Sundance and Sundry Experiences
You’d think that we travel and visit Park City during the 3rd week in January to see the movies at Sundance. Well, guess again. A journal of my experiences will shed a light on my true motives.
We arrive late Saturday afternoon- the film fest has been in full swing for several days. Pat and I check into the Park Regency- love this place. This is only our second year visiting Park City during the festival but if things go like they did last year I’ll go home with lots of memories and a stash of goodies.
We are sharing a one bedroom condo for the first two days with my brother-in-law Dirk and my sister-in-law Gloria. We sleep on the convertible. Boy does that suck. Wish Pat would agree to sleep on the floor. Why can’t anyone put a decent mattress in a convertible sofa? Joe Cillo and Mary Buttaro, the other Forallevents.com representatives are staying next door. I could ask them to let me sleep on their sofa and Pat could sleep on the one in Dirk’s apt- the sofas are comfortable- the convertibles suck! Guess I said that already.
We get up early and Dirk and Pat head for the slopes. Pat is the Recreation Events Editor and the recreation he is exploring is the ski slopes of all nearby ski areas. What a job! He is taking the Canon Power Shot SD550 with him to capture the beauty of the slopes. Last year he discovered that this is the prime time to sky at Park City -because everyone is at the movies. The slopes are deserted. The slopes have fresh snow. The lift lines are none existent. Park City provides free transportation via a fantastic bus system. Sundance Film has discount coupons available for the three area ski resorts. The temperature on the slopes is moderate. Pat has a pat assignment.
Joe is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of Forallevents.com. He heads off to the make connections at the competing film festivals-Slam Dance and Park City Film Music Fest. We meet up that afternoon and review the movies for those Fests; we pick 5-6 movies we want to see.
Gloria and I get a ride to Main Street. We begin our daily trek up and down the street. We are going to visit every store; look at all the goods. We usually start our adventure at the Kimble Art Center. HP Snapshot Chalet is located downstairs. They create a personalized Festival photo book and have daily HP drawings for cameras and printers. We visit the Volkswagen exhibit for free shirts and other bobbles. We sign up to test drive the Tourage-a fantastic off road vehicle. Volkswagen has designed a special challenging course to demonstrate the off road capabilities of their Tourage. This experience turns out to be one of the most exciting things we do during our visit to Park City.
We hit the Leaf Lounge in the afternoon for free wine. Krups provides fantastic free coffee at the Kimble Art Center and at the Rabbit Hole. We hope to stop at the Stella Artois Patio to enjoy Belgium hospitality-it was open to everyone last year-this year you must have Sundance Festival Credentials to get in-guess we lose out. The Delta Air Lines Sky Lodge is open to the public on only two days- we will not get to enjoy it- doesn’t work with our schedule.
Monday morning we move into our own apartment. We sleep great that night. We meet out next door neighbors. They love to ski. Mr. and Mrs. Castberg are extremely hospitable. We find out that Eileen Castberg sells real estate in Ramona California. They are good neighbors for the rest of the week. They introduce us to Captain Morgan’s Coconut Flavored Rum-Pat has promised to get me some. It is the best Rum I’ve ever tasted. Captain Morgan-I’ll take a case.
Movie and other highlights:
Cuba Gooding Jr. starred in “What Love Is”- he was great; movie was good; we had some good laughs. Mars Callahan, Matthew Lillard, Tamala Jones and Gina Gershon all did great jobs. Film World Premiere was Jan 24th a Harry O’s
Bill Sebastian’s “Midlothia”- Park City Music Film Festival- Recommend this one. Loved the score, the directing, and the script.
Bill Sebastian
Exhuming Jefferson: http://www.exhumingjefferson.com/ While waiting to get in to see “What Love Is”, we met Mr. Jefferson. His message is: Are we living the legacy?
On a bus ride we meet Carla Marie Rugg. She is an artist and designer; she did the production design for “Four Sheets to the Wind”- an award winning film.
We arrive late Saturday afternoon- the film fest has been in full swing for several days. Pat and I check into the Park Regency- love this place. This is only our second year visiting Park City during the festival but if things go like they did last year I’ll go home with lots of memories and a stash of goodies.
We are sharing a one bedroom condo for the first two days with my brother-in-law Dirk and my sister-in-law Gloria. We sleep on the convertible. Boy does that suck. Wish Pat would agree to sleep on the floor. Why can’t anyone put a decent mattress in a convertible sofa? Joe Cillo and Mary Buttaro, the other Forallevents.com representatives are staying next door. I could ask them to let me sleep on their sofa and Pat could sleep on the one in Dirk’s apt- the sofas are comfortable- the convertibles suck! Guess I said that already.
We get up early and Dirk and Pat head for the slopes. Pat is the Recreation Events Editor and the recreation he is exploring is the ski slopes of all nearby ski areas. What a job! He is taking the Canon Power Shot SD550 with him to capture the beauty of the slopes. Last year he discovered that this is the prime time to sky at Park City -because everyone is at the movies. The slopes are deserted. The slopes have fresh snow. The lift lines are none existent. Park City provides free transportation via a fantastic bus system. Sundance Film has discount coupons available for the three area ski resorts. The temperature on the slopes is moderate. Pat has a pat assignment.
Joe is the Publisher and Editor in Chief of Forallevents.com. He heads off to the make connections at the competing film festivals-Slam Dance and Park City Film Music Fest. We meet up that afternoon and review the movies for those Fests; we pick 5-6 movies we want to see.
Gloria and I get a ride to Main Street. We begin our daily trek up and down the street. We are going to visit every store; look at all the goods. We usually start our adventure at the Kimble Art Center. HP Snapshot Chalet is located downstairs. They create a personalized Festival photo book and have daily HP drawings for cameras and printers. We visit the Volkswagen exhibit for free shirts and other bobbles. We sign up to test drive the Tourage-a fantastic off road vehicle. Volkswagen has designed a special challenging course to demonstrate the off road capabilities of their Tourage. This experience turns out to be one of the most exciting things we do during our visit to Park City.
We hit the Leaf Lounge in the afternoon for free wine. Krups provides fantastic free coffee at the Kimble Art Center and at the Rabbit Hole. We hope to stop at the Stella Artois Patio to enjoy Belgium hospitality-it was open to everyone last year-this year you must have Sundance Festival Credentials to get in-guess we lose out. The Delta Air Lines Sky Lodge is open to the public on only two days- we will not get to enjoy it- doesn’t work with our schedule.
Monday morning we move into our own apartment. We sleep great that night. We meet out next door neighbors. They love to ski. Mr. and Mrs. Castberg are extremely hospitable. We find out that Eileen Castberg sells real estate in Ramona California. They are good neighbors for the rest of the week. They introduce us to Captain Morgan’s Coconut Flavored Rum-Pat has promised to get me some. It is the best Rum I’ve ever tasted. Captain Morgan-I’ll take a case.
Movie and other highlights:
Cuba Gooding Jr. starred in “What Love Is”- he was great; movie was good; we had some good laughs. Mars Callahan, Matthew Lillard, Tamala Jones and Gina Gershon all did great jobs. Film World Premiere was Jan 24th a Harry O’s
Bill Sebastian’s “Midlothia”- Park City Music Film Festival- Recommend this one. Loved the score, the directing, and the script.
Bill Sebastian
Exhuming Jefferson: http://www.exhumingjefferson.com/ While waiting to get in to see “What Love Is”, we met Mr. Jefferson. His message is: Are we living the legacy?
On a bus ride we meet Carla Marie Rugg. She is an artist and designer; she did the production design for “Four Sheets to the Wind”- an award winning film.
Carla Marie Rugg ===============Pat, Dirk, Gloria and Cathy snow mobilingDirk and Pat go skiing Monday. Dirk and Pat again go skiing Tuesday. Dirk falls on Tuesday afternoon and hurts his hip. That ends skiing for Dirk. Pat hits the slopes one more day. On Thursday all six of us go to the Volkswagen’s Tent and are driven to their road course. The guys each get behind the wheel of their respective vehicle. They are in heaven. I just sit in the back and hold on. This is really fun. Hope they offer this again next year.
On Friday morning we are picked up by a local company selling snow mobile rides.We pay for an hour- get 45 minutes on the mobile. The guide races through the course; the ride is too rough and much too fast. This is my first and last time on a snow mobile. Pat and I own a motorcycle. I would not trade the motorcycle for a snow mobile.
Gloria and I saw five movies during the week. “Midlothia” was the only Park City Music Film Festival movie we saw. “What Love Is” was an independent movie that was not entered in any of the film festivals. All the others were entered in Slam Dance. “ Crime Fiction" was directed by Will Slocombe ; “Crashing” was written and directed by Gary Walkow; “Lola” was directed by Mathew Ross; “Die Besucher” (The Visitor) was Directed, produced and written by Ulrike Molsen. They were all at least 3 star movies.
“Midlothia” was my favorite. “Crashing” and “Die Besucher” tied for second.
Hope to see you next year in Park City. We did not eat on Main Street very often; however, I do recommend that you stop for a meal at the Wasatch Brew Pub, 250 Main St across the street from Slam Dance.
The food is great, the prices are reasonable and the portions generous.
See you next year; I’ll be walking up and down Main Street hopefully loaded down with lots of loot.
FYI: “Midlothia” is getting some good press and is scheduled to be shown at three film festivals.
Newport Beach Film Festival April 23, 2007
Indianapolis International Film Festival April 27th and 28th, 2007
Big Island Film Festival May 17, 2007
Make time to see Midlothia if you are lucky enough to be in those areas during the screenings.
See you next year; I’ll be walking up and down Main Street hopefully loaded down with lots of loot.
FYI: “Midlothia” is getting some good press and is scheduled to be shown at three film festivals.
Newport Beach Film Festival April 23, 2007
Indianapolis International Film Festival April 27th and 28th, 2007
Big Island Film Festival May 17, 2007
Make time to see Midlothia if you are lucky enough to be in those areas during the screenings.
Labels: Film Festivals-Sundance, Slam and Park City Film Music