NYIT Screening of "Don't Go In The Woods" and Q&A 11-22-2010

It was a balmy 62 degrees in New York City last Monday night and mid-town Manhattan was decked out with Christmas decorations, lights, trees and music. I visited the shops at Columbus Circle and checked out their Christmas light show before heading over to the NYIT auditorium for the "Meet The Director" event with Vincent D'Onofrio,scheduled for 7:30 PM. While some attendees, including me, were waiting for the 7 PM check-in in the lobby, Sam Bisbee arrived and we exchanged hellos as he briefly left the auditorium before returning later to introduce the film, "Don''t Go In The Woods". Vincent arrived in time for the Q&A at 9 PM with Sam, Joe Vinceguerra, Cassandra Walker and Brad Balfour. He looked dapper in a black suit, white shirt with no tie and black loafers and black socks. During the first half-hour, Brad Balfour moderated the question and answer session and the second half-hour was comprised of questions from the audience. The entire Q&A was filmed for broadcast on Channel 75 at a future date. I took some photos early on and made my own video from my front row aisle seat directly in front of Vincent, who was very relaxed and comfortable onstage. Vincent revealed that his film was bought by Tribeca Films for distribution and also revealed that he kept his plans to make DGITW under wraps until he was about to begin filming so that his lawyer, manager and agent did not even know he was making a film beforehand. As a matter of fact, Vincent completely bypassed the major studios when making and promoting his film. He also gave some advice to a young actress/writer later on, advising her that "in order to become a good writer (or actor) you have to write all the time."Vincent did briefly discuss his next project "Johnny and Me," describing the plot as a father-daughter story with a different twist than anyone ever experienced and "very interesting.". By the way, Vincent also pointed out how much he loves acting, saying "It's my whole life, everything I do." Wow!! At the end he was presented with a bouquet of flowers and a surprise gift. He left the auditorium shortly after the Q&A ended and he briefly paused outside to speak to several friends and smoke a cigarette before heading towards Columbus Circle with Sam, Cassandra, Joe and several others. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to speak to him this time, as he didn't remain on the scene very long and was surrounded by people, including his handler.  Hopefully, I will have other opportunites to see Vincent in future, as I did at Joe's Pub four months ago and at Tribeca Cinemas two weeks ago.