Notes about Sundance

If, in case, you were all wondering what on earth I was talking about in class on Tuesday, I am a photographer. I had the opportunity to go to the Sundance film festival last week with a friend of mine. He jumped into a film as an Executive Producer (this just means he funded it, and he really has no creative say in making the film) that obviously made it into the festival and wanted a photographer to come and chronicle his premier and parties. It was quite an event, if I do say so myself. I knew nothing about the film before I left and I had no idea where I was going. All I did know, is I was flying into Salt Lake City, Utah, it was going to be cold, and there would be a car service looking for me when I landed to take me to the house. I packed my camera gear, my laptop, and lots of sweaters, and headed to ABIA. Needless to say, when I landed, it was cold, yet amazingly beautiful. I got to the shuttle and headed through the mountains a half hour until I reached gorgeous Park City. (This also was the place that hosted many 2002 Winter Olympic events.) The festival was crazy. There were way more people in little ski town Park City then the town could hold. Celebrities were everywhere, whether it was noticeable actress Sarah Jessica Parker or faceless directors and producers. I spent the first day there meeting people and getting to know the area, and went to the cast and crew party. The second say, the film world premiered, we had a premier party, and tried to squeeze a little shopping in between. The third day we went to another screening of the film with an intense Q&A session with the director and producers, when to a Sundance Channel exclusive party, and went out for sushi with the producers. Finally, the fourth day was the last and I was on my way back to Austin. It was a whirlwind of a trip. As I sit here at my computer, I am processing over 200 images that I shot. I will post more in the blog of celebrities as they process. If you are interested in the film I went to support, it is called "Downloading Nancy." It stars Maria Bello and Jason Patric. I will post a link to the trailer, but I will warn you, it is a graphic, contravercial film, that exploits some scary topics. If you are sensitive to contraversy, you might not want to check it out.