Living, Playing & Writing in the Outdoors
The day I was supposed to be heading to Togwotee Lodge in Wyoming, my agent called and said I had a booking. The shoot for Zyto Compass would only take two hours and the pay was great. Of course, I was going to squeeze it in. I was in and out in less than an hour and on the road to Wyoming in no time.
This is how it turned out:
If you think you missed out on purchasing tickets for the 2016 Sundance Film Festival, au contraire. You spared yourself hours of frustration and wasted time. The system went down. But organizers say that’s all in the past and will relaunch their sales site at noon MST, Thursday, Oct. 29.
Ticket sales on October 14, 2015, were shut down after about an hour when buyers started getting error messages on checkout. Organizers now promise a “seamless” purchasing experience. That said, the First Half Package, the Locals SLC/Ogden Pass, and the Locals 10-Ticket Package are expected to sellout quickly. Make sure you study the guide beforehand so you don’t ‘time out’ while ordering. Hint: Premieres, then Dramatic Competition films, sell the quickest.
In addition to last year’s change of eliminating registration for Individual Tickets, you won’t have to register for Festival Passes or Ticket Packages either. It’s a first come/first serve free for all until everything sells out. Sundance has also changed the names of their packages to help buyers more easily understand the offerings.
Here’s the decoder list:
First Half = (A) Thurs, Jan 21 – Tues, Jan 26
Second Half = (B) Wed, Jan 27 – Sun, Jan 31
Express Second Half Pass = Express Pass B
Eccles Theatre Second Half Pass = Eccles Pass B
Off Peak Hours Pass = Adrenaline Pass
Locals 10-Ticket Package = Film Lover’s Package
There’s also a $200 Festival credential if you prefer to skip the movies for the panels, music and off-screen events. But if you’re a Utah local a better deal would be the Locals 10-ticket package for $300 that gets you TWO credentials and TEN movie tickets for just $100 more.
If you’d rather avoid Main Street and Eccles mayhem, there’s a SLC Grand Theatre Pass and the SLC/Ogden 10-Ticket package this year. Stay in Salt Lake for less, get around easier with ample parking, and dine in restaurants that haven’t been shut down for private parties. Tickets are $20 this year so make sure you pick movies that also have a Q&A with filmmakers to get your money’s worth.
Individual tickets for locals go on sale January 14 (must have a Utah driver’s license or Utah state ID to pick up tickets) and a Sundance Institute Members online ticket sale will be on January 18. All remaining tickets will be on sale both online and at the Main Box Offices starting Tuesday, January 19 at 10:00 a.m.
What started as a Sundance Fest addon has a life of its own and the 5th Annual Tumbleweeds Film Festival lives on this September 25-27. The Rose Wagner Theater becomes kid central with family friendly films, workshops and a Clubhouse with obstacle course, Microsoft Just Dance mini dance floor, STEM learning activity by Animal Jam, and an arts and crafts station.
The Utah Film Center’s Patrick Hubley said, “We launched our Tumbleweeds programming with the goal of fostering the next generation of filmmakers and film fans, and we hope this programming will inspire the creativity and imaginations of young film-goers not only in Utah but across the country.”
Tumbleweeds features content for children and teens and is the only one of its kind in the Intermountain West. Next weekend, kids 4 and older will have the chance to see world cinematic films like Pim & Pom from the Nederlands.
The lineup includes 11 feature films, a documentary, and four shorts. Audiences will see the best g-rated flicks from around the world, participate in media arts workshops, and get down with Just Dance and arts and crafts in the Tumbleweeds Kids Clubhouse.
“The festival has evolved to include a traveling statewide program and Utah Film Center has developed a partnership with Sundance Institute to co-curate Sundance Kids during the Sundance Film Festival in January as a direct result of Tumbleweeds’ successes,” said Hubley.
The most exciting part will be the game coding and Animal Jam Animator workshops. If interested, sign up asap. They are limited to the first 10 registrants.
For ticket prices, screening times and more information visit utahfilmcenter.org.
Photo Courtesy ABC Entertainment
If you’ve ever wondered who the heck would commute to a film studio in Park City, Utah, wonder no more. Park City Film Studios announced today that ABC Entertainment Group will use the 375,000 square-foot facility as its base of operation for the new series “Blood & Oil” (formerly “Oil”, formerly “Boom”). The commercials are already airing on ABC during such popular shows as “The Bachelorette” and “Mistresses,” promising all the fun things that ‘sell’- lust, greed, sexy dudes and fashion. Oh, and Don Johnson.
“It’s highly unusual for a brand new studio to be selected for major production,” said Greg Ericksen, owner and developer of Park City Film Studios. “So, you can imagine that we are very excited to be working with ABC on this project.”
Park City Film Studios facility is still under construction but when it’s completed it will house three soundstages, production offices, and an array of studio services including a digital motion capture stage and technology and special effects stages. “Blood & Oil” is taking over the entire production facility including three 15,000 square foot production spaces and offices.
The Utah Film Commission recently announced the new TV drama is the first network series in 10 years to be filmed on location in Utah. “Granite Flats” doesn’t count as it is produced for KBYUtv, a non-profit, University channel. “Blood & Oil” will air on Sunday nights and premieres on Sept. 27, 2015.
The drama series features Don Johnson from “Nash Bridges” and more recently ‘Eastbound and Down” but who most GenXers remember as Sonny Crockett in the iconic 80s series “Miami Vice”. Hunky “Gossip Girl” alum Chace Crawford and Rebecca Rittenhouse from “Red Band Society” also star. But the real leads in this true-to-life oil industry story are Park City and Utah. Our ‘locals’ play the part of North Dakota.
Utah’s incentive program encourages out-of-state productions to film here and includes cash back when they spend a certain amount of money and utilize a percentage of local talent and crew. ABC says 300 local cast and crew members will be used and it is predicted to inject $35 million into the local economy.
It’s too bad, however, that leads and recurring roles are cast out of Los Angeles, leaving only day parts for our talented local pool. Of course, I’m looking forward to auditioning. Who wouldn’t? I haven’t done a part in a network series since “Promised Land.” I read for a couple of roles in “Everwood” but didn’t make it past the callbacks. Other Utah-filmed series include “Touched By An Angel” and “Extreme” – a short-lived action drama starring “Modern Family’s” Julie Bowen.
Park City Film Studios’ site is designed to support all stages of moviemaking, with plans to host a hotel, restaurants and retailers, at 4001 Kearns Boulevard, across from the National Ability Center in Park City.
According to ABC, “Blood & Oil” is written by Josh Pate and Rodes Fishburne. Executive producers are Tony Krantz, Josh Pate, Rodes Fishburne, Drew Comins, and Don Johnson; produced by ABC Signature.
When Liz told me she was on Andrew’s team for the 48-hour Film Project in Salt Lake City my first thought was why didn’t they ask me? We actors are so egocentric. I mean I was the one who introduced Liz to Andrew in the first place. So I messaged Andrew and he said of course I could join them. He said he didn’t ask because he sees from my FB posts that I’m always busy. Never too busy for friends and an all-nighter! Plus, I’ve always wanted to do this event – at least once in my life-and I’ve never been in town over the dates. And so began my annual 48 Hour Film “career”.
The 48 Film Project is a national competition that starts at the city level. That year, 2013, 120 cities on six continents hosted a 48-hour weekend. Teams gathered on Friday night- in this case May 31, 2013, at 6 pm where Team Captains reached into a ‘hat’ and drew out a genre. It could be any one of these:
We had 48 hours to script, shoot, edit, score and produce a film between 4 and 8 minutes. The catch was that organizers drew a character, a prop and a line of dialogue out of a hat too that MUST appear in all the films in some way.
Here are some examples from previous years:
Character
Prop
Line of Dialogue
The Film Project is back again and it’ll be my third year in a row participating. One of these days I’ll be on an award-winning team but no matter it’s still a blast to spend the weekend with avid filmmakers and peers.
When the judges do choose a winner, they will continue on to compete against the winners from the other cities at Filmapalooza in Hollyweird next February.
The overall winner at Filmapalooza 2013 was “Jacques Serres” by Les Productions avec Volontiers so you can see how far this project reaches. There were winners from Cape Town, the Netherlands, Prague, Denver, Baltimore, etc. But nothing in Utah has ever come close to this caliber of speed-filmmaking.
Personally, I think Utah can do a lot better than last year’s winner:
Maybe we win; maybe we don’t but I look at this as an awesomely intense team building experience. Our team in 2013 consisted of Andrew Hook, Liz Baker, Jim Stevens, Cami Twede, Joe Hatfield, and little ‘ol me.
Back in 2001, when the 48 Hour Film Project was first conceptualized, Mark Ruppert and several other DC filmmakers wondered, “Would films made in only 48 hours even be watchable?” Of course, some aren’t but I sure hope ours is!
I had so much fun making the 2013 film that I also acted in 2014. Here are my two shorts.
This year’s 48-Hour Film Project kicks off Friday, June 12, with 23 teams geared up so far for the weekend, movie-making marathon. If you’re interested in participating, contact any of the filmmakers you see listed under ‘teams’ through their Facebook pages. I’m sure they would love your assistance.
If you’d rather sleep in, you can see all the shorts at the premier screenings June 16 & 17 at the Broadway Cinemas at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.. Tickets are $12.