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Sarasota News Leader March 29, 2013 Page 74 may have heard of: Sundance. Establishing She says the programming here is on par with the Sarasota fest in late spring gives film pro- "some of the best regional film festivals in the fessionals a breather after the marathon of U.S." Sundance and South By Southwest. That word "regional" doesn't bother Hall. Hall also credits the Sarasota crowds for the There are maybe four or five genuine national attention the festival has gotten. "We have an event festivals, he says. To be near the top of audience that is willing to take chances and that next tier is still awfully damn impressive. give people their feedback," Hall says. The "The industry doesn't invade Sarasota and theater isn't full of fellow film pros. "It's a real turn it into a press frenzy," Hall says. "We're film audience. They're smart. They're savvy." not going to be that." Those audiences certainly impressed Josh Braun, who runs Submarine Entertainment, a sales and production company, with his brother. "I was surprised by how robust the audiences were and how much they engage with the films," he says. "There's a very solid tradition of respect and appreciation for the arts in that region that just doesn't exist everywhere." Braun first came to the festival in 2005; he's come back almost every year since. The film Page One: Inside the New York Times, which he produced, served as the 2011 opening night feature. Of course, there's another reason Braun comes almost every year, and his name is Tom Hall. Masters only came to the Sarasota festival for the first time last year, but she was "floored." The detailed organization, the ease of navigating the festival, the feedback from crowds — all of it impressed her. "Filmmakers on the whole really look forward to Sarasota," she says. But that doesn't mean Hall is satisfied. He wants the festival to develop a fuller yearround presence, keeping audiences engaged in filmmaking outside of the confines of April. Another imperative: how to "connect to the transition from theatrical distribution to on-demand and online screenings" and help filmmakers navigate that new world. Hall says there are no real models for a festival doing that successfully, but that doesn't bother him. He wants Sarasota to lead the way. "He's incredibly open to new, challenging work," says Van Couvering, "so he identifies a lot of filmmakers early that other people don't "I don't know how people like Tom stay paslatch onto." sionate about new work forever," says Van "Whatever project he's spearheading is some- Couvering. "At a certain point you think you'd thing that I jump on board," says Maureen get burnt out. He seems so terminally open." Masters, the director of regional publicity and film festival bookings for Magnolia Pictures, a The Sarasota Film Festival runs April 5-14. film distributor. "He's a fantastic programmer. Visit sarasotafilmfestival.com for a compreHe goes after really ambitious titles." hensive guide to everything going on. %