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SUNDANCE 2006 - Sundance Film Festival 2007
Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah
January 20, 2006
by Zack Roddy
ENTERTAINMENT NEWS - Thursday marked the opening night of the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
For celebrity-watchers, this event is filled with some of the biggest names in Hollywood and Thursday evening didn't disappoint.
Actress Jennifer Aniston was the biggest name of the night to make her way down the red carpet. She showed up for a screening
of her new movie "Friends with Money." She was joined by one of her co-stars in the movie, Joan Cusack. The festival goes through January 29th.
It's been reported that about 3-thousand films were submitted to the festival, with 194 films planned for screening during the event.
Sundance 2006: The Sequel
by Zack Roddy
Returning to this year's 2006 Sundance Film Festival was just like I had never left it.: a cheerful thirty-four degrees everyday, posters plastering the walls promoting the latest films, celebrities walking up and down Main Street, and Movies, lots of movies. But this year was different. I was coming back to a place I felt comfortable in. A place that just a year ago I felt like a outsider. Now I felt like an old pro, familiar with my surroundings and knowing I belonged. This year was different because I was different.
Of course what brings us all to Park City is the Movies and this year's selections did not disappoint, bringing an onslaught of new and entertaining films. Films that Would take the audiences imagination for a wild ride, films with directors and writers who have new and fresh ideas that could make audiences genuinely care about characters, and films that educate you, reach into to your soul and make you learn about the people and places around you, the predicaments they get themselves into, and how they resolve them. The movies were endless, the time was to short but I still managed to have an incredible experience. .
Opening day, January 19, was by far one of the best days of the festival. Like last year, I received press credentials for the festival. I started my day at festival headquarters at the Marriot (which was just as I remembered it, busy and buzzing and full of famous people).The first event that I attended was the press conference held by Geoffrey Gilmore, this year's festival director, Nicole Holofcener, who was there supporting her film which opened the festival, Friends With Money, which she wrote and directed, and Robert Redford, the original innovator of the festival itself. The three of them discussed what kind of films would be shown this year, with a guarantee they would be like nothing the audience had seen before. Hearing Robert Redford give his insight on the past 25 years of the festival was very exciting for me.(after all he is Robert Redford) at the end of the conference I had the chance to speak with Ms. Holofcener, and she gave me just about the best advice about filmaking that anybody has ever given me. She said, " If you've got something you want to say, make a film about it. Make sure it is about what you want, make sure it has the message you want to get across."
With each passing day at the festival, I saw more and more awesome movies: murder mysteries, comedies, dramas, thrillers, horrors, and each one brought something new and interesting to the table, and accomplished new and exciting techniques in the ways of writing, cinematography and acting. This year's festival was, in fact, a huge success, with many films being picked up for theatrical release. Films that include Little Miss Sunshine(by far the most successful film at the festival, being picked up for a hefty 10.5 million dollars by Fox Searchlight Pictures), Friends with Money, Lucky Number Slevin, and The Proposition to name a few.
One of the coolest things about the festival are the celebrities. While there, I got to meet actor D.B. Sweeney, Kevin Smith, writer/producer/director/actor of such films like Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Clerks(which made its debut at Sundance's 1994 , actor Dennis Quaid, Tevor Morgan, from the Sundance 2006 film Off The Black (a film about a high school pitcher who finds a father figure in a gruff umpire played by Nick Nolte), Saturday Night Live comedienne Rachel Dratch, actor Paul Giamatti, Sam Shepard, who was there promoting his movie Don't Come Knocking, Sam Rubin from KTLA 5 News and Jean Martirez from Fox 11 News. Of course along with the famous you get the infamous. Trista and Ryan from the TV series The Bachelorette and Bill Rancic from season one of The Apprentice. Amber Tamblyn was there promoting her Sundance movie Stephanie Daley. I had interviewed her a few times before when she was filming Joan of Arcadia at El Segundo High School and when we met again at the festival she remembered me. Getting to reunite with her was truly a highlight of my festival experience. I also had the opportunity to meet and get my picture with Roger Ebert, a true a legend in the movie industry. It made me feel very proud to know that we were both there doing the same thing.
So after a whirlwind week of movies, star spotting, and press conferences, the Sundance Film Festival came to a close. I feel privileged by the fact that I was able to see so many excellent movies, and meet so many interesting people. This year at the festival turned out to be just as fun, and just as fulfilling as last year. This is definitely something I hope to continue to do in the years to come. If you have an opportunity you should check out my website, RealTVFilms.com, where I have extensive information on Sundance 2006.
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