Sundance Reflections 2002

LEGENDS of Show Business

Thursday 1/10

Worked all day on Fidenza project for Erin and promotional materials for LOSB. Stayed up until 3am printing, packing, and prepping.

Friday 1/11

Got up at 4am - Taxi to Fly Away to LAX. Small line at Sky Cap, long line at escalator, extremely long line at x-ray. It turns out I have a lot of metal on me; very thoroughly wanded. Moved to a seat closer to the front of the plane, remembered why I hate the window seat. About that time I realized the jeans I had on were split in the crotch.

On Airport shuttle, met Eric Fillbrook from ASCAP, here for the Sundance Music Lounge (which I never made it to.) Also met director and cast of "Dead Stars" which screened with my shorts program at Nodance. Gave LOSB hat to the driver. Was dropped off at Nodance HQ in the main street mall where I stowed all my gear in the disused, greasy kitchen. Got some stuff together and did my first round of postering. Has fantastic Hungry Miner skillet breakfast at The Eating Establishment

Got in touch with Dave Parks, made arrangements to meet him at Eccles Theatre. Changed my ripped pants in the Nodance kitchen and, with some difficulty, found the bus stop. Rode a shuttle with James Cromwell (Babe, LA Confidential) and chatted with him about his upcoming project, some downer about an Indian who was murdered or something. Gave him a post card, didn't think he would want a button.

Met Dave in the wait list line for "XX/XY" at Eccles along with George Vershoor and Derek. We sat in the last row of the balcony, blinded by some badly focussed house lights. The movie made me very sleepy. It was a meandering relationship movie about a feckless bastard who screws anybody he can then is surprised when the women in his life are upset with him. There's more to it than that, but it didn't really work for me.

We picked up my gear at the mall and headed up to Marcia Lucas' condo, a luxury multi level, log affair half way up a ski slope and filled with animal heads and skins. We headed back down and had dinner at Texas Red's BarBQ. It was fantastic. Dave pointed out that they have the world's best toothpicks - very strong and very thin. We then had a bunch of drinks across the street at the No Name Saloon. Met the film makers from "The Human BEEing".

There was talk of an 11:30 movie, but I don't think we made it. Went to sleep on the loft/landing on the Aero Bed. Under inflated, not too comfortable.

Saturday 1/12

Dave and the boys went skiing; I put up posters and handed out cards and buttons. I took the car and parked it behind Main Street. Discovered virgin postering territory at the bus stop. Went back to Eating Company but had to wait almost an hour, causing me to miss the 12 noon film at Nodance I was planning on.

Went over to iLounge to see "The Human BEEing". It started about 45 minutes late. I met the woman from "Strip Tease to Save the Trees" as well as the Tromma posse, some very aggressive posterers. "The Human BEEing" was pretty clever and stylishly on target, looking just like a 1950s B-movie, but it needed to be cut by about 20%.

When I got back to the condo, Dave looked like he'd been beaten up having taken a header into the ground on a bad jump. I dropped off the car and hitchhiked down the hill to the Nodance Opening night party. I gave a poster and some cards to the people who picked me up. They asked for an autograph, my first one. The party was pretty fun, catered by Texas Red's BarBQ; lots of free drinks; moving lights, fun chatting on the balcony. Left early to catch up with Dave and the guys to see "Run Ronnie Run." In the wait list line under the theatre, met a nice girl who was there with her younger sisters. "Loaned" a hat to a Sundance volunteer who was giving out surveys on the pretense that she could have one if she came to my screening. She gave out a lot of cards and buttons for me. I don't think she ever showed ant any of the LOSB screenings. "Run Ronnie Run" was hilarious. Darrek and I tried to say hi to david Cross, the star, as he went into the movie's RV, but he just went inside. We stood outside for a couple of minutes until we realized we looked like sycophants and scooted off.

Sunday 1/13

Postered and promoted all day. Used the ibook to show LOSB to the security guard in the Mall since he wasn't going to get to go to any screenings. He loved it.

Went to the Nodance panel on Storytelling where I introduced myself to Pete Jones from "Stolen Summer". Told him about my connection to Lynn & Jeff. Bonded a little bit. Also met Chris Gore from Film Threat again. he gave a copy of his film festival Survival Guide to the first person who could get up to grab it. I tried to dash up to the front, but a guy in the front row just leaned forward and got it. Watched "The Huey P. Newton Story" by Spike Lee at Slamdunk. Fantastic. Then blew off Dave and the guys seeing One Hour Photo at 6pm for the Slamdunk Opening Night party - free Sam Adams for about an hour and a half, then they kicked us out for a private party which I later found out was for Maria Carey. I saw her in the street leading around a pack of paparazzi. With what she was wearing, she must have been freezing. Had Chinese food, then caught "Brittany Baby One More Time" at the Midnight (11:30) show at the Yarrow. Loved it. Hung out in line with a guy from Phoenix who turned out be a parking valet with filmic aspirations. He bought me a drink at the hotel bar once we got our numbered tickets. The guy who played the Brittany impersonator was hanging around in the wait list line in a hockey jersey. I wonder why s/he didn't have tickets. Dave called from the "Pumpkin" party just as it was ending and came to pick me up.

Monday 1/14

Got up early to see Pumpkin at 8:30 at the Library. Loved it. Also put up some posters on the kiosk there. Saw the cast, Christina Ricci and Hank, coming out of the theatre.

Dave and the boys left town. I had my first screening at the Main Street Mall with Nodance. Was disappointed by the other shorts that preceded mine - way too heavy and long. I think we lost some of the crowd before mine came on during the stop-motion, blood-soaked, gay sex movie. By the time the Q & A came along, there were only about a dozen people left. After, I had a chair massage in the mall by Sean, a bartender at the Fat Tire Saloon. I think he came to my last screening. Dave let me have one more night in the condo since Warren was staying there anyway. Went to the Fat Tire to find Sean the masseur. He wasn't there but I had a couple of tiny, expensive Utah cocktails with some locals before remembering the Slamdunk party for the Ploughshares fund at Harry O's. Crossed the street and went in on the VIP side with Kim Browning letting me in for free. Awesome band. Beautiful girls dancing. More overpriced, tiny drinks. Eventually left during the film for the Ploughshares Fund to catch "Technolust" at the midnight show at the Egyptian. Big Mistake. Dozed often. Movie sucked.

Tuesday 1/15

Spent all morning packing and playing with the iBook. Loaded up Marcia's Suburban with all my stuff and headed into town. Barely made it to Treasure Mountain Inn in time to see "The Real Spider Man" documentary by Dan Poole. It was great, and he gave away Spiderman post-its to everyone who asked questions. Raced over to the Morning Ray to grab a Bagel Sandwich and a coffee. Saw David Cross from "Run Ronnie Run" eating breakfast. Passed out some cards and buttons. Raced back across the street with my bagel and watched "What Are You Going to Do For Toilet Paper", a doc about an old hippie couple who live totally off the grid, growing pot, watching porn, and shitting in the woods. Very interesting. Directed by Dan, who I seemed to see everywhere.

Dashed over to the mall to catch the Nodance panel on Digital Frontiers because I thought Chris Gore would be there. Instead it was moderated by Dan Poole, the Spiderman guy. From there, went with Ben ("What Are You Going to Do For Toilet Paper") to The Australian Camel Club (or something) for Mexican food. Met yet another Australian food service person. Turns out there are loads of them.

Met Dan Lawrence and Greg Tennant at the Slamdunk Happy Hour and we went back to their rooms to move in my stuff. It turned out that Dan didn't have anywhere near enough room for my Aero Bed, but Greg had an entire extra bed. I chose to stay with him. I tried to fill him with gin daily to keep him happy. He came with me back to Marcia's Condo to return the car and was suitable impressed by its opulence. We hitchhiked back down the hill with a couple of guys from Entertainment Tonight. I gave them a presskit as well as lots of buttons. I love hitchhiking; people are so impressed with me and my film. They dropped us off at the bottom of Main Street and we wandered around looking for a place to eat. Soon we ran into John, Dan and Greg's boss at the Sundance Channel, doing the same thing. We ended up at Lakota - very swanky. I had a Buffalo Rib eye and John ended up picking up the tab.

Back at Greg's room by 11ish, made an early night of it. Martinis and bed.

Wednesday 1/16

Breakfast with Greg by the ski slopes - another Hungry Miner skillet It must be a regular Utah thing. Postered a bit, then saw "Bark" at Eccles with an actual ticket I bought from Stuart (dir. "Born Loser") at the Slamdunk party at Harry-O's. It was funny and well acted, but the story didn't really resolve in a satisfactory way.

Hung out at Nodance to do interviews from 2p to 4p. Talked to a woman from Guerilla Film Maker who thought I was funny. Waited around for a while, but it turned out that they were the only ones there to talk to me. Went to do more promoting. Had taken to telling people to come at 5pm for the 4pm program to be in time for my film and miss the dramas it followed. When the screening rolled around, there were bout 24 people in the house. A big group came in for mine and a big group left right after, including Dan and Greg. I was the only film maker there for the Q & A. It was a better response than on Monday. Passed a few hats to the crowd. And having seen "Jeffrey's Hollywood Screen Trick" before, it wasn't as offensive as I remembered. Met a crusty old actor from Van Nuys who I'm afraid might want me to shoot his indie project.

Had a nice dinner with Chowder at the Eating Company, then went down to Greg's room for a Martini. Also brought Greg to the Nodance closing night party. It was hard to get Greg away from the office, so we didn't get there until the middle of the awards. I didn't win anything. I thought I was a shoe-in for the marketing award, the Golden Orbs. I had great posters, buttons, cards. But it went to Dan Poole (Spiderman) and another guy. Maybe I wasn't a team player enough, being in 2 festivals and all. Lots of dancing and free booze. Chatted with young, optimistic film people on the balcony under the heaters. Danced with some pretty girls, one in particular that I can't find in the photo record - white sweater.

Party ended and the whole crowd shifted to the after-party at Jim Boyd's condo behind the mall. It was like college, everybody was young and drunk. There was a Jenga drinking game - all the blocks had things written on them like "Do a shot" or "Make someone a drink". Great idea. Stayed until I almost fell asleep standing up. On the way out I talked to Jim Boyd for, I think, the first time. He said it wasn't a problem that I was in two festivals, though it would be better for him if I weren't.

Found a cab on a deserted main street and went to bed about 3am.

Thursday 1/17

Hung over. Made my way to Main Street, postering along the way. Ate and put up a third poster at the deli where they almost know my name by now, having eaten there several times. Checked in at Slamdunk with Kim. Started watching a documentary called "DotCom". Very interesting - turns out it was a MOCKumentary, all improvised. I was totally fooled.

Did some final postering and promotion on the street. Came back to find a full house.

Kim said they would need a VHS tape for the overflow space. Cool. Got to stand up before the films with the other directors. Looks like a good crowd. Watched from the back. "Legends" was first up and got, to my reckoning, the biggest response. It was packed, standing room only at the beginning, but just plain full by the end of the last film. They were all pretty good. Especially clever was "Over my Dead Body." After the screening ended in the theatre, there was no Q and A, and since the film "The Ball Chair" had crashed on the server and was still going on out there on VHS, there was no great congratulate-the-film-maker moment. I had a handful of hats ready to toss to my adoring fans, but never got the opportunity. The place emptied out after a while and I hung out at the bar talking to Kim. Also got to watch "Born Loser" which was well made, but less than stirring.

Grabbed some expensive dinner at the Chinese place, then went back to the hotel to freshen up, then made it back to main street by 8 o'clock for the Slamdunk awards party. Still not too crowded. Chatted with an actor from "..Dead Body", Michael Dean Jacobs, and his girlfriend. (Judith?) He played the villain in "Orgazmo", among other things. Has a few Sam Adams. Wanted to catch a screening of "Strip Tease to Save the Trees" at 9pm. Had met the woman in it several times throughout the week and she had come and supported my film. They waited around a while before the awards to try to grow the crowd, I guess. They finally started handing them out at about 8:45. I had a hand full of hats all ready to hand out to my adoring fans while accepting my award, but I didn't win anything. "The Ball Chair" won best short (even though it didn't actually play in the main screening room) and "Born Loser" won the shorts Audience Award. I don't know; I can't imagine that film got the same response mine did. I bet being also in Nodance hurt me since I wasn't around to schmooze all the time. I got out of there at about 9:10 to try and make "Strip Tease..." At the top of the stairs, someone saw me come out of the door and said, "Man, you was robbed." I gave him a hat. I realized the address where "Striptease..." was playing was several blocks away and I'd never make it, so I gave up.

I got swept up with Michael and Judith who were heading up the mountain to the Slamdance party. We climbed the stairs to the pickup spot for the Slamdance shuttle and waited about a half an hour until a taxi arrived. With the other guy we were meeting up there, there were four of us. Michael only had two tickets. He tried to talk our way in as a film maker who knew the festival director. When that didn't work, he pulled a brilliant scam. With his tickets in hand, he petulantly said to the bouncer, "Well, I'll just go in there and get some more tickets from the Director, and we'll see what happens when I tell him about all the trouble you're giving me." He disappeared inside for a couple of minutes and came back holding up two tickets. "See? Here you go. No sweat." He gave us the tickets and we all went in. Once inside, he told us, those were the same two ticket he just went inside with. Brilliant. After visiting the bar, I lost him and never saw him again.

It was a wild party. Cool girl DJ who sang into the mix. Free Makers Mark, some kind of Vodka, Jagermeister in test tubes, Beer, etc. Ran into Ben (Toilet Paper). He got a massage from the cute masseuse in kind of a cave. I cruised around and ran into almost everyone I'd met up there. Went outside through the smoking area and took a pee in the snow. Took a lot of pictures of sexy girl on stilts. She was a DJ named Valerie. Kept feeling guilty for leaving the Slamdunk party so quickly. Eventually left and rode back down the mountain to Club Creation. If this was still the Slamdunk party, it was still dead; maybe 8 people there.

Walked down to the Fat Tire to the Trommadance party. Had forgotten my pass, but talked my way in anyway. Right by the door, met Mark Borchardt and his pal Mike from "American Movie" and "Brittany Baby One More Time". The bar was closed but I took a lap and saw all the Tromma weirdoes. Caught the last bus back to the lodge and went to bed.

Friday 1/18

Woke up sad to have no more screenings and happy not to have to pimp the film anymore. Spent most of the morning fooling with the computer on the bed. Went outside to find it snowing and really cold. Took the bus to the Albertson's, bought a lemon for martinis and some sundries. Waited in the freezing cold for a while before figuring out I was at the wrong bus stop. Made it to main street too late for breakfast, had lunch at the deli, and wandered around. It was much quieter with Nodance and Slamdunk over - not a trace of either one left. I'd hoped to see the Slamdunk guys again, but it was like they were never there. Had time to kill before a 3 o'clock screening at the Egyptian. Shopped for souvenirs. Bought Olympic bunny mascot, Powder, for Fiona. Found a place to get a massage across town. Took the bus down there and met the masseuse; we waited a while for the guy with the key to show up. Not the best massage - relaxing, but kind of light - too much pausing. Afterward, she actually gave me a lift back up to main street where I was just in time for "Tears of the Black Tiger", a super-wierd action movie from Thailand that was part John Woo and part Douglas Sirk. I loved it but kept dozing off - I blame the massage.

Heading back to the lodge to stash the bunny, I hear, "Hey, Hitchhiker!" It's one of the guys from Entertainment Tonight that had picked me up earlier in the week. He said one of their friends saw LOSB and loved it, but he had missed it. So I gave him a tape - seemed to make his day. Around the corner, I ran into John Kelly from "Firetrap" who now had Vince's job at ACI. He said he had lots of stuff coming up and I got the impression he wanted to do more business with me. You never know what connections you'll make at Sundance.

Back at the lodge, had a martini with Greg while he waited to record a voice over. The lemon twist was much appreciated. Had dinner at the deli where I finally introduced myself to the Australian chef, Gal. He gave me a lot of free Chowder, yum. My goal for the evening was to get into the Playboy party at a restaurant called Picasso. The night before, I met a guy at the Slamdance party who was going to be a bouncer. I asked if he could get me in and he said his boss said nobody without a ticket gets in unless they slip him at least a fifty. I guess they only want crashers who have $50 to blow on nothing.

Trudged down main street south of where I thought it ended. Before finding Picasso, I found a poster kiosk that I never knew about (no wonder I'm bringing home posters) and a cyber cafe that I'd thought I'd seen on the first day. Earlier that afternoon, on the bus, I had met a couple of lawyers that were supposed to go to the Playboy party but didn't want to. I had the guy's name in mind to use if there was a list. When I finally found Picasso, I was so cold, I just kind of went in frowning like the whole thing was an annoyance, and no one stopped me. Turns out, it was the Playboy Foundation Party. They give awards for free speech and what have you - no bunnies, no pajamas, no Hef. Met Pete Jones (Stolen Summer) again and chatted for some time. With him was Chris Moore, the Exec. Producer from his show, who is much taller than he looks on TV. Told him that. Also met the Dragonfly Girls (see photo - not sure what they were promoting) and the cast/directors of "By Hook or by Crook". We talked about poster Karma. Told them I was going to catch their movie at the midnight show and Silas, the little one, said if I showed up, she'd get me in. When the party emptied out, I walked out with the "Stolen Summer" group. Thought they know some way back to the street that I didn't, but I ended up in the underground garage with them. Felt kind of like a stalker and slipped away up a ramp.

Caught the bus down to Prospector Square for "By Hook or By Crook". Turned out it was only about a third full. When Silas showed, she seemed really glad to see me and, good as her word, gave me a ticket. I had her autograph it. The movie was very low tech - home brew DV. They were all interesting in it, but there was a lot of rambling and I was pretty tired. I kept dozing off. The person next to me actually poked me once and said, "You're snoring". She didn't seem too annoyed; I think she sympathized. Back to the lodge, hit the sack.

Saturday 1/19

Packed everything up. Had gotten rid of so much swag that I actually got the Aero Bed into my giant duffel. Had breakfast by the ski lift at Moose's - a tasty breakfast burrito with comic ski films playing on the TV sets. I still needed something for Noah, so I got on the bus and headed up to Main Street one last time. The rock store was open and I got him a fossil collection. I hope he likes it. Got my stuff and headed to the departure lounge, stopping off to say goodbye to Dan and Greg at Sundance Channel where they were already dismantling everything. Rode the shuttle with a producer and a reporter from the LA Times, but could barely bring myself to pimp the film. Enough already with the PR. Kept seeing the same guys in the terminal, but no seats nearby. Sat a ways off and started writing this. On the plane, I watched a short from the Atom Films Academy Awards DVD on the ibook. Amazing the effort that went into it. Makes me think there's just no competing on these things. The producer guy was right behind me in the last row. He chatted with the woman in front of me who turned out to be an acquisitions exec from Paramount. At baggage claim, he introduced me and I gave her a tape. She didn't have any cards, but I wrote her name on a piece of paper. Of course, now I can't remember where I wrote it.

Rode the Flyaway with a young DP and his girlfriend. Turns out he's shot two Sundance movies and is repped by Judy Marks. I liked him anyway.

Noah liked the fossils

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