It’s been about two weeks since my last blog post. In my defense, things have been very busy, with a lot of looming deadlines to keep on top of. One way I’ve learned to focus on my work more effectively is to wear headphones and listen to music, mostly listening to oldies on Last FM. Of my favorite picks lately are Bobby Darin, Dion and the Belmonts, Donovan, The Yardbirds, and The Lovin Spoonful.
Last week, a group of us went to Salt Lake City to watch the Utah Jazz play the Dallas Mavericks. It was a really great game for the first three quarters, with really tight scoring, both teams alternating who was in the lead. However, in the fourth quarter the Jazz became sloppy, and were at one point trailing by twenty points. They managed to redeem themselves a little at the end, but not enough to win the game. Regardless, we had a really fun time.
A number of my friends and I are attempting to have a weekly Sunday gathering, ideally at someone’s housing, evolving around eating and talking. Last Sunday, we hung out at my friend Heather’s house, where we made Latkes. For those who have never had Latkes, they’re potato pancakes, traditionally eaten during Hanukkah. The oil that they are cooked in is supposed to represent the bible story in which there was only enough oil to keep the menorah in the temple lit for one day, but it miraculously burned for eight. Funny enough, many of our Jewish friends from Sundance live in Salt Lake City, so none of them came to this social gathering, which was capped off with a viewing of Christmas Vacation, the Chevy Chase classic.
On Thursday of this week, I attended a local filmmaker showcase at our local library. It was a really fun evening, with filmmakers ranging in age and background. Some of the entries were shorts, and others were trailers for feature length works that are still in the process of being made. An example of the latter is was a trailer by Meredith Lavitt (http://www.northface1967.com/trailer.cfm), who works at the Sundance Institute, and will hopefully be completing her film in the next year.
Another project I really enjoyed the teaser for was called Behind the Wheel of the Bookmobile. In the next year, project leader Tom Corwin will be driving an old fashioned bookmobile across the country on the Lincoln Highway. Along the way, he’ll pick up award-winning, bestselling authors, and then the authors get behind the wheel, driving to libraries and places of personal importance to them while being interviewed. The sneak peek that I saw featured Daniel Handler, aka Lemony Snicket. Handler drove the bookmobile through his hometown of San Francisco to the library he used to visit as a child. In the children’s section, he found a book that he had read as a young boy, and looking to the shelf above, he saw that a number of his books were in this section now too. He mentioned that having his books in this place had more meaning to him than knowing the millions of copies that have sold. I love any project and organization that engages storytellers, so I’m really intrigued to see how this project pans out.
On Friday of this week, everyone at Sundance met at Elk’s Lodge on Main Street for the annual Program Review (for those who have been to Sundance, this is where the Filmmaker Lodge is during the festival). Within the past weeks, the film selections were announced for this year’s fest, and on Friday our online film guide went live. This means that it’s time to start planning which films one wants to see, and map our what fits into one’s schedule. However, since the festival is about five weeks away, many of us working for the festival are so busy, we don’t have a lot of spare time on our hands. This is why the Program Review exists; the programmers from the LA office fly in, and over breakfast they talk to us about the films, and what they are most excited about for the festival. This was a really wonderful experience, and really widened the scope of what I hope to see.
Also on Friday was our final Beer & Cheetos event (wine and cheese on a budget, if you haven’t been reading earlier entries), which was put on by my department. As tradition, the final Beer & Cheetos of the season is a fashion show, in which new members from various departments strut their stuff, wearing the festival jacket and vest from over the years. As my last name is very close to the word “coats”, I was put in charge of distributing jackets and coordinating the show, which was a lot of fun as I got to meet a lot of new people. At the end of the “runway,” each person had to say their name, hometown, department, and their favorite Sundance movie from the year they were representing. As my fleece was from the 2001 festival, I got to say my favorite film of that year was Memento (it was also the year of Donnie Darko and Wet Hot American Summer, all of which were at Sundance).
The clothing article I was most excited that we had was a t-shirt from the 1981 festival. This was actually before the Sundance Institute had taken over the fest, and at the time it was called the United States Film & Video Festival. Prior to this year, the festival had taken place in Salt Lake City, in the fall, and this year marked its move to Park City. This change came about due to a recommendation made by Hollywood director Sydney Pollack, a fellow Utah resident, had been a close friend of Redford’s for many years, having first worked together on the film War Hunt. Pollack casually suggested to the festival staff, “You ought to move the festival to Park City and set it in the wintertime. You’d be the only film festival in the world held in a ski resort during ski season, and Hollywood would beat down the door to attend.” The festival staff followed through with this recommendation, which would help shape the festival towards its present-day state. A number of the venues used then are still used today.
Seeing how many of those reading this blog have never been to Park City, much less Utah, I feel the need to begin describing some of my favorite places here. Currently, I’m writing in one of my favorite Main Street spots, Java Cow. The name comes from the fact it is half café, half ice cream parlor, with a visual split between the two. It’s a five minute walk from my apartment, and since I don’t have internet access at my house, it’s my typical spot to check my email. Another cool this about this place, is that there is a Banksy original spray painting on the side of the building. For those who don’t know who he is, Banksy is a famous British graffiti artist, mysterious because no one knows what he looks like. He was in town last year as his documentary film Exit Through the Gift Shop, which premiered at Sundance. It’s pretty cool stuff.
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| Banksy art on side of Java Cow |
That’s all for now- my computer is about to die, and my power cable is at home. Hope everyone is doing well, miss you all.
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