9-5-2005
Just a quick entry to wonder aloud (or in writing, as it were) whether
someone somewhere slipped TIFF execs a link to my festival diary last
year… because I continued to be stunned by – and unexpectedly pleased
with – the way the festival is running this year. As I mentioned in
previous posts here, the world of TIFF is different in 2005. The “let’s
dream up imaginative new ways to stick it to the moviegoer!” mindset
seems to have evaporated in favor of helpful, efficient and downright
rewarding policies and procedures.
Today was Order Pick-Up Day, a day when (in previous years) folks would
start lining up at the crack of dawn so that, by the time the box
office opened its doors for business, there were easily hundreds and
hundreds and hundreds (if not thousands) of people waiting. You’d wait
in line for, say, two hours for the box office to open, and then stand
for another hour (or more) waiting to get to the front of the massive
line.
Not this year. This year, they split the mammoth line in two, by last
name. Okay, so that’s a nice start, I thought. Cuts down the sheer
scope of the line by half. The email notification also trimmed the line
numbers considerably, it seemed. I arrived at 8am for the 10am opening,
anticipating an overall finish time of around 11am. But when I showed
up, there were only two short lines (A-L and M-Z), and I was maybe the
75th person in my line. Once the box office opened at 10am, the line
FLEW! I was in and out by 10:05!! I have never, NEVER!, finished that
quickly before. And it wasn’t rushed, it wasn’t cramped, it wasn’t
chaotic.
It was quick and tidy and efficient and orderly and, dare I say it,
PLEASANT!
Oh, and the $75 worth of free food was, indeed, part of every single
tote bag.
Will festival wonders never cease?
Or will the usual, harsher festival reality return with a wallop come
Thursday?
(Note: They did, however, neglect to erect a single Board of Lies as of
yet, so many people were furrowing their brows this morning as they
waited to exchange tickets without advance notice of what was already
sold out.)
