A couple neat moments behind film fest opening night

1. In covering opening night of the Sarasota Film Festival, one of the neatest moments was when actor Kevin Kline walked into the theater of the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall - the audience of local folk cheered and applauded.

And those who were more interested in getting a good seat in the hall than flocking the red carpet line saw the moment as an opportunity to pull out their cameras and take photos.

Kline sat almost right in the middle of the crowd, instead of being roped off somewhere in the front row, which allowed him to speak with a few fans.

2. Two funny moments happened before the film started. Most crowds are used to a speech or two right before the opening night film, but last night's speeches kept going and going - with different faces behind the lectern. And every new face brought more sighs. The crowd was definitely itching to see the film, not be speeched to death. Finally, when someone - I think it was artist director Tom Hall - said there was only going to be one more speech, everyone in the hall applauded.

3. The other was when the lights were dimmed and the camera started rolling on the silver screen. The first thing the audience saw was not the opening credits of "The Extra Man" but an ad for the Longboat Key Club. The audience laughed, recognizing they had been momentarily duped into local marketing propaganda.

- January Holmes