After the delightful celebration at Agapé, we had to jump right in the car and zip up the road to Greenville for another Saying Goodbye screening that night. The SC Upstate Film Community invited us to show Saying Goodbye to their group and talk about the grant from the SC Film Commission. Sandra VanNatta is one of organizers of the Society, and she heard about our film from Mary Elizabeth Cobb (they are both represented by the same talent agency). Then it turns out one of Sandra’s first big acting jobs was with Rebecca Koon in The Notebook, and in typical Rebecca fashion, she took Sandra under her wing and mentored her. So with connections to two of our stars, Sandra looked us up and asked us to screen Saying Goodbye at one of their meetings.
They hold their meetings at the Coffee Underground in downtown Greenville, and the place has a fun, funky vibe. It has a back room with a screen and a stage, with church pews set up to watch the action. Andrew Kaplan was the first speaker, and he gave great tips on social networking for actors and filmmakers. Then we showed Saying Goodbye and had a lively Q&A afterwards. Since the members are filmmakers and actors, they had a lot of insightful questions about the grant program and how we made the film. We got a lot of positive comments, and we thank Sandra and the SC Upstate Film Community for giving us the opportunity to share Saying Goodbye.
Also, we were thrilled that Rebecca Koon showed up with a few of her family members to this screening as well. Two visits with Rebecca in one day is definitely a treat!
Since our sister Joanna (paparazza extraordinaire) lives in Greenville, our trip upstate gave us the perfect opportunity to show the movie to her friends and co-workers. She decided that the Coffee Underground would be the ideal place for her screening too, so two days later we were back in the funky screening room showing the film to her friends. She even had the Coffee Underground cater the party, and we have to say, if you ever get the chance to have the cookies there, make sure you do – they're delicious!
In one of those super freaky small world coincidences, it turns out Sandra’s husband works with our sister, so Sandra got to see the movie twice that week at the Coffee Underground. We had a great weekend sharing the film with folks in Greenville, and we drank enough coffee to give us the shakes.