Sundance 09

[dloveski]

We braved the trip to Park City to catch a Sundance screening.

Wow---the economy has hit even Sundance, as the crowds were way down, we got right in to a screening, and the scene on Main Street last night was pretty tame.

The film, The Missing Person, is a film noir and was great---look for it. The Director and the actor did an amusing Q and A afterward. I enjoyed it.

 

[Slidergirl]

Yeah, we've been hit by the economy, too. Unrelated to the economy, the gay community was working hard to get folks to boycott Sundance this year because of the LDS Church (headquarters in Salt Lake City, if some don't know) and it's rabid support for California Proposition 8 this year. I haven't really heard if it had any impact yet. I do know that when Robert Redford was asked about the potential boycott, he said fine, stay away. He has been a little annoyed the past few years at how Sundance has grown. At least this year, the obscene "gifting suites" have been tucked away off Main St. and aren't generating the negative images they have in the past. If you don't know, the gifting suites are places where the celebs and VIPs can walk into and walk out with all sorts of extravagance, like those gift baskets and bags you hear about for the presenters and such at the Academy Awards.
I worked up at the resort proper Wednesday. Man, it was deserted! There were 3 of us scanning at the Payday lift, which is the main lift to get on to get anywhere. We really didn't need 3 of us, so we took rotating 20 minute breaks all day and an hour lunch instead of our usual 35 minutes. We've already cut back staff and the existing staff have hours cut back. It's not pretty.
To get this back on the Sundance and skiing track, word around Lift Ops this week was that one of the Baldwin brothers fell into a lift pit. All I can say is it was NOT my Town lift!!!

 

[skigirl]

This is just a thought, but Sundance may have been down because the "Stars" went to Washington DC instead.

 

[RachelV]

Huh, funny, a few aquaintences of mine were at Sundance and had a really hard time getting last minute tickets to any screenings. It did look like the mountain was pretty empty from their pictures, though.

 

[Slidergirl]

Yeah, some were at the Inauguration. But, it wasn't really the celebs who were missing at Sundance, it was the wannabes and hangers-on.
As for getting into movies, it all depends on what kind of movie your friends were trying for. There's always a waiting line for the big movies - you just have to stand there and take your chances. But, for others, you can really walk up and get in. One of my co-workers was going to a documentary and was #4 on the waiting list and she got in the other night.

 

[dloveski]

we just decided at the last minute to go up to PC for a screening and walked up, got a number, and there were scalpers all over, so bought a couple of tickets for face value and got a great seat and that was it. The Missing Person was the film.

It was Main Street after the film that was a surprise, as it was pretty dead. But, it was on Wednesday, and maybe the festival was in wind-down mode by then.

A woman we met in line, a regular Sundance attendee, said the drop off seemed to really be in the younger party crowd, like Slidergirl said, who usually hang out to get star sightings and rage at the bars.

I did get a real nice beanie. HBO Documentary Films were handing them out on Main Street----I'm easy to please I guess, cuz I love it.

 

[Pequenita]

Hm. I wouldn't doubt that there were a lot of wannabes and hangers on that made it out here, instead. I had a lot of people ask me where the red carpet was when I was doing my inauguration volunteer gig. I had no idea what they were talking about until I realized that I was standing across the street from the hip hop inaugural ball and saw Diddy's SUV go by.

That being said, I'd love to go do Sundance one day!