Film Fest 2005

Film Fest San Francisco 2005

I love my job at Google. I work with a lot of really smart and young people and it's energizing me in many ways. It feels great to work for a winning company. It feels even better to work for a company that is able to execute on a vision that is changing the way how people live their life. When people find out that I'm working for Google, they get a twinkle in their eyes. Some of them maybe because they think that I'm rich now so I'll pay their next round of beers. But most of them because they love Google's products.

So why do I have a second job and am I working late hours at the SF film festival?

She is beautiful. She wants to know if I started a line yet for the next movie which doesn't start until 90 minutes from now. I smile at her. I tell her that she's the first person in line and shouldn’t be worried about not getting a seat. She looks me in the eyes and smiles back. Her smile is talking to me and tells me that she trusts me.
One hour later, the one person line has evolved in a line with more than 250 people. We're running out of space in the lobby on the second floor. According to the schedule, we should have started seating people in the theater by now but it appears that there are some issues and we can’t let people in yet. I can see the stress on the faces of the volunteers who are trying to condense the line as much as possible. 90 minutes have passed. The lobby is full and buzzing. People are standing on the stairs now and we're running out of space there as well. Some patrons are starting to lose their patience and want to know what's going on.

She is still the first person in line. She looks at me but there is some doubt on her face now. I smile at her but don't look her in the eyes as I'm starting to get worried as well. Dan calls me on the radio. The final call that we're ready to go? Not exactly. The theater is ready and 400+ people are more than ready to take their seat. One small item is missing though: the 35mm film never made it to the theater and nobody knows where it is. Dan's voice comes through calm and clear. "Prepare for disaster".

Twenty minutes later, the lobby on the second floor is empty. It's quiet. My heartbeat is back to normal. Somehow we pulled of a miracle. The film never showed up but we managed to come up with a solution. The perfect storm. If we can deal with this, we can deal with anything. Proud, exhausted but satisfied. My beer never tasted better.

This is why I’m working at the film festival.

If only I'd asked her for her phone number...