'Hot Carl' plays Atari and gets crazy at College Gate Friday night
THE POST
Those around College Gate anytime Friday evening to early Saturday morning probably saw bright lights, a video camera and some familiar faces from public access doing anything and everything to get money.
The show Hot Carl was broadcast live from 5 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday from College Gate as part of a fund-raiser for the 26th annual Athens International Film and Video Festival. The festival, which will run from April 30 to May 7, will present daily screenings of critically acclaimed films and videos from all over the world, as well as presentations from guest artists.
"Having 'Hot Carl' up here is a very good way for us to raise money for the festival," said Dave Hess, producer of "Hot Carl" and the executive assistant for the director of the film festival. "Even though it can get really crazy, people get curious and want to see what is going on."
People who donated money for the festival joked around with hosts Kent Williams and Jeff Booth and sometimes played a few games of Atari with them. They also could send a few shout-outs to their friends or family who might be watching at home on Channel 23.
Although some people were scared away by the camera, once Williams and Booth enticed someone to get on camera and chat with them, the money usually started flowing.
"We hope to raise $500 for the festival, but things have been going really well, and we'll probably raise way more than that," Hess said.
As the night progressed, more people were lured into giving their money to the festival and provide some antics of their own for the camera.
"At around 2:30 when everybody is out of the bars, the corner becomes very crowded. Everybody is really drunk, so anything can happen," Hess said. "The last time we did this we had some flashers visit us, and lots of underwear was donated. A girl hit her boyfriend over the head with a chair and someone dressed as Spiderman came and wrestled Kent."
However, all of the chaos went toward a good cause. The money from the fund-raiser will be spent toward bringing more films and guest speakers for the Athens Film and Video Festival next year.
"Public Access 23 and the film festival are very friendly towards each other," Hess said, "so we were happy to do this for them."
- by Larry Fitzpatrick
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