Just finished editing the video and writing the story from this afternoon’s CT Film Festival press conference.

I had never been into The Palace Theater before. It is quite a place. The festival is extremely fortunate to be using it for its opening night screening and after-party.

Building owner Joe DaSilva said workers have been inside for about two months cleaning and making some minor repairs. DaSilva stressed the Palace has not undergone a complete renovation — so don’t expect the interior to match your memories from a long time ago.

That being said, the place looks pretty darn good.

One, 415-seat theater inside the Palace will be open for the film festival — but clearly there are serious plans in the works to return the place to its former glory (more on that in Sunday’s News-Times).

Here are some highlights from this afternoon’s press conference.

[HTML1]