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SUNDANCE & SLAMDANCE COVERAGE
DGA's Pre-Sundance Receptions
Slamdance DGA Receptions
Sundance Filmmakers Receptions
Under the Influence at Sundance 2001
Sundance / Slamdance Overview
DGA's Pre-Sundance Receptions
DGA Sundance Filmmakers Reception in Los Angeles.
(Photo: Terry Lilly)
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In New York, the January 4 gathering featured a packed crowd of more than 40 veteran and beginning filmmakers. DGA Eastern Executive Director Christina Lomolino welcomed the guests saying, "The Directors Guild's role is to defend and protect the filmmaker's vision, economic future, health benefits and creative rights. This means that the film you want to make is the film you get to make."
Nicole Guillemet, Vice President of Sundance Institute and Co-director of Sundance Film Festival, counseled the filmmakers about the festival experience. "People can have the worst experience at the festival or the best. We want you to enjoy your peers, your colleagues." She also spoke about Sundance's newest program, the documentary film program at the House of Docs. "We felt that documentary filmmakers were a little bit lost at the festival. We wanted to create a home for them to nurture their craft, to think of their next film and to get one-on-one meetings."
DGA member Brad Anderson, many of whose films have been shown at Sundance, told the group that he had been "so overwhelmed by the experience," and urged participants to relax and realize deals may happen after the festival. Former DGA Eastern Directors Council member and documentary filmmaker William Greaves, whose film Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey was at Sundance, said, "Most of the filmmakers are here for the support that being in the festival gives them, so they can go back to their various sponsors to do films that are advocacy films, films that need to be made because of the special content and because no one is making a film on that particular subject."
Keynote speaker, DGA director Raymond De Felitta, whose film Two Family House won the Audience Award at last year's Sundance, said, "Don't do what I did. Don't leave before the awards ceremony because if you win as I did, I watched it on the Sundance Channel." He urged filmmakers to consider DGA membership because the Guild is a great collective of people who understand what creative rights and residuals are. "One thing that I've learned in the movie business is that the net profits never happen. Residuals are better than net profits and continue to come in long after a film is made."
Lisa Cholodenko, director of the independent film High Art (1998), agreed, relating that DGA residuals earned for a TV episode help her to keep making independent movies.
The overall sentiments were much the same at the January 11 reception in Los Angeles. DGA President Jack Shea welcomed the filmmakers saying, "Sundance is the preeminent film festival in North America, and I think one of the finest festivals in the world. It's a wonderful tribute to all of you in this room who were able to get your films screened at Sundance. At the Directors Guild, we like to feel that all filmmakers are welcome here, whether you are a Guild member or not. That's why we host this party before you get up to Sundance - to help us to get to know you better and perhaps convince you to shoot your next project under the DGA's Low Budget Agreement, and so that you can get to know each other and develop that sense of community which is so vital to the independent world."
Shea introduced the DGA members in attendance whose films were to be shown at this year's festival. They included Michael Apted, screening his new WWII drama Enigma; William Bindley's small-town epic Madison; Christine Lahti's debut feature, My First Mister; Kasi Lemmons' second feature Caveman's Valentine; Mark Lewis' Natural History of the Chicken; Stacy Peralta's frenetic account of his days as a Santa Monica skateboard rat, Dogtown & Z-Boys; Bobby Roth's coming-of-middle-age digital video Jack the Dog; and Penelope Spheeris' digital video feature, We Sold Our Souls for Rock 'n' Roll.
DGA Sundance Filmmakers Reception in New York.
(Photo: Elisa Haber)
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Sundance Co-director and Director of Programming Geoff Gilmore said, "There's a lot of discussion lately about independent film having lost its identity. That's just not accurate. If anything, this year's festival underscores the originality and uniqueness of vision that the filmmakers in this room represent. I can't tell you how proud I am to meet you all. We, as a staff, feel a sense of ownership about putting together a program of films for our festival. But it's really you filmmakers who have the ownership and I want to congratulate all of you."
While Gilmore urged filmmakers to enjoy the festival experience, some directors in attendance were primed to use Sundance as the kind of career booster we've all come to associate with Park City.
"Last year I was entered in Slamdance with a film called Amargosa," related indie documentarian and Sundance veteran Kenneth Carlson, "and it was extremely difficult to get people in to see my film without any sort of support system - a publicity firm, an agent, producers, etc. This year I'm going up to Sundance with a feature documentary called Go Tigers! I will be making a concerted effort to sell both the film and myself as a filmmaker. That's one of the great things about Sundance - it goes above and beyond most other festivals to champion the filmmakers."
Penelope Spheeris talked about her past experiences at Sundance, how she won the Freedom of Expression Award at Sundance in 1998. "That award was sponsored by Playboy and it paid a cash sum of $5,000," Spheeris laughed, "which only left me $245,000 in debt." Spheeris went on talk about her reaction upon getting a call from programmer Trevor Groth telling her she was accepted to Sundance. "Trevor - thank you, thank you so much. You must feel like Ed McMahon right now!"
Michael Apted tried to capture the creative soul of what it means to be a Sundance filmmaker and a DGA independent saying, "This Guild was founded 60 years ago to protect creative rights that we all now take for granted - the director's cut, residuals, health benefits and pensions. That was then and this is now. Two years ago we founded the Independent Directors Committee so that within the structure of the Guild we could nurture and protect the visions of independent filmmakers. Filmmakers like Steven Soderbergh, Allison Anders, Spike Jonze and Alexander Payne are part of this group. And it was really formed to foster a sense of community among all independents, no matter what kinds of films they make.
"The industry is entering treacherous times, where creative freedoms and creative spirits may be under siege. I think it behooves us all to find strength in our community; to look to each other as well as to ourselves. If I may borrow from Flaubert: 'We need to be regular and orderly in our daily life so that we may be fiery and original in our work.' Thank you again for coming. I hope this has helped you all understand what the DGA means to us as filmmakers. And God Bless us all in Sundance."
Kevin Lewis reported from New York; David Geffner reported from Los Angeles.
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Slamdance DGA Receptions
Slamdance 2001 Reception in Los Angeles.
(Photo: Terry Lilly)
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The Sundance Film Festival still receives most of the media attention in Park City. But its feisty cousin, Slamdance, is not too far behind in the eyes of indie filmmakers.
Slamdance began in 1995 when a ragtag group of directors who had been rejected by Sundance assembled in a Park City hotel room at the same time Sundance was in progress. Canvassing the streets of Park City, the Slamdance crew formed an edgy alternative to the gloss of Sundance; they screened their films day and night to anybody who cared enough to see them. This rebellious, grass-roots spirit still permeates at Slamdance, as evidenced by the many young directors who attended the Slamdance/DGA Filmmaker orientations on both coasts prior to the festival.
At the DGA reception in New York, Assistant Eastern Executive Director Susan Panepento introduced Festival Programmer Paul Rachman and two DGA members, Marc Levin and Matthew Harrison, who have films represented at Slamdance.
"The essence of this festival is the camaraderie and finding colleagues," Levin said. "You will find in your career that with the DGA behind you, you'll still have conflict between distributors and directors. It's built in. It's just part of the natural law of nature that there's always that struggle. This is one place where you'll get solidarity. It's great that the DGA reaches out to independents."
Harrison, a judge at Slamdance 2001, said, "I'm a member of the Directors Guild which is something I'm proud of. The best thing that the Directors Guild has is this little tiny handbook called Creative Rights Handbook, which I carry in my back pocket. It's a little like the garlic cross to producers."
Slamdance 2001 Reception in New York.
(Photo: Elisa Haber)
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At the Los Angeles reception, DGA President Jack Shea spoke of the DGA's commitment to independent directors, and the "excitement" that seems to build with each year that Slamdance grows and progresses. Shea offered warm congratulations to all Slamdance filmmakers and emphasized the Guild's ability to protect creative rights. He noted that this fundamental principle is essential to the director's vision, never more so than when independent filmmakers are working on tight schedules, tight budgets and without a huge support network to back up their dreams.
Co-founder and Executive Director Peter Baxter said, "I want to impress upon all of you filmmakers here tonight that the DGA is a director's best friend. Over the last three years, they have opened themselves up to Slamdance and particularly to low-budget filmmakers. In many ways Slamdance and the DGA mirror each other: we're trying to offer guidance, protection, and help to filmmakers in our family just as the Guild is doing the same for their directors."
One by one the young filmmakers rose to recite their names and the titles of their films. While a few had been to Slamdance before, the bulk of the filmmakers present were going up to Park City for the first time. The many reactions of surprise and relief (upon being accepted to Slamdance 2001) were recounted with a joy and honesty that underscored the Slamdance "family" experience. Among those who recounted their excitement was Star Trek: Voyager actor and DGA director Robert Duncan McNeill, whose slickly made 35mm short, 9mm of Love, would screen in the Lounge Shorts Block 4 at Slamdance 2001.
DGA member Mike Mitchell, whose short 16mm film, Herd, won the Spirit of Slamdance award in 1999, related that "right after Herd's first showing at Slamdance an audience member came up to me and said: 'Dude, that was like Leprechaun 2 meets Gandhi!' I remember thinking that if I had had the money to afford posters that year they would have screamed out to Park City: 'if you loved Leprechaun 2 and Gandhi, you'll love Herd."' Quieting down the raucous laughter, Mitchell grew more serious, describing himself as "very lucky" that his film had played at Slamdance. Herd went on to play many more festivals after Slamdance (without having to pay any entrant fees because of Slamdance's reputation), and ultimately led to the director making a larger budgeted studio feature for The Walt Disney Company.
"Two of the things I want to stress about Slamdance," Mitchell concluded, "is that it was the first chance for me to screen my film with an impartial audience. I cannot emphasize how essential that is to any young filmmaker. And the second great thing is that you get to hang out with other indie directors."
Kevin Lewis reported from New York; David Geffner reported from Los Angeles.
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Sundance Filmmakers Reception
Raymond De Felitta at the microphone.
(Photo: David Geffner)
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"It's not like indie directors sit at a table in a commissary together and compare notes. We spend a lot of time in lonely isolation away from each other. So, one of the big hopes I have for the Guild is to connect with other directors. Conversely, if the DGA wants to attract a large independent membership, we need to make these filmmakers feel like the Guild is their home."
-Raymond De Felitta
"A few years ago I had the honor, along with Allison Anders, Bobby Roth and Steven Soderbergh and a number of other directors, to start the Independent Directors Committee within the Guild. Our goal was to continue those same ideals that were begun at the DGA's inception in so far as protecting creative rights for directors who work in the independent arena. This is particularly important now when the distribution apparatus of the independent film world today is beginning to look more and more like mainstream Hollywood of the late 1930s, when filmmakers' voices were often trampled upon."
-George Hickenlooper
Allison Anders (left) and George Hickenlooper (right) with Sundance Filmmakers.
(Photo: Dan Moore)
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"So many new independent women directors have approached me about having their rights taken away in the editing process, or being pushed around creatively by their films' producers or financiers. To me the Guild has always been a safe haven for protecting my rights as a female director. They protect the salary I'm owed for my work and the time I have to cut the film. As a woman, the attitude is often that you'll never have any power in this business. So, the DGA protects you from people who believe young women directors never will have any power and can basically be abused.
"Along with all those great male directors who founded the DGA, Dorothy Arzner was one of the first members of the DGA as well. The Guild has always been a place that is open to women. And I can honestly say to you now that as you begin your careers here at Sundance, consider my experience with this Guild. I've been well-protected in an environment which affords greater creative controls and opportunities for women."
-Allison Anders
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Under the Influence at Sundance 2001
The DGA sponsored a screening of Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange as part of the ongoing series, Under the Influence: A Dialogue About Films. Pictured from left are DGA member and speaker Penelope Spheeris, Sundance Co-director and Director of Programming Geoff Gilmore, and speaker/DGA Third Vice President Paris Barclay. (Photo: Dan Moore)
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Sundance / Slamdance Overview
Everybody seemed to agree that this year in Park City was different. Whether it was the sluggish pace of distributor pickups at Sundance, the snowy shuttle ride up to Slamdance's new location in an old silver mine, or the lack of star presence on Main Street (Mick Jagger, executive producer of Michael Apted's WWII drama, Enigma, was one of the few sole exceptions), this year's indie-fest-go-round was a whole lot mellower than in years past.
The best assessment of the Sundance Film Festival was made before it ever started. Speaking about last year's Sundance, Paramount Classics' Co-president David Dinnerstein [whose pickup at Sundance 2000 of You Can Count on Me proved to be the best acquisition of the festival] said: "The lack of any serious bidding wars made Sundance feel less like a market and much more like a film festival. Everyone just relaxed a little and concentrated on seeing good films."
Seeing good films (but not necessarily buying them) was what Sundance and Slamdance 2001 were all about. In the case of Park City's main event, Sundance, DGA filmmakers were not only well represented, they also provided some of the week's most memorable screenings. Longtime Texas-based indie, Rick Linklater, unloaded a double-barreled assault of cutting-edge filmmaking with his two Sundance entries, Waking Life, which screened in the Premiere Section, and Tape, which rolled out in the American Spectrum. Media and film fans alike agreed: Linklater's midweek premiere of Waking Life was one of the visceral peaks of Sundance.
To achieve the fluid, watery look of Waking Life, Linklater's animation director, Bob Sabiston, wrote original software for the Macintosh which allowed his animation team to digitally draw frame-by-frame over Linklater's existing live-action footage. "We approached the animation in a similar way to how the story was written," Sabiston told the SRO Eccles Theater audience at the film's post-screening Q&A. "Each animator had their own distinct style matched to the various actors in the film. Rick very much wanted to go against that traditional approach to animation where every scene and beat looks exactly the same."
Capturing a different tone and style was what Sundance veteran Allison Anders achieved with her latest digital video feature, Things Behind the Sun. Anders, who graciously made appearances at the DGA's Filmmakers Reception, the UCLA Filmmakers Reception, and other Park City events, brought her entire cast out onstage for the Q&A session at the Things Behind the Sun Eccles Theater premiere.
"The catalyst for this film," Anders told the overflow auditorium, "was extremely personal. I had been through this same experience myself [the film deals with an adult rock musician's childhood rape memories, which are pulled to the surface by one of the boys who had been involved] in the same town. The reason I made this film mirrored the lead character's: when you need to deal with something, even if it's been 20 years, it's going to find you. It will happen to anyone you love or know who has had this same experience. The memories and feelings track you down and you have to reconcile them."
On the distribution front, one clear winner was actor Todd Field's directing debut about the effect of a sudden tragedy on an upper middle-class New England family. Snapped up by Miramax for a reported seven figures, In the Bedroom was perhaps one of Sundance's most mature offerings (and certainly one of its longest at 130 minutes). The film captured a Special Jury Prize for its high-powered acting duo of Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek.
Sundance's awards ceremony had all the excitement of the Academy Awards without any of its frivolity. DGA member Stacy Peralta won the Audience Award and the Best Directing Award for a Documentary in Competition with his screamingly paced take on Venice skateboarders, Dogtown & Z-Boys. A very different story about societal outcasts took home the Grand Jury Prize in the Documentary Competition; Southern Comfort was a remarkably affecting tale of a community of transsexuals living in a rural trailer park in the Deep South.
Slamdance silver mine.
(Photo: David Geffner)
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DGA member John Cameron Mitchell won the Audience Award and Best Directing Award for Dramatic Feature in competition for Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Announcing the Grand Jury Prize winner in the Dramatic Competition, October Films co-founder Bingham Ray quoted William Goldman who wrote: "The Hollywood producer seeks to entertain the masses while the independent producer seeks to challenge and provoke a select few." "At Sundance 2001," Ray said, "that line has blurred. Entertainment and independence are not mutually exclusive as so many of this year's films demonstrate."
Ray described the Grand Jury's deliberations as stretching "long into the night" because of the quality and breadth of work. He introduced the winning film as "extraordinary," powerful, and certainly provocative. It is The Believer, written and directed by Henry Bean.The true story of a former Yeshiva student who embraces a neo-fascist movement, The Believer was Sundance's most philosophically radical entry of this or many years past.
DGA director Marc Levin was at the center of Slamdance's biggest controversy when the producers of his new feature, Brooklyn Babylon, decided the opening-night slot was not the best venue for the film to debut. "It was actually pulled out," Slamdance Executive Director Peter Baxter said, "and then put back in because Marc Levin wanted to show it at Slamdance. We are an organization by filmmakers and for filmmakers and we felt that we had to support Marc's wishes, despite the controversy."
Levin's film played to a packed house, with the opening-night, after-party drawing more than 3,000 fans. Baxter felt the opening-night success of Brooklyn Babylon helped the rest of Park City discover the festival's new location, as well as spur distribution offers to films such as director Ken Goldstein's Prophet Speaks, which played in the Slamdance Lounge, a section known for experimental, non-narrative work. "Being up at the silver mine allowed people to escape the distractions of Main Street and concentrate on good movies," co-founder Baxter observed on the festival's final day.
The Friday-night Slamdance awards were in direct contrast to Sundance's big televised night: Media and filmmakers alike crammed into a tiny staging area to see the Slamdance "Sparky Dogs" handed out in a setting as down-to-earth as a collegial frat house. The Slamdance Grand Jury Prize for Best Feature in Competition went to Hybrid, a poetic docudrama about a 100-year old Iowa farmer's lifelong obsession with hybrid seed corn. In the Best Dramatic Feature section, Daydream Believer, by actress-turned-director Debra Eisenstadt, took top honors. Eisenstadt had appeared in David Mamet's film, Oleanna, and the shock of winning nearly consumed her acceptance speech as she stared out at the audience with joyful tears.
Independent Directors Committee co-founder Bobby Roth summed up the mood on Main Street one evening, as he awaited the premiere of his self-financed, highly personalized digital indie feature Jack the Dog.
When I first came to Sundance 20 years ago, Roth said, I was thrilled if 200 people came to the Egyptian to see my film. Here I am at 50, making another personal film with my own money, and my goals aren't all that different: all I wanted when I was shooting Jack the Dog was to get into Sundance. Tonight, 1,200 people will see my film in the best setting possible. So I'm taking the advice Geoff Gilmore gave at the DGA party: don't obsess about getting your film picked up and really enjoy the experience.
-David Geffner
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