Sundance
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In Fear | Director Jeremy Lovering
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 11:59pm — Egyptian Theatre, Park City] Early on I decided to shoot the psychological horror In Fear without giving the actors the script and without them even knowing the story. They had absolutely no idea of what was coming. They didn’t know if they were going to die, live happily ever after or win the lottery. Every day when filming I put them in a certain situation, gave them some guide dialogue, we’d discuss their current state of mind and then we’d shoot. So what was the sacrifice? On the shoot without the actors performing […]
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Five Questions with Fruitvale Director Ryan Coogler
On January 1, 2009, a Bay Area Rapid Transit officer shot and killed unarmed 22 year-old Oscar Grant, who was being detained on the BART train’s platform for alleged fighting. With the help of cellphone cameras, witnesses filmed the officer shooting Grant and both the footage and news went viral. When the officer was convicted of only involuntary manslaughter instead of second degree murder or voluntary manslaughter, peaceful protests turned violent and riotous throughout the Bay Area as the city made its anger known. Raised in the Bay Area himself, Ryan Coogler tackles the sensitive topic of Oscar Grant’s life […]
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Which Way is the Front Line From Here? | Director Sebastian Junger
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 2:30pm — Prospector Square Theatre, Park City] My film, Which Way Is The Front Line From Here?, is about the death, in combat, of my good friend and colleague Tim Hetherington. In a sense the film would not exist without the tragedy of his death, but I don’t think that’s what you are asking. I pre-sold my film rather than financing it myself — as Tim and I were forced to do with Restrepo — and I was able to hire amazing people to work with. But making a film about Tim’s death took a […]
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Five Questions with I Used to be Darker Director Matt Porterfield
Though it only arrived three years ago, Matt Porterfield’s Putty Hill, with its unique blend of fiction and documentary and its crisp, patient filmmaking, has already become quite an influential and well-loved piece of the micro-budget cannon. Now Porterfield has returned with I Used to Be Darker, a more formally scripted work that follows a troubled young woman (Deragh Campbell) who moves in with her aunt (Kim Taylor), uncle (Ned Oldham), and cousin (Hannah Gross) in Maryland. The film premieres today in US Dramatic Competition at the Sundance Film Festival. Filmmaker: Tell me a bit about the development process for […]
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Hell Baby | Directors Thomas Lennon and Ben Garant
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 11:45pm — Library Center Theatre, Park City] We’ve never done an indie before, so the budget and time constraints were much more intense than any we’d experienced. That said, the freedom we gained made that sacrifice absolutely worth it. No committee-think in this movie — every line, every casting decision, everything — it’s all 100% ours (thank you darko). So we sacrificed money and gained autonomy. We will absolutely do it again. It was the most fun we’ve ever had, and probably the thing we’re most proud of. Also, Tom got in a swamp with […]
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This is Martin Bonner | Director Chad Hartigan
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 9:00pm — Egyptian Theatre, Park City] I made one no-budget film in 2008 called Luke and Brie are on a First Date. It was a great experience and had an okay life for itself, but I was adamant that I wouldn’t make a no-budget film again. In order to grow (or be perceived as growing), my next film would need to have a name actor and a budget of $250,000. I was confident This is Martin Bonner was that script and I took 18 months to figure out how to get that money or a […]
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Citizen Koch | Directors Tia Lessin and Carl Deal
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 3:00pm — Temple Theatre, Park City] It’s strange to talk about making a film as a sacrifice. Of course we are always under enormous financial pressures and we’ve given up treasured time with family and friends to create this work. But to us it feels like a privilege — especially in these difficult times — to be able to make art, and even more so to be making it independently. The motto of Wisconsin and the last line of our film is “Forward;” as we head to Sundance, we aren’t looking back. Sundance Responses 2013
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C.O.G | Director Kyle Patrick Alvarez
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 8:30pm — Library Center Theatre, Park City] Short of my personal relationships, I sacrificed everything for the film. Years of my life, my personal finances, all of my creative and professional resources. If I wasn’t willing do that, then what would be the point? If you’re not willing to sacrifice for what you love, than you don’t truly love it and if you don’t truly love film, you probably shouldn’t be an independent filmmaker. It’s too much of a challenge. You have to make sure to hold on to that initial spark that got you on to the film so tightly cause, […]
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99% – The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film | Co-Director Aaron Aites
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 9:00pm — Temple Theatre, Park City] Our film wasn’t planned. As the events of Occupy Wall Street began to unfold, and Audrey [Ewell] and I decided to make a film around it, we basically went from working on other projects (our own follow-up film to Until The Light Takes Us, as well as the paying freelance work that pays our rent) to instantly being in production on an unbudgeted and risky film project that used an untested methodology to bring it to life, and that relied on the abilities and collaboration of people we’d never […]
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Ain’t Them Bodies Saints | Director David Lowery
[PREMIERE SCREENING: Sunday, Jan. 20, 12:15pm — Eccles Theatre, Park City] Talking about sacrifices when you’ve been given the means to actually make your movie seems a bit glib – but you make them all the same, and perhaps spend an exorbitant amount of time fretting about them late at night, hoping they don’t show up on screen. On this film, there were two forfeitures in particular that went hand in hand. First: for budgetary reasons, we couldn’t shoot our movie in Texas. As a filmmaker from the Lone Star State who enjoys making movies set therein, this was somewhat heartbreaking, and […]
