Sundance Film Festival may be over officially for another year, but I confess I’m just getting down from the altitude high I got out of six days, four nights and one all-nighter– Sundancing in Park City.
I’ll admit it was a last minute plan of action despite getting the nod for accreditation back in December. Life situations often get in the way and making the trip to Utah may not always be the most practical thing to do. Let’s face it, the odds are monumental – below zero degree temperatures, high priced places to stay or communal living for keeping the cost down, commuter living for lower priced accommodations outside of Park City, not getting accreditation, getting accreditation as Working Press and making you really work for it (one screening ticket for first a.m. film at Eccles Theatre only). That is where strategy, luck and opportunity lie in scoring a ticket or WaitListing for the rest of fest.
I arrived Friday late afternoon but having to get on a shared shuttle brought me to my place at around 6 p.m. Too late to get my credentials, so I can’t access anything as a Sundance participant without it. While I understand the days are long for volunteers, the first couple of days are havoc for arrivals and if the Thursday and Friday could remain open until 8 p.m. it would be forever appreciated. When I get into Park City, every minute counts. There have been days when I would see three films, two panels, an ASCAP music act, three receptions in and around Main Street, possible Midnight screening if it is near where I am staying. We lucked out staying uphill from Main Street and perfect for our long days into evenings and late nights. Then we get up and do it again.
Saturday a.m. starts off the day racing to Sundance HQ at the Marriott (one of three Marriotts in Park City). While things have not changed with location, every year there are different rules and protocols to follow, what you can or can’t do, what you can get a ticket for and what is no way today shaking heads from side to side. The personnel this year have been very nice, polite and helpful. The School of Management thought to “treat volunteers with respect and reward them for their long hours” works well. They’re doing it okay. Overhearing conversations in the merch stores, I noted a peaceful, easy feeling among the worker bees. Always listen in on their buzz. They may not get to see very many films during their shifts, but they see who and how many get into the screenings, gauge and repeat the conversations after they get off. This rapidity of subjective opinion comes from a massive cross section of people who descend upon a historic mining town and ski destination–many for the very first time. No one besides Nielsen gets it better than this and right on.
After three films in a row (see reviews) Don Jon’s Addiction, Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes, Austenland, I checked in with the North Carolina Filmmaker Party and caught up with the great film commission team coming out to Sundance to promote their North Carolina Film Incentive answering questions about tax credits for qualifying expenses of a production company who is bringing business to the state. Talk about economic development in the right direction. Will New Jersey Governor Chris Christie ever learn that film incentives equal business? equals revenue? REVENUE and economic development?
while trying to adjust to the thin air, altitude sickness got me and my colleague, fellow WIFTI board member, Kimberly Skyrme with headaches and fatigue. This is only Saturday. I opted to make it an early night while Kimberly went on to see another film Mother of George. Unbeknownst to me, History of Eagles Part 1 premiere was happening at the Eccles Theater with original band members appearing for a Q&A after the screening. Can’t believe I missed this! However, the P&I (Press & Industry) screening of this doc takes place tomorrow, but so does Jane Campion’s six-hour premiere of Top of the Lake at the Egyptian Theater starting at 9 a.m. More to come on with the upcoming Top of the Lake press conference.
01/29/2013
Film Festivals