Hanging with Motion Picture Academy members at the Nashville Film Festival

It'll be my privilege to fill in for the originally announced, unfortunately indisposed Mark Johnson this weekend at the Nashville Film Festival during two panels sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences: Beyond the Oscars (1 pm Saturday), an overview of the Academy's mission to encourage filmmaking throughout the world; and Master Class (2 pm Sunday), an in-depth look at the past and future of the American film industry. At both events, I'll be fielding questions, moderating discussions and fetching coffee for industry notables Sid Ganis, Ellen Harrington and Tom Pollock. And at some point, I'm sure I'll work into the discussion that, hey, I write for Variety, and I teach at University of Houston's Jack J. Valenti School of Communications. Then I'll ask if they take sugar or Sweet’N Low, cream or skim milk.