Here’s the video I made for our Sundance Snow Tubing adventure!

WOO! Enjoy.

5 Sundancers hit the slopes of Park City to enjoy a day of skiing and snowboarding.

Here is our day. <-click to view the movie

Featuring:

Hannah Feigin, Chris Werre, Frank Arcuri Jr, Lindsay Comins, and Travis Tyler

They say you don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone. I hate to say it, but that cliché consumes my mood right now. I’m sitting on the flight from Salt Lake City to Houston right now reflecting on how incredible this experience really was. Anyway, this trip was about a lot of things: the blogging, the Hollywood star sighting, and figuring out the stupid (yet handy) bus system. But for me, what was most important was the personal interaction with admirable artists. (more…)

In my limited time at Sundance and exploring Main Street in Park City, I have noticed one feature that particularly stood out about its current layout: The severe lack of cheap dining options. As my Professor, who has intimate knowledge of Park City having grown up in Utah, has pointed out, Park City is a very wealthy place, not to mention from the look of it every house seems to be the size of a small mountain. Despite those facts It is still hard for me to believe that are not any real inexpensive dining as well as retail options along Main Street. When I think of Main Street, USA I picture a small, serene place where family owned and operated businesses are the mainstay of the town and from that when it comes to quality business acumen would have cheap places among them to eat and shop. The picture I have in my mind of a main street and the reality of main street in Park City is quite different. (more…)

I am here to apologize and thank you all at the same time. In many ways I wish we met in different conditions or better yet had more days together. Like a great friend you introduced me to great food, people and places to shop. Yet I want to thank you for allowing me to have the days I did have with you, and for providing me with another town that feels like home. I will miss you but you will have provided with the backdrop for some of my greatest memories.

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Usually when one goes to films at Sundance, the director and sometimes the crew introduce themselves before the film starts. They give details about themselves or little tidbits about the movie to come. Normally, I find the meet and greet really pointless. Yet when I went to Indigenous Shorts I was struck by a small cluster of members for Rocket Boy as they introduced themselves. These people lived and breathed the definition of indie film. They shared TV dinners on set and only had one microphone for the entire short. This crew is one to watch out for because they are determined. So let me play the crew’s introduction for you!

View of Main Street

It is the end of Sundance for us: technically the festival still has another day but we’re leaving in the afternoon so we will be missing out. Now that it’s over for me I suppose I should write a reaction to the time I spent here and all that I experienced. What an experience. Aside from just being able to attend Sundance, I got to attend Sundance for course credit! How awesome is that? Super awesome. (more…)

Main Street, Park City

Being in Park City, Utah for the Sundance Film Festival (and all of the stuff going on around it, like Slamdance) was definitely an exciting and memorable experience. It was amazing to see the US premieres (and in several cases the world premieres) of the newest indie films and not knowing if you just saw a movie that will be the next big thing or a movie that will never be seen again by anyone who didn’t see it here. I found myself genuinely hoping for all of the movies I saw to receive the highly sought after distribution deals, especially after the Q&A sessions with the directors, casts, and crews. They all put so much passion, heart, and effort into an endeavor that may be their big break, but could also come to nothing. I have even more respect now for the amount of work that goes into making a film and especially into making one that makes it to this level. I also feel like I have a slightly better grasp now on the ever-elusive term “independent film.” (more…)

Sundance 2011 has been an incredible and interesting experience. As one of the few people who did not run into a single celebrity while being here, I found my experience to be solely based on the films I saw. Here is a review of the films I saw and the experiences I had here in Park City, Utah. (more…)

In a mainstream cinematic world where cheap thrills, cliched stories, and 3D ridiculousness rules, one town defies Hollywood for ten days in the mountains of Utah, or more importantly Park City, Utah. 

Yes, I am talking about the paradise for all indie film makers, the Sundance Film Festival. The spot to be if you want to be noticed, to make your way into the Hollywood mainstream, or a place to pretend you are somebody for ten days. So, maybe a few of those are cliches in themselves.   (more…)