The Sundance Experience

Let me begin by saying that this was our first time covering the Sundance Film Festival. Upon arrival the first thing we had a chance to do is participate in the press junket featuring a panel of distinguished Sundance dignitaries including Mr. Robert Redford himself. It was such an honor to hear the man responsible for introducing Sundance to the world speak about subjects such as creativity, freedom of expression and maintaining diversity. He also touched on the importance of documentaries and his passion for them. Not a bad way to kick off our Sundance 2015.

Upon arriving on Main Street, the social hub of the festival I was easily reminded of the way South by Southwest is setup today. Various corporate installations by Acura and HP adorned the streets with people flocking in and out enjoying a complimentary array of free beer and shwag. In all honesty we were a little nervous wondering how the logistics of the festival take shape. The main theaters that house the films are off the strip with the exception of The Egyptian Theatre, which has stood the test of time for almost 80 years. A shuttle service takes people to and from the main transit center to all the venues making for an easy way to get from place to place.

It was very convenient that we found a place to stay within a two block walking distance from Main Street.  Let me rephrase that within stumbling distance.  Main Street is where you will find all the press lounges, gifting suites, private parties and more. In fact we had a chance to take in some music courtesy of Billboard’s Winter Fest, during our stay. Musical acts such as B.o.B., Skrillex, Iggy Azalea and Diplo managed to entertain the film buffs during the nighttime festivities. 

The other cool thing about Sundance is the amount of celebrities you get to walk into (literally walk into). Many of the actors and actresses are in town to promote their distinguished movies and are often seen on the street in between press junkets walking around. As a matter of fact we had a chance to see a handful including, Keanu Reeves, Kid Cudi, Jason Issacs, Jeffrey Tambor, Chris Pine, Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Molly Shannon, Jason Sudeikis, Spike Lee, Ron Livingston, Kevin Bacon, Gina Rodriguez, Adam Scott, Jason Schartzman, James Marsden, and Jack Black. 

I guess we should talk about some films now. Let’s just say there were a ton of choices to choose from. The way Sundance works is, directors submit their films in hopes of acquiring a distribution deal by a studio. The studios then buy the film and distribute them across theaters for us to see, pretty simple concept.  While we didn’t have time to check out all the films, we managed to capture a couple good ones.

What Happened, Miss Simone (read review)
In Football We Trust
Z For Zachariah
Kurt Cobain, A Montage of Heck 
The End of the Tour (read review)
I Am Michael 
The Mask You Live In
The D Train
The Experimenter (read review)
The Last Days in the Desert
Ten Thousand Saints 
Being Evel 

We will be reviewing a couple of these films throughout the week so check back!