Craig and I had another adventure last night. We were driving around with Sabrina Taylor, trying to find something to do. Sabrina, who works as an event planner, put in a call to Tommy Lee, the rock star who she throws parties for, but Tommy wasn't home. Maybe tomorrow... We refused to go to the AFI Fest closing night gala, because quite honestly, the AFI parties were really lame this year. So, we decided to check out The Standard downtown, since we had such a good time at the Hollywood location a few nights ago.

When we pulled up, there was a red carpet/security for some private party for Interscope Records in honor of Gwen Steffani. The valet parking was $15, which I didn't want to pay, and I didn't really care about selling Gwen a credit, but Craig insisted we at least try to sneak in. As he said, "When have we not at least tried?" So, we got out, and surveyed the situation. Immediately, we realized the key to entry was the red wristbands. The security would only let hotel patrons in, so we pretended we were checking in to a room. The guard was skeptical so he escorted Sabrina to the check-in. As Sabrina went to the counter, Craig managed to rip two wristbands off the wrists of a couple exiting the party. I didn't even see this happen, he did it so smooth and fast. Then we saw some red tape and I was able to distract the security guard as Craig grabbed a piece. As Sabrina reserved a room on her credit card, Craig and I went to the bathroom and taped our wristbands on. Past the guard we went, then up the escalator, and onto the roof. I gave my wristband to Craig and he went back downstairs to get Sabrina, Five minutes later and the three of us were lying on a waterbed pod with free drinks and a large piece of cake. We danced around until we didn't care if we got kicked out, and then decided the time was now to pitch Gwen, and maybe her husband, the lead singer of Bush.

We managed to find ourselves in the VIP section, don't ask how. We waited for the right moment to make our pitch; finally I was about to slide next to Gwen when one of her friends totally cut me off and sat where I was about to sit. It was an intentional celebrity block, but Craig insisted that it was my fault because I let it happen. He was probably right. The truth was, I didn't really care about pitching it to Gwen, I was only doing it because we were somehow there and we had to follow through.

Then we realized that we were sitting next to Pamela Anderson on the couch. And the guy in the hoodie behind her was David LaChapelle. Maybe it was because we had almost gone to Tommy Lee's house earlier that night, or maybe it was just because the situation was now completely absurd. A bit underdressed, I went over to Pamela Lee and tried to explain the concept to her, which was pretty fun. She didn't give me any money, but I think she touched my leg, which was pretty cool. And I learned a stylish and resourceful way to carry a blackberry in the case of no pockets.

Then I pitched it to David LaChapelle. David seemed to appreciate the paintings. He didn't have any money; Craig gave him a buck and he bought an Associate Producer cred. I'm always amazed with how little cash famous people carry.

Sabrina meanwhile managed to land the gig of throwing LaChapelle's film party at Sundance, which is a realy good job. And, if Craig and I go to Sundance, we might not even have to sneak in. Party over, we went downstairs and waited amongst the stragglers for our car. We handed a flyer to a few stylishly dressed folks, not really expecting any of them to donate. Then this nice guy asksabout our film; he wants to know if we are serious. We say yes, and he whips out a $100 bill, and gives it to us, no more questions asked. Turns out to be Tony Kanal, the bass player of No Doubt:

We were dumbfounded by this last second sale in the parking lot. We got our car and by some other magical fluke, didn't have to pay the $15 valet ticket. All in all, a successfull night for The 1 Second Film.