One of the more interesting (that’s not really the right word, but I’m going to go with it) things about working at a film festival, especially Tribeca and especially in the kind of logistical position I occupy, is that you can spend weeks planning and preparing certain scenarios only to have it all go poof in one day and find yourself back at square one and scrambling to make things work. So of course when does such a thing happen this year? How about during the week that Lily and I are responsible for our Gothamist Interviews, and add to that the one time that Lily has traveled to the birthplace of Western civilization and left everything to me.
If you’ve been to the Tribeca Film Festival at the Regal Battery Park 11 Cinemas, you’ll know that the plaza in front of the theaters gets very crowded, to put it mildly. We are constantly looking for ways to make the situation more comfortable and less confusing for our customers. Without boring you, let’s just say that this week, about four weeks of planning mostly went away in less than a day. And we’re basically just over two weeks out from the start of screenings and the constant in and out flow or approximately 2000 people every two hours. The festival is still going to be amazing, with the best selection of films yet, and the situation outside the Regal will still be better than it has ever been before. It just means we have a lot more work to do in a very compressed time period. And of course, all of this is happening while I’m prepping these interviews.
Luckily, some of this week’s interviews were easy, and today’s with Anna Housley Juster was one of them. Anna is actually one of my girlfriend’s very close friends, and months ago my girlfriend, while brainstorming interview subject ideas, thought of Anna first. The two of them met while in grad school at Columbia Teacher’s College, but neither of them went on to teach in the traditional fashion. In fact, Anna works for Sesame Workshop, the organization who makes Sesame Street. I never really had a grasp, though, on what Anna did for the organization and the show. I also had never taken the time to ask her.
Who knew Anna was so fascinating? Well, I guess most people who meet her do. But really, I had never discussed with Anna in any sort of detail what she did at her job. Anna is a playful, funny, easygoing woman. I think that comes across in the her interview. What you wouldn’t necessarily realize simply by meeting Anna is that she’s also an incredibly accomplished professional who has an enormous impact on the growth and education of this country’s children through her work on what is the most popular children’s television show of all time. Sesame Street began its 36th season on Monday, and if you turn on the show, you’ll see content that was designed to incorporate the educational curriculum designed by none other than Anna.
If you regularly read this site, you might wonder why it is that having the opportunity to talk to someone at Sesame Street, I didn’t ask about the show’s reaction to my favorite Broadway musical Avenue Q. Well, I did actually, but as is the case with all these interviews, believe it or not, a lot of editing is involved. Anna’s answer to my question was very basic: “Saw it. Loved it. Genius.” Considering that her other answers were a bit more interesting and detailed, and she didn’t really talk about a general Sesame Street reaction to the show, I figured it wasn’t a big deal.
Two more days. Somehow, I’m making it through.
Famous last words.
Out of Focus 