After reading Mike Jones’ Variety post on Wednesday about his amusing shuttle ride experience, I couldn’t help but hope that my arrival at Sundance would yield similar results. Turns out I didn’t even have to wait until I got into my shuttle for my Sundance moments to begin.
Straight off the plane, the baggage carousel came to a dead stop. Despite several rabble rousers who tried to spread rumors of a labor strike (haven’t we had enough of those?), turns out it was just a mechanical glitch. Whilst waiting for the bags to emerge from the dungeon of Salt Lake City International Airport, I bonded with my fellow passengers, a good sampling of Sundance attendees.
Passenger A: A studio exec whose pet project is a nascent documentary festival.
Passenger B: A vendor who inadvertently insulted the producer she sat next to on the plane when she told him she didn’t like ANYTHING about his previous film.
Passenger C: A post-production supervisor who was tagging along with A and B for several days of fun and movies. When he learned I was at the festival covering the non-fiction films, he confided that he actually goes to the theater and pays to see docs. Love that!
Stepped outside into a gorgeous, sunny day with a fantastic view of the mountains. Crisp and chill, but not a complete shock to my thin-blooded LA body.
The airport shuttle ride itself did not disappoint. I had a wonderful reunion with Deliver Us From Evil producer Frank Donner, whom I met at Sundance two years ago when I interviewed him the morning he found out his film had been nominated for an Oscar. He told me about Amy Berg’s latest project (writer/director, Deliver Us From Evil), a film about Benazir Bhutto. Donner himself has several projects in the works.
I like getting to Sundance on Thursday afternoon before the massive crowds hit on Friday. Gives me a chance to get settled in before the madness begins. Of course, this year many are predicting a muted Sundance, which in my mind might not be so bad. A return to focusing on filmmaking? Fewer long lines at parties? Less traffic? Sounds pretty OK to me. We’ll see if it actually happens...stay tuned...
Straight off the plane, the baggage carousel came to a dead stop. Despite several rabble rousers who tried to spread rumors of a labor strike (haven’t we had enough of those?), turns out it was just a mechanical glitch. Whilst waiting for the bags to emerge from the dungeon of Salt Lake City International Airport, I bonded with my fellow passengers, a good sampling of Sundance attendees.
Passenger A: A studio exec whose pet project is a nascent documentary festival.
Passenger B: A vendor who inadvertently insulted the producer she sat next to on the plane when she told him she didn’t like ANYTHING about his previous film.
Passenger C: A post-production supervisor who was tagging along with A and B for several days of fun and movies. When he learned I was at the festival covering the non-fiction films, he confided that he actually goes to the theater and pays to see docs. Love that!
Stepped outside into a gorgeous, sunny day with a fantastic view of the mountains. Crisp and chill, but not a complete shock to my thin-blooded LA body.
The airport shuttle ride itself did not disappoint. I had a wonderful reunion with Deliver Us From Evil producer Frank Donner, whom I met at Sundance two years ago when I interviewed him the morning he found out his film had been nominated for an Oscar. He told me about Amy Berg’s latest project (writer/director, Deliver Us From Evil), a film about Benazir Bhutto. Donner himself has several projects in the works.
I like getting to Sundance on Thursday afternoon before the massive crowds hit on Friday. Gives me a chance to get settled in before the madness begins. Of course, this year many are predicting a muted Sundance, which in my mind might not be so bad. A return to focusing on filmmaking? Fewer long lines at parties? Less traffic? Sounds pretty OK to me. We’ll see if it actually happens...stay tuned...