What Was It LIke to Shoot On Film?

This morning, I'm sitting outside of a well known Studio City cafe.  It is cool, but sunny.  I chuckle to myself as I watch people bundled up in winter coats and watch caps - it's 60 degrees!  Only in LA....
I'm at the cafe practicing another time honored industry ritual, the breakfast meeting.  I feed the friendly wrens at my feet with croissant crumbs as I wait for the Director to arrive.  We've corresponded by email briefly, but this is our first face to face.  I've looked at his work on his website - it's clever and he can tell a story, hence the next step, the meeting.   I'm wearing my NY Panavision hat so he can spot me in the growing crowd.

He arrives and we exchange the normal pleasantries - where are you from, where did you go to school, how long in LA, what are you working on now, etc.  He has a good energy and I sense from our hour and a half conversation that  he would be a good Director to work with.  We get around to talking about different acquisition formats - I give him my thoughts on balancing budget with deliverables and final usage.  It's at this point that he says - "You know, sometime I'd really to shoot something on film"  I'm a little stunned at his statement - "You've never shot anything on film? Not even in school?"  "No, but I know that it's still the best format...." 

After the meeting, I wonder to myself if the new generation of film makers coming up through the ranks will "discover" film or will they be satisfied shooting on a digital medium.  Vinyl records have made a comeback with the MP3 generation, Polaroid film was rescued from bankruptcy and extinction and is thriving with new stocks being released monthly.  Maybe the myth of film and the desire to make a project look better will help swing the pendulum the other direction.  Maybe......