LANE KNEEDLER

Your job title is Programmer - but who are you really? I don't know who I am anymore.... The reason why is my answer to question #2

Job titles aren't very descriptive, and the festival would obviously fall apart without you. What do you really do around here? Well, this year I watched exactly 899 films for consideration in AFI FEST. Seriously, I counted! That was pretty much my whole summer. While I got to travel to a few fests this year, the majority of my screening is in my dark bedroom. That's why I'm so pale and anti-social.

Why do you work for AFI FEST? While it is a lot of work, it's really hard to complain when you get paid to watch movies for a living. My parents are both ditch diggers, which is painful and thankless work. Strangely they hold those positions by choice and both actually have PhD.s

What's your favorite thing about the Festival? Having all of the films in the same tight location is fantastic. All day long I keep running into these amazing filmmakers. The unexpected, unplanned encounters are always the best part of any film festival. If anyone wants to have one of those I will be in the Cinema Lounge at exactly 8:15 tonight.

What's one movie are you're really looking forward to? Seriously? One? It's like asking a mother of 150 children which one she loves the most. I love them all so much and I just want people to see as much as they can. Look in the schedule right now, the very next movie that is starting today, that's the one. Go see that one. Then makes sure to stay for the one after that, then return here and read these instructions again from the beginning.

After this is all over, what's the first thing you're going to do? Please, God, let me stop drinking.