  in multiple films, which is really Some people came back every single day.
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  I mean, it's a way of celebrating this year, you know, is
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  with twentieth anniversary, and it's one of the many ways you want to celebrate
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  your anniversary and tangibly do something great for the community. So it was nice
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  to have people keep their wallets at home and just say come and enjoy movies
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  all weekend and relax. Yeah, it was. It was a lot of
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  fun. I'm glad that I had a chance to pop by now. Of
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  course, this is an event that we talked last week about how it was
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  evolved out of the pandemic. That's right, that's right. Yeah, back
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  in twenty twenty and twenty twenty one, we did a drive in both years
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  during the pandemic. As we didn't do the regular festival, I wanted to
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  keep it going as we now we really spend twelve months year organizing the major
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  festal in the fall. So after pandemic, we sort of thought, you
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  know, how can we keep with another stars going? And then we thought
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  if we turn it into a really comfortable and easy, you know, lawn
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  share and sit on the grass type of event, I think people would really
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  enjoy it. Right last year on it this year and without question, without
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  question, the audience responded to it and had a lot of fun with it,
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  and we're gonna keep going right that people just really enjoy it. We'll
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  be back next to June, no question to do it again. And just
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  say thanks to the community for that. But John, there's a certain lifeheartedness
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  when you see you know, little kids, you know, dancing in front
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  of a movie as it's playing, and you know, people just kicking back
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  and relaxing, you know, if they're cooler and their dog, and it's
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  just a nice, lighthearted event and a great way of showing also quality of
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  life for people. It just be people had a good time and we're happy
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  to provide that. You know. That's that's you hit the nail on the
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  head there. I when I was standing around and just watching a bunch of
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  the little kiddos running around and they were watching the movie and everyone was just
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  so happy. You could tell from their expressions and just the way they were
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  interacting. I was just like, damn, this is a pretty good city.
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  We live in a really good city. This is something that doesn't exist
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  everywhere. And it's you know, it's no offense to you. It's it's
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  a pretty simple thing. You showed a movie on a you know, on
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  some grass, and it takes a lot more than just that. But I
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  was just like, you know, this is this is pretty great. We
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  live in a great place. Totally totally agree and think it's not a revolutionary
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  it's let's show some films outside and relax and lets people come and watch them.
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  And you know, yes, we made sure that the beautiful digital led
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  wall and the sound was great and all that, but I think you're perfectly
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  right. It's it's simple, it's not complicated. That's what makes it fun.
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  And I've got to say, though, we had an anonymous sponsor coming
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  in just before the festival, before this past weekend and say I please give
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  out some free popcorn and pop to some kids. I gotta tell you,
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  it's one thing. It's one thing to see kids dancing in front of a
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  movie. You're having fun. It's another thing to walk up to kids and
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  say, here are buckets and buckets of popcorn and pop have at her.
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  Just the reaction and the joy in their eyes, and that was really nice.
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  We had kids showing up with their coins in like a ziplock bag with
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  their name on it to buy popcorn and that, and we had, you
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  know, some treats from Anon's donor and be able to do that for kids
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  a really nice moment. We're really happy to do it. Oh it's huge,
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  it's impactful, and it's creating the memories that those kids are going to
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  carry with them moving forward. Vincent, I'm so happy that it went as
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  swimmingly as it did. But I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you right
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  now. You know, we're getting closer to with Oh yes, yeah,
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  yeah, we are. So we're only I mean but five months or that.
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  Most of this point work four months from with twenty twenty four, So
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  we're up October twenty fourth, November three. It's our twentieth anniversary, so
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  we are deep deep into planning for us. The summer months are actually very
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  busy for us, so we will be deep in planning right up into Labor
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  Day, and then once we get back from Labor Day, we actually having
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  to start sort of laying down the tracks, if you will, for the
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  October festival. Our team always gets a kick when we'll meet up with someone
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  in like late August and that. Oh so if you guys started planning that
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  yet, And our answer is always, we started planning it unclosing night of
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  last year. But we love it, we believe in it, and we're
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  pretty pumped right now. I'd say about half the film has been selected.
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  There's a lot of activity on that front, a lot of work on the
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  tourism front we're doing as well, and also we've all got other stuff events
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  coming up too. In two weeks from now, we're doing a huge celebration
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  for all the local filmmakers. It's the best of the past twenty years with
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  local that's in two weeks, so I actually working on that event as well.
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  But it's a big anniversary year and we want to celebrate, you know,
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  film and celebrate our community because our community is the one that made with
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  Happen. Oh, twentieth anniversary, what a big milestone. And if I
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  recall correctly, considering that the Toronto International Film Festival has taking place September fifth
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  to fifteenth. That's when you're going to be doing a lot of your cold
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  calling to people, i'd imagine, to try to lock down some of the
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  bigger films. Absolutely right, John, Ye I know it's a that's a
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  very brisk period of time and a lot of cold calling and a lot of
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  incessant calling and all these types of things. But we always go to try
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  to just pick the best of the best around the world for audience. And
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  yeah, it's good. It's gonna be a big one that I can assure
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  you. Socrate blood, it's Vincent calling me again. Just say yes,
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  just give him them film. Oh my gosh, I'm on vacation. I
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  just finished up all that work. Hey, we look forward to it.
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  I'm so glad that with Under the Stars went swimmingly and you and I will
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  get a chance to talk sooner than later, I'm sure, absolutely, John,
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  Thank you so much, Thank you so much. Vincent Georgie is the
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  executive director as well as the chief programmer of the Windsor International Film Festival.