Hooking Up
by Karen Pecota

The more one attends film festivals, the easier it gets to understand the film industry and make lasting connections with its people. The industry professionals connect and reconnect at festivals because there is always business underway and mixing it with pleasure is a lot more fun and interesting. The biz advice is “never to ignore a festival contact” because one never knows when it will come in handy. The people in the film business are connected in many ways so to keep your contacts straight initially organize log of the business cards after each festival you attend of those people you met. This is a fun collection and worth the effort!

*Marc Andreas Bochert, German Director– met for dinner and talked over his latest projects
*Dr. Karl-Heinz Rauscher – met at the brunch and discussed his pre-film days as a doctor. He has developed a screenplay writers program called ‘screenplay constellations’. He is now a screenwriter and has developed freelancing with UCLA film school and European Producers
*Victoria Jorgensen, documentary filmmaker from Florida. Received a copy of her latest film for review; and Victoria’s friend, Angela from Florida,…first time Berlinale
*David Kleinger with Canadian Films…one of HH press colleagues who works for Canadian film Promotion Company throughout Europe
*Wolfram Walter - Retired newspaper photographer and Cameraman for Berlin’s Morgenpost
*Sybille Consten - screenplay writer, etc. part of the team of Hamburg Film Förderung
*Jenny Zyllka – was scheduled to moderate but just gave birth to her second child two days before the festival so her hands were full
*Line Buddy - A female lawyer pregnant with third child who I stood in line with and sat next to her for the press screening of Notes on a Scandal…her office was responsible for the funding.
*Susanne Wolff – produced her own photography book. She receives a special invitation to the Oscars every year due to having assisted security. I actually saw her on TV at the Academy Awards red carpet interviews. She was with her group of people all wearing bright yellow T-shirts.