While the screenings are going on until Thursday, the panels are finished up for this year’s Austin Film Festival. I can honestly say that I had a great time at the festival this year. I was able to meet a lot of great people and we also got some more people interested in “CELL.”

There are a lot of things to love about the Austin Film Festival. First off, it’s geared towards Screenwriters. So many of the panels are for storytelling and ways to get your scripts out there. Great panels with guys like Terry Rossio and Shane Black sharing all sorts of stories about how to make a great screenplay. The best part of it is that after they’re done, you can go up and talk to them and ask questions. You might even catch them in the bar and just have a beer with them. This year Ron Howard was wandering around town just having a great time. Last year, Danny Boyle spent a few nights just down in the bar talking to people. You don’t get that kind of access at other festivals. Austin is unique for that.

They also don’t forget about TV. I got the chance to talk with Damon Lindelof and Roberto Orci. (Orci thought our raw footage looked good. Yeah. We’re cool like that.) It was great for me to talk to them because I’ve always seen “CELL” as a show that they would be interested in. And they talked about the pitfalls of TV and what it’s been like for them. What was even better was getting to talk to them and get advice on the next step for us in our work with “CELL.”

And there are lots of parties. Big parties.

Even with all of that, one of the best things about the festival is meeting all of the other writers and producers that have come from all over the world. I got the chance to talk to a documentary filmmaker from Australia to a couple of seniors from Emerson College about to move to LA. All of them have stories. All of them have great ideas. And all of them want to work hard and be successful. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have come to the festival in the first place.

I’ll try to pass on some of the things I learned at the festival. One thing I did learn is that even festivals don’t have a clue what to do with web series. It’s a new world out there and we’re on the cutting edge of high-quality web content. Stick with us and let’s make something great happen. Maybe next year we can be panelists.