“The 2008 Woodstock Film Festival’s Maverick Awards ceremony was held Saturday night, Oct. 4th, with director Sean Baker’s PRINCE OF BROADWAY taking Best Feature Narrative and director Jeremiah Zagar’s IN A DREAM winning for Best Feature Documentary. More than 300 indie film movers and shakers attended the gala event, held at Backstage Productions in Kingston, NY just outside the Woodstock arts colony.
THE HONORARY LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD was presented to cinematographer Haskell Wexler, by writer/director/actor John Sayles, producer Maggie Renzi, and actor David Strathairn (award previously announced).
THE HONORARY MAVERICK AWARD was presented to director/screenwriter/actor/editor/comic book writer, Kevin Smith, by producer John Sloss (award previously announced).
THE HONORARY TRAILBLAZER AWARD was presented to James Shamus, CEO of Focus Features and award winning writer/producer, by director Ang Lee and actor Melissa Lee (award previously announced).”
We were lucky enough to attend the awards ceremony which was a casual event, more cocktail party than stuffy awards show. I have to admit that even though I support indie films and commend the filmmakers who work their butts off for very little money or accolades (I know the feeling), I really just wanted to see Kevin Smith. Clerks, Mall Rats, and Chasing Amy were a big part of my formative years. Beyond just liking the movies, for me and my friends, it was inspiring to see a guy gain success while playing by his own rules.
We did see Kevin Smith, Ang Lee, Morgan Spurlock, and Mary Stuart Masterson, just to name a few. The casual setting allowed plenty of opportunities to mix and mingle with all of the filmmakers. This is where I have to confess that we stood only a few feet away from Kevin Smith and all I could muster was a “congratulations” as he walked by after receiving his award. I was in awe and totally star struck and even though I was thinking, “you totally inspire me”, “why didn’t hire me to work on Zack and Miri after I sent in my resume to View Askew a hundred times”, “I think it’s so cool you stay true to yourself and you haven’t sold out (excluding Jersey Girl of course)”, I just stood there and then kicked myself the whole way home.
You can see a list of all the winners here and more on the event here. Below are our pictures and a video of Kevin’s (super funny) acceptance speech (in three parts because half way through I ran out of room on the Flip) as well as Ang Lee’s introduction of James Shamus. It was an inspiring night, congrats to all of the winners!
