Opening Day Comes to a Close

By: Molly Taaffe

“This year’s opening day was the biggest in festival history. We’re excited to have opened our third venue, the Access Sports Medicine Screening Room at the Moffatt-Ladd House, and we’ve gotten wonderful feedback on the documentaries screened there today. Tonight we are truly blessed to have the East Coast premiere of ‘Labor Day’ here in NH.” – Nicole Galovski, Programming Director

Today had the first panel discussion of the festival, the Independent Film Finance Panel, where industry experts discussed the various methods, tools and pitfalls of independent film financing, as well as the things filmmakers should be thinking about when it comes to their project budget.

Tonight’s opening ceremony began with Executive Director Nicole Gregg thanking everyone for their help, including the Grand Jury, comprised of Sharon Badal, Tom Bergeron, Justin DiPietro, Maureen Masters, and Drew Vinton. She then awarded Joyce Maynard with the 2013 NHFF Lifetime Achievement Award, noting, “Joyce’s contributions to the world of film, literature and journalism surpasses many of our imaginations.”

We hope to see you again tomorrow as we pick up where we left off. Registration at the Discover Portsmouth Center will open at 9AM, and we will be screening at four venues; the Music Hall, the Music Hall Loft, the Moffatt-Ladd House, and the Seacoast Repertory Theater. The highly anticipated Annual Comedy Panel will be from 11AM–12:30PM at the Discover Portsmouth Center, and later in the day the Delta Bravo Urban Exploration panel will be from 4–5:30PM.

If you are feeling overwhelmed by choosing which films or events to attend, take a look at the top recommendations from NHFF Chairman of the Board Zac Gregg.

Oh, did we mention that Tom Bergeron arm wrestled Dave Currier from Vital during his press event? Tom totally kicked his butt.