Film Streams presents – Laura Dern & Alexander Payne

The first annual Film Streams fundraiser was held at the beautiful Holland Center in downtown Omaha this evening and we had the honor of attending as guests. The building was packed and the crowd was enthusiastic. Rachel Jacobson came out first to a burst of applause and she was visibly moved by the attendance and the crowd reaction and she struggled to get through her introductions and thank yous and did an admirable job in the face of what I’m sure was an incredibly emotional opening. After Rachel’s intro, Todd Simon and his wife introduced the guests of honor, Laura Dern and Alexander Payne. For the next ninety minutes we were treated to numerous film clips spanning over Ms. Dern’s career interspersed with tons of great insights and a behind the scenes look at acting and the filmmaking process.

The stage setup was simple and perfect. A large oriental rug in the middle of the stage with two comfortable chairs flanking a small table made for an intimate and relaxing setting and the audience was treated with a conversation between two people that have been making films for decades. The perfect evening for an actor or a filmmaker, or quite frankly anyone who enjoys films.

Huge congratulations to Rachel and Casey for putting on a tremendous evening and thanks for mentioning the Omaha Film Festival in your intro!