At the 2011 ShortFest many of the directors have fairly predictable backgrounds, like acting, photography, fine arts, news, advertising and design.
Some music directors might fairly argue that new audiences are more likely to be converted to classical music by Beethoven than by Lutoslowski.
Stand 'em alone - make no reference to the Rat Pack - and you have some pretty fair actors, under the tutelage of a gifted director, doing fairly silly stuff that, for some reason, audiences have enjoyed more than Ali or Vanilla Sky or The Majestic.
Kulyabin's production shifts the action to the present day, making Tannhauser a film director, which the director said is "fairly radical".
These unaffiliated voters opted for Mr. Riggio's group of directors by a fairly wide margin.
Rupert Preston, managing director of Vertigo, the film's UK distributor, said: "For a first-time director on a fairly low-budget, very independent movie, to attach one of the biggest stars in the world is extraordinary".
While Schaaf tried to stay calm ("We didn't do enough, that's it"), sporting director Klaus Allofs issued fairly empty threats.
The process for selecting new directors has made a fairly dramatic change over the past couple of years.
Elf and Iron Man director Jon Favreau is a fairly safe pair of hands though, and Idris Elba, Ben Kingsley, Scarlett Johansson, Lupita Nyong'o, Christopher Walken, Giancarlo Esposito and Bill Murray are all on board.
"This is a very, very tough subject, and we've tried to approach it honestly and fairly," said director Steven Spielberg in an introductory talk.
