Hey Folks, I'm Jason White, one of the five fab (or, as history books, periodicals, brochures and pamphlets will, no doubt refer to us in the future, Fab Five) programmers of the 2008 Jackson Hole Film Festival. Through the good graces of indieWIRE -- your source for all film information independent and otherwise -- we'll be presenting you a daily blog which will, we hope, amuse, delight, and allure you into participating in this year's fest from June 5-9. If you're at all familiar with Jackson Hole, Wyoming, however, you won't need enticing. I can only give you my account of the fun I had at last year's fest.

As part of last year's screening committee -- I formerly programmed the Austin Film Festival where I met the great folks at indieWIRE and my fellow programmer, Diane, and previous to that worked in documentary programming at HBO -- I had the opportunity to discover Jackson Hole for the first time.
Flying into the Jackson airport, I was overwhelmed with the beauty of this little city. The mountains are breathtaking and they're lush with greenery. My first thought was that I wanted to run around the place. And, basically, in between screenings, that's exactly what I did.
If you're wondering why we call the blog Action! Jackson, well, apart from the movie reference, it's because the place practically calls you to action. I rented a bike and tooled around town, going from from screening venue to screening venue (despite the fact that everything's pretty much in walking distance and, if it isn't, transportation is provided). The air is crisp and clear. It's inspirational. A group of filmmakers and screening committee members, myself included, arranged a comical white water rafting trip that culminated in practically all of us jumping overboard just to enjoy the freezing (and it was freezing) cold water. It was a great bonding experience -- and let me tell, it was a far cry from my Austin days -- bonding over a rafting trip is a far cry from an amusing conversation over BBQ.
As if that weren't enough, each evening, after a day of activities and movies, there were a bunch of super-spectacular, and very inclusive, parties and events arranged by the stellar staff of the JHFF who were more than welcoming. When Melanie Miller, the artistic director of the fest, asked me to be on this year's programming team, well, let me tell you, she didn't have to twist my arm. I can't wait for June 5. P.S. I'll be cruising around on a bike... don't hesitate to flag me down.