Sundance Snippets
Posted by: dashtosomewhere on: February 3, 2009
After 11 days, 99 hours of work, 23 films, a couple parties, lots of junk food, and very little sleep, Sundance is over. Obviously, blogs are never as good if you try to recap lots of things at once, but I’m doing it anyway.
Our Favorite Celeb
I think it is safe to say that everyone’s favorite celebrity of the festival (besides Bob, of course) was Joseph Gordon-Levitt, or “Joe” as he introduces himself. During the ticketing department’s wrap meeting, it seems that almost everyone had had a run-in with him, and everyone only had nice things to say. I had two JGL moments. The first one was in the ticketing office. One of the agents needed a supervisor log-in. I walked over to the computer, not even realizing it was him until I read the name on the monitor. I wasn’t actually his, but his brothers, but the name Gordon-Levitt can’t be that common. Sure enough, I look up and there he is. I’ve never particularly been a big JGL fan, but it took a lot to not at least crack a smile. Think professional Brittney, think professional. I will say that during this brief ticketing encounter, I kind of developed a little crush on JGL. Not a “I want him” crush, but he’s definitely someone who could be my best friend. Which brings me to encounter #2- the Awards party. We saw him at the Awards party, and Sara made Caitlin and I take a picture with him.
Seeing Six
As I mentioned in a previous post, I was pretty excited about seeing films at Sundance. On my day off I saw six. Brief Interviews at 8:30am, Big Fan at 11:15 am, Dare at 2:15pm, Adam at 5:15pm, Mystery Team at 9:30pm, and The Killing Room at Midnight.
While I don’t know that I would recommend seeing six films in a day to anyone, if you’re going to do it, do it like this. By putting the smarter film in the morning, the lighter stuff in the middle, and the scariness at the end, I kept myself awake through most of the films. My biggest worry was The Killing Room, but I assure you, you will not fall asleep when someone’s arm is about to crushed.
Brief Interviews With Men Who Play Characters On TV That Are Perfect Boyfriends
You know who I do have a crush on? Jim Halpert from The Office. Not necessarily John Krasinski but the character Jim Halpert. That being said, if I had the chance to see Krasinski, I was going to do it, even if it meant going to an 8:30am film on my day off. I met my friend Sarah, and we went to see Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, written and directed by Mr. Krasinski himself. And sure enough, after the film, John walks onstage for a Q and A. My friend Sarah gets in the final question, which even I didn’t completely understand. Something about if he was trying to do something for the feminist movement, or if he simply liked the book. J.K. gives her a confused look, then says something like, “Hell, why not… Let’s start a revolution.” It gives a laugh from the crowd, and makes me love him a little bit more.
I Know You!
My friend Sara and I (this Sara is different from Sarah, in case you’re confused) went to check in at the Absolut Queer Lounge (and to grab an drink or two). We get to the door and Sara says, “I know you!” to the guy near the check-in table. Before she gets out the question “Did we go to high school together?” he looks at her and says, “Yeah, I was on Survivor.” It was Survivor: China winner Todd Herzog.
Awkward.
Need A Ride?
Sundance’s focus is on the directors and the producers. While you see actors in WireImage photos around Park City, Sundance doesn’t really do anything for them. That being said, you still run into a couple moments that make you go “huh.” I was outside of the Racquet Club theater, right after seeing Dare. I’m waiting in line to use the lovely heated port-o-potty outside, when I look over ans see Zach Gilford, star of Dare and one of my favorite TV shows, Friday Night Lights. He talks to a couple people, then he and his friends head over to the parking lot to leave. They approach a Jeep, and Zach opens the trunk door to the jeep, crawls in, and someone shuts in behind him. I know Sundance doesn’t do anything for actors, but if I were the star of a film, I’d at least call shotgun.
Some Random Thoughts and Pics
Some other highlights from Sundance include The Cove (if you ever have the chance, SEE THIS) and The September Issue (I wish I could tell you how fascinating Anna Wintour is)- my two favorite films of the festival, seeing Johnny Reznick in the Music Cafe, Ashton Kutcher’s butt in Spread, the Awards Party, and missing every Paris Hilton sighting.
The Awards Party:
And a very dark Jim Carrey at the premeire of I Love You Phillip Morris
Almost the End
Posted by: dashtosomewhere on: January 24, 2009
So… my blog is dying. I’m not sure why I thought I’d be able to write regularly during the Festival. I have about half a dozen have started entries about works, films, and random stories. One day I’ll finish them.
A little story from yesterday- I helped Joseph Gordon-Levitt with this ticketing issue. He said thanks, but I’m pretty sure that if he were that thankful we’d be making out right now. Or at least at a bar having drinks.
My Ticket Scalper
Posted by: dashtosomewhere on: January 18, 2009
Sundance has a very strict ticketing policy. I’ve heard we’re in the top three events when it comes to controlling tickets- the other two events being the Grammy’s and the Super Bowl. A ticket holder cannot UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES resell their tickets. They can give them away or they can exchange them, but they can’t sell them even for face value. If someone is caught selling their tickets, all of that person’s tickets are voided and the are banned from buying future Sundance tickets.
Nothing makes my day more than getting cc’ed on one of these emails:
You have been identified as a ticket re-seller.
Consider yourself banned from all future Sundance Film Festival sales. This ban will extend to anyone sharing your address and phone number.
As per The Fine Print that you acknowledged and agreed to when registering:
Sundance reserves the right to prohibit any sales during this festival and in future years to any ticket buyer who is identified or has been identified as a ticket reseller. This pertains to re-sales at above, below or at face value. Tickets and credentials can be remotely invalidated.
Sincerely –
Sundance Film Festival Customer Service
That being said, obviously we cannot track down everyone that is trying to sell their tickets. We try to find people that post on eBay or Craigslist, but sometimes it’s hard to track down the person. My ticket scalper fell right into my lap. I went outside to update our availabilty boards, and found a note taped to it that says, “Luch Break tickets for sale. Call Mike at 555-5555.” Obviously this person did not read his ticket.
Dear Mike,
Thanks for posting your phone number on the piece of paper. It made it really easy to find your account. Have fun getting in to your screenings.
Best wishes,
b
On a side note: I think this policy works for Sundance. As an entertainment management major, we discussed the pros and cons of ticket scalpers. In one-performance events, such as concerts, I think ticket scalping is okay. While it kind of sucks, if a person is willing to pay three times the face value, they are more likely to buy things like merchandise than the person who is willing to sell their tickets. Therefore, the artists make more money.
But it doesn’t work at Sundance.
Two Down
Posted by: dashtosomewhere on: January 17, 2009
I’m two days and two films into Sundance. The Box Office has been CRAZY. We sold about $20,000 dollars worth today, and that’s not counting the never-ending line of ticket pick-ups and exchanges. We’re all hoping that the last two days have been the “I just got here and figured everything out” time, and things will slow down now, at least until B Week starts on the 21st.
On the film side, I’ve seen Johnny Mad Dog and Lymelife.
In one word, Johnny Mad Dog was INTENSE. Shooting, beating, raping, killing- it was all there. All the time. That being said, it was a pretty insightful film and very well shot.
And I really liked Lymelife. I wish I wasn’t as tired as I was when I saw it, because I started to doze at some points and it wasn’t at all part of the film. The cast was great- Alec Baldwin, the Culkin brothers, Cynthia Nixon. Even Emma Roberts, who I felt really suited the character well.
As for celebrity sightings, I saw Chyna Lane and another girl from Push, and I’m pretty sure I saw Ryan Cabrera in the liquor and the grocery store. Sometimes you need mixers. I was doing the same thing.
See It All
Posted by: dashtosomewhere on: January 13, 2009
- In: Film | maybe like a J-O-B
- 1 Comment
One of my first questions when I started working for Sundance was whether or not it is possible for one person to see all the films at Sundance. It is not. I figured it out. It takes three people to see all the films at Sundance.
Welcome to “Brittney’s Guide to Seeing Every Film at Sundance.”
Person 1
January 15- September Issue
January 16- 9:00am- Frontier Shorts
12:15pm- Glass House
3:15pm- Big River Man
8:30pm- Chameleon Street
January 17- 9:00am- Documentary Shorts
12:15pm- Amreeka
3:15pm- The Greatest
6:15pm- 500 Days of Summer
9:15pm- Spread
January 18- 12:15pm- Don’t Let Me Drown
3:15pm- Sin Nombre
6:15pm- Endgame
9:30pm- I Love You Phillip Morris
11:59pm- Animation Spotlight
January 19- 12:00pm- The Reckoning
2:30pm- Tyson
6:15pm- Nollywood Babylon
9:00pm- Bronson
11:59pm- White Lightnin’
January 20- 12:15pm- Taking Chance
3:00pm- Stay the Same, Never Change
6:00pm- Cliente
9:00pm- Heart of Time
11:59pm- The Killing Room
January 21- 12:00pm- Sergio
2:30pm- La Mission
6:15pm- Shrink
9:30pm- Motherhood
11:59pm- Five Minutes of Heaven
January 22- 11:15am- Helen
2:30pm- Barking Water
6:15pm- Before Tomorrow
9:00pm- The Cove
January 23- 9:00am- Victoria Day
11:30am- Lulu and Jimi
2:30pm- One Day in a Life
5:30pm- No Impact Man
9:30pm- Earth Days
January 24- 9:15am- Reporter
12:15pm- Quest for Honor
3:00pm- Lunch Break
6:00pm- Where is Where?
9:00pm- The Vicious Kind
Person 2
January 15- Mary & Max
January 16- 11:30am- O’er the Land
2:30pm- Wounded Knee
5:30pm- The Only Good Indian
8:30pm- Thriller in Manila
11:30pm- You Won’t Miss Me
January 17- 11:30am- Burma VJ
2:30pm- William Kunstler
5:30pm- The Works of Maria Marshall
8:30pm- Prom Night in Mississippi
January 18- 11:30am- The Anarchist’s Wife
2:30pm- The Yes Men Fix the World
5:30pm- World’s Greatest Dad
8:30pm- Against the Current
11:30pm- Black Dynamite
January 19- 8:30am- Old Partner
11:30am- Everything Strange and New
2:30pm- Paper Heart
5:30pm- Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle
8:30pm- Rough Aunties
January 20- 11:30am- The End of the Live
3:15pm- Push
5:30pm- Lymelife
8:00pm- Arlen Faber
11:59pm- Passing Strange
January 21- 11:30am- Kimjongilia
2:15pm- Humpday
5:15pm- Missing Person
8:30pm- Shorts Program IV
11:30pm- Carmo, Hits the Road
January 22- 11:30am- Why We Laugh
3:15pm- Big Fan
6:15pm- In the Loop
9:30pm- The Informers
January 23- 12:15pm- El General
2:30pm- Tibet in Song
5:30pm- Adam
8:30pm- Brief Interviews With Hideous Men
11:30pm- Toe to Toe
January 24- 12:45pm- Shorts Program II
2:30pm- We Live in Public
5:30pm- Shorts Program III
8:30pm- Shorts Program V
January 25- 10:00am- Mystery Team
5:30PM- Johnny Mad Dog
Person 3
January 16- 9:00am- It Might Get Loud
Day at Filmmaker Lodge
6:15pm- Brooklyn’s Finest
9:30pm- Rudi y Cursi
11:59pm- Spring Breakdown
January 17- 9:15am- Art & Copy
Day at Sundance House
3:00pm- The Maid
6:15pm- The Queen & I
9:00pm- Zion and his Brother
January 18- 8:30am- Let’s Make Money
11:15am- Cold Souls
3:15pm- 2:11 Anna
6:00pm- Dada’s Dance
9:15pm- Over the Hills
January 19- 8:30am- Crude
Day at New Frontier on Main
3:00pm- sex, lies and videotape
6:15pm- Adventureland
9:30pm- The Messenger
January 20- 8:30am- Unmade Beds
12:00pm-Dirt! The Movie
5:30pm- Shorts I
9:30pm- Manure
January 21- 9:00am- When You’re Strange
12:00pm- Pomegranates and Myrrh
2:30pm- Afghan Star
Day at Music Café
9:30pm- Dead Snow
January 22- 12:00pm- Grace
2:30pm- Boy Interrupted
8:30pm- Good Hair
11:59pm- The Clone Returns Home
January 23- 8:30am- Once More With Feeling
12:15pm- Dare
3:15pm- Peter and Vandy
6:15- Moon
11:59pm- Louise- Michel
January 24- 9:00am- An Education
12:00pm- Shouting Fire
11:30pm- Children of Invention
January 25- 3:30pm- The Winning Season
The schedule allows for travel time and eating (although sometimes the people will need to bring food to the theater and eat between films.)
I’m also seeing my first Sundance film tonight- Johnny Mad Dog.
The National Champion
Posted by: dashtosomewhere on: January 9, 2009
It is a sad day. Oklahoma lost. And I hate that.
With college football season over, this almost promises to be my last post about the BCS. But last night while sitting at the sports bar, some guys sat next to me and explained that they were cheering for Florida- simply because of math. This was their explanation- Utah beat Oregon State, Oregon State beat USC, blah blah blah, somehow getting to Ole Miss beat Florida, Alabama beat Ole Miss, and Utah beat Alabama, thus giving Utah an argument for the National Championship. One could go about this all day, with almost any team eventually winning the National Championship. I wanted to punch these people in the face. But instead, I was going to rant about it here. Then I found a note my friend Ashley had written, and she uses a lot less profanity than I would (and also hates USC). She wrote it prior to the game, but you get the picture.
Here we go:
But thankfully, very thankfully, there are these great things out there called “facts” and “history” that provide a nice antidote to the crazy pills.
As much as USC would like to believe it “split” a national championship with LSU after the 2003 season, it didn’t. True, USC was awarded the AP National Championship trophy, but that was no longer a valid “national championship” trophy. The BCS was already in place and agreed upon as the system all schools would use to determine the legitimate national champion. LSU won the national championship after beating OU in the Sugar Bowl (the venue that year for hosting the BCS national championship game). USC won the AP trophy, but it did not win a real national championship.
The AP trophy is no more valid for determining the national championship than is the new Ashley National Championship trophy. I hereby present it to Oklahoma for every year in the future, even if we go 0-12. Yay! Boomer Sooner! We’re the winner of infinite national championships! Let’s advertise it the way USC advertises all of its “championships.”
Sadly, though, this is only part of the idiocy. Apparently everyone forgot to ask themselves WHY USC was awarded the AP trophy for 2003, although everyone remembers #1 OU losing to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship that year. It’s simple, really. After OU lost, OU remained #1 in the BCS but dropped to #3 in the AP Poll. The new AP #1 was USC. So USC was ALREADY #1 heading into the Rose Bowl, and after winning the Rose Bowl, the AP certainly was not going to drop USC down a spot or two. Thus, USC got the AP trophy.
However, 2008 doesn’t work out quite so conveniently for USC, or Utah, or Texas (assuming Texas wins the Fiesta Bowl). None of those schools was #1 in the AP Poll heading into bowl season. Florida is the AP #1, and Oklahoma is #2. Whoever wins that game will deserve the AP trophy, because the AP shouldn’t DROP the winner of the BCS national championship game down a spot or two in its own poll. But I suppose it’s always possible that the AP has forgotten the “facts” and the “history” and will give its trophy to a non-Oklahoma/Florida team.
But thankfully, very thankfully, it doesn’t matter one bit. The BCS determines the actual national champion, and no amount of forgetfulness gets to change that. But don’t worry USC: I’ve also created a special “Sense of Entitlement” trophy, and you’re definitely in the running for that. Now go buy a house for some recruit’s family.
Now I’m NOT saying Utah isn’t a great football team. They are, and it sucks that they don’t get to play in the title game because they aren’t a BCS conference. But they (or Texas, USC or anyone else for that matter) were not in the BCS CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.
Rah!
Posted by: dashtosomewhere on: January 8, 2009
- In: TV
- 2 Comments
The place that I’m staying at in Park City does not have the TV Guide Channel. This means that I constantly flip through channels, trying to find something familiar or interesting. Today I stumbled on something with dancing cheerleaders. As a former spirit squad member, I figured it was some competition on ESPN and thought I’d give it a shot. What I really found was the worst cheerleading competition ever. Paula Abdul’s Rah!. I missed the first part of the show (darn), but saw enough to make me wonder how this ever got on television.
Apparently, someone decided the give former “cheerleader” Paula Abdul a cheerleading TV show. Here’s the problem- being a Laker Girl is significantly different than being a collegiate cheerleader. Being a Laker girl requires dance skills. Being a collegiate cheerleader require yelling, pyramids and tumbling skills.
Paula proceeds to teach the squad members moves from her music videos. I’m not sure if anyone bother to tell Paula, but teaching cheerleaders dance moves from 80′s music videos doesn’t benefit anyone. Not dancers, and especially not cheerleaders.
My favorite part was when one of the reporter people asked one of the cheerleaders how they felt about their performance, and the cheerleader responded something like, “Good, considering that we don’t really dance.”
You’d Better Work
Posted by: dashtosomewhere on: January 5, 2009
We had locals ticket sales this weekend. Aside from working 13 hours on both Saturday and Sunday, the event went rather well and was quite painless. We started the weekend with about 90,000 tickets available, and while I can’t remember how many we sold, I do know we sold more than last year. The first day was a little more hectic than the second. It was the first day ticket agents sold tickets to real people (as opposed to training, where they sold me- as Posh Spice- to an event we called Beer and Cheetos). (Man, I wish I had some beer and Cheetos right now.) The second day was a little more fun for us coordinators, because by now everyone had figured out the ins and out of the ticketing system. Highlights included making every letter out of our bodies, playing the celebrity game (someone says a celebrity, then you name a celebrity who’s first name begins with the first letter of the last name of the person named before- does that make sense?), name that Sundance movie, and trying to learn the dance to listening to Beyonce’s Single Ladies about 80,000 times. Our brains were just about mush by the end of day two. The first day was also our manager’s birthday, so we had cupcakes and brownies, and decorated with some balloons. Overall it was pretty fun. On Sunday night, after we closed locals, the coordinators and our boss headed out for a little “bonding” time. We went to a bar down the street from the office and grabbed a drink. I’m pretty sure we almost all fell asleep at the table. We were probably the lamest bar crowd ever. Only 10 days until the festival starts!
In other job news, after a staff meeting this morning, I found out that I got a position with the Lancaster JetHawks! It’s an internship, not a full time position, but at this point I’m just happy someone is going to pay me money. And after the “constant blizzarding” that happens here in Park City, I cannot tell you how excited I am to move back to warmth. Lancaster is about an hour outside of Los Angeles. Have I ever told you I love LA? Because I do. It’s sunny and pretty and warm and not cold. It’s fantastic.
Sundance Holiday Awards
Posted by: dashtosomewhere on: January 3, 2009
I recently became the winner of a Sundance Holiday Award. I won in the category of “Best Complete Oufit.” I won an awesome Tic-Tac-Toe board that will inevitably provide me with hours of box office enjoyment.
Here’s my outfit:
The Blizzard
Posted by: dashtosomewhere on: December 28, 2008
- In: Life
- Leave a Comment
I exaggerate about the snow a lot. If it’s snowing at all, I think there is a blizzard. I don’t really do snow. Or cold. So, I’m sitting on my bed watching TV on Christmas night and the weather man says there is a blizzard coming. Six inches in 3 hours. Awesome. It’s mostly for the Salt Lake City area, but the snow is definitely coming down where I am, so I’m pretty sure I’m in the blizzard too.
The next day, I go outside to find my car like this:
I hate snow. So, about 10 minutes into trying to dig my way out, a very nice man with a tractor/ snow plow machine comes and removes all the snow from behind my car. I dig out enough to get my door open, and start trying to back out. No luck. Try Again. No luck again. I decide I’m done, and I’ll try again later. Maybe one of the cars next to me will move and I’ll have somewhere to move the snow.
Problem. During my attempts to back out of my parking space, my car must have moved over enough to put me against the snow again. I can’t get my door open. So, since I’m stuck in the car, I keep trying. I finally get my car out of the parking lot.
This is why you never wait until the last minute to go to the grocery store.
