Hot at Sundance 2010

The Sundance Film Festival, Park City --

A Word on Tickets and Wait Lists, etc.

If you are in the Park City area and approached by a person who is willing to sell you tickets to a coveted and hard-to-get screening, be sure to check the venue, since there are many in metropolitan Utah but not all in/around Park City. Some are downtown SLC, some are even north of Salt Lake in Ogden which might take more than an hour to get to by private auto depending on conditions. As most know, several screens are peppered around Park City itself, and with parking and shuttle service kind of like Manhattan-in-Utah during the festival, it's not always easy to find and get to the screening of choice if you’re a newcomer. There's more cab service this year and even with a direct route, like your mother told you, it's best to be aware and plan ahead and wear your galoshes. This year you even had to beware of vampire fans which your mother said nothing about.

About “heat” and its conspiring cousin, “buzz:”

The former implies serious box office or audience potential waiting to ignite, and the latter is word-of-mouth promotion. Buzz leads to heat and thus eventual combu$tion. A very large contingent of attenders this year was assembled in the ether via YouTube, Twitter, and online fanzines. (See what we mean by fractured distribution channels?) I know, I know, I didn't have to explain that to you but maybe your mother is reading this.

SundanceTwentyTen People:

Yesterday there was a large reception hosted by the Utah Office of Tourism (Utah has one of the best online resource divisions in U.S. govt) headed by the venerable Leigh Von Der Esch, the premiere plankholder in Utah's film industry. Prior to taking the reins of the tourism department for "Utah: Life Elevated" and the "Best Snow on Earth," as well as for several Utah's national and state parks, etc., Leigh ran the Utah Film Commission for several of the state's governors and the commission is still under Leigh's uber-competent purview. If you have a Utah shoot to plan or locations to scout, Leigh is your go-to person with a modest staff that is eager and capable. (Note: Do NOT expect her to fix your crew's moving violations or parking tickets, since you will need to be courteous and responsible while in Utah as anywhere else). If you've been working with Leigh for as long as we have, you understand all of the above.

John Cooper, the new Sundance executive director. From Los Angeles and with significant prior experience, he's brought the festival back to its focus on independent film. Sundance is not about making the famous more famous, it’s about the recognition of talking/moving picture art, innovation and collaboration. This year there are “little Sundance” venues in several other cities in the U.S. concurrent with the Park City festival. Enough said.

Genaro Molina of the L.A. Times. A great shooter with a great eye at SundanceTwentyTen. A moveable and visual feast.

I mentioned in a previous post here that by far, the greatest online buzz surrounded ingénue Kristen Stewart who appears in two features presented at Sundance 2010, “The Runaways” and “Welcome to the Rileys.” If you have a Twitter account and search the hashtags "Sundance" or "Stewdance", you’ll find her fans there and since these Twilight vampires are all over the world, they don’t disappear with the break of day. Hey, vampires need love too and they're using the Twitterstream to give it to you right in the neck.

~grin~

As has been widely reported, Bill Gates attended Sundance 2010, danced (!) during at least one of the afterparties and helped to promote the ideals behind the documentary on public schools in America called “Waiting for Superman.” ("in America's public schools, all children are left behind.") The man whom Tom Brokaw has called "this generation's Thomas Edison" came to Utah to play and create some heat of his own.

SundanceTwentyTen Places:

We were all crowded out of the Bing Bar due to Bill Gates and his entourage. The Bing Bar (a private venue for a-list festival goers) was also new to Sundance and Park City's Main Street. It will likely be gone after the festival just like Bill.

The slopes. It's worth mentioning again that if you like to ski or board, the slopes around Park City are almost empty during the film festival. Stay in downtown SLC, take a shuttle to any of the Park City resorts and enjoy the Best Snow on Earth without fearing long lines or vampires who are undoubtedly trying for another Kristen Stewart sighting. Snowmobile tours are organized in the nearby town of Daniels (among other places) on the way to the airport in Heber where all of the G3s are parked. Bring your own heat or faux fur.

New Frontier on Main. Across Main Street from The Egyptian Theatre and down one level are Sundance 2010's "New Frontier" exhibits. One is an motion image installation called the "global warming survival kit") which requires night vision glasses to see. It is not easily found, so ask around. Then there's "The Cloud Mirror" which features a concept called "augmented reality" and was used with advertisers in a recent edition of Esquire magazine. It's a mind-blowing concept presented by a tireless man with a flamin' mohawk named Eric Gradman. (full disclosure: Gradman is a fellow USC grad). Do not miss either of these. If Steichen or Steiglitz were around Park City this week, you'd find them here without a doubt and probably wearing mohawks.

Sundance Documentaries on Fire

Restrepo: Sebastian Junger embedded in Afghanistan. If you come to it at the film festival, no problem, but how will war get to you in your living room with surround sound? We don’t know but it will and in his own, very potent way, Junger is this century's Edward R. Murrow and Ernie Pyle. Check upcoming channel and DVD release announcements. (Not on fire, but with the same distribution concern is The Pat Tillman Story. Sometweep suggested that Disney option Tillman for air on ESPN since the story largely began with an NFL career and then a life cut short). If we were still in the era of double features at the "movies," we’d suggest adding The Hurt Locker, which is neither at Sundance nor a documentary but will be nominated in Oscar’s Best Picture category in a few weeks, just watch and see. (ffwd to 31:32 for Kathryn Bigelow's Charlie Rose interview here).

A Small Act: The way meaningful connections can be made in a connected world. Again, finding a wide audience in the fragmented and digital age may be daunting but should still happen. I think these two people were united here at SundanceTwentyTen. This is the ultimate connection in the information age in a story that should be cloned by everyone. Pay It Forward came to life.

Smash His Camera: Because Roger Ebert tweeted this past Sunday that Ron Galella (one of the original papparazzi) is "a vermin, parasite, stalker and a national treasure." Here, art imitates life imitating art and stalking celebrities. This week, Galella is stalked at Sundance by a new generation of shooters. This is like video feedback in the conceptual sense. Point a video camera at its own monitor and you'll get the idea. #mindblownconcept

The b/w still photo of Galella wearing a football helmet while stalking Brando (who had previously knocked Galella's teeth out) is a classic.

Sundance Dramas on Fire

Get Low:

(…to be cont. off to a screening)

All copyright 2010 Michael Orton, all rights reserved