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Category Archives: Sundance

When Park City’s Not Park City

Jill Adler Leave a comment

Is it bad that I’m not missing skiing right now? After my EPIC and I mean EPIC day of pow at Alta on Monday I put away the skis and got ready for Sundance. It’s like the circus came to town and with zero fresh and 50 degree weather, skiers and non-skiers alike have a decent excuse to take in the sights and sounds of a newly ‘converted’ Park City Main Street. More than two decades ago, Sundance organizers and Park City collaborated to move the Sundance Film Festival to the historic resort as a way to bring business to town during a traditionally slow time of year. Then came the World Cup Freestyle at Deer Valley Resort and MLK weekend and now January is insane in this tiny town. Driving’s a hassle, parking non-existent unless you like extortion with your entry pass, the restaurants are booked and your favorite dining galleries are “lounges” and “suites”. Yet, still, there’s plenty of room to ski. But I can do that any old day.

Park City businesses must feel the same. Many on Main Street pack up their stock, their paintings, their dishes and get out of town for the first four days of the Fest; choosing to take a huge chunk of cash to walk away and let sponsors like Chase Sapphire and YouTube take over their spaces. For most, those rentals amount to a couple of months’ rent in just four days.

J Go Gallery rents to Variety Magazine for a celebrity interview lounge the first five days of the festival. (eg. Good Stargazing Spot). “The first weekend is mostly people in the film industry seeing movies, networking and having coffee. They are not spending a lot of time shopping,” the Gallery owners told the Salt Lake Tribune. “The second weekend is more of our clients — film lovers and skiers — who spend more time shopping.” They tried not renting last year and lost money so they’re back in the game this year.

YouTube takes up residence at Root’D (596 Main St.) where the public can grab coffee, listen to live music and view film panels. They will host private parties in the evenings.

I can’t wait to swing by Udi’s this year. Last year, they treated invited guests to an amazingly tasty breakfast, lunch and dinner menu t their showcase their gluten-free products. The pop-up café takes over 501 Restaurant.

My little one love swinging into the Festival Co-op where L’Oreal does face and hair makeovers. She walked with lipstick and shampoo. The space is open to the public 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. daily at 608 Main St.

You can’t miss the giant white ‘cabin’ at the corner of lower Main. And just in case, there’s a huge HP plastered on the sign. The Sundance House presented by HP showcases interactive experiences that will allow you to explore the ways in which technology works with film. You can also get out of the cold- if it ever gets cold this week!- for free Wi-Fi, laptops, and printers use. The HP Live Lounge is the heated tent you see on the corner. It’s earblowingly loud in there when various local artists play so bring your earplugs. Open daily from 9:30 a.m.

If you like cars, the Acura Lounge is right across the street for chances to win a ride-around, gourmet movie snacks and music.

One of the hardest public spots to get into is the Sundance Channel HQ at the top of Main. Well, it’s not really public per se. It’s open to credential holders or you can go online and rsvp for a day pass. The line swings up the street and you basically count on standing there until the event ends and you’re turned away. The invite tickets go before they’re even posted. The café hosts panel discussions and private events at night but the best event is CATDANCE sponsored by Fresh Step kitty litter. The party is also an awards show for cat-related short films.

Not sure you really understand the “industry?” YouTube on Main (596) hosts screening, panels, happy hours and parties – most of which are open to anyone. Daily 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. Click here to see a complete schedule of events and programming.

Ever use Airbnb to book your Park City lodging? Now’s your chance to learn about the service. The Airbnb Haus is a nice place to chill and discover rentals from treehouses to castles. Open daily at the bottom of Main in the old Blue Iguana space.

Next stop is the Canon Lounge (aka Rock and Relly’s Pub) next to Park City Live (which itself is the Park City Live Lounge). But at Canon they’ll host panel discussions, screenings and parties for filmmakers to spotlight the Canon Cinema EOS line of professional digital cameras and lenses. My Canon Rebel T4i may not qualify but I’m an actor. I can fake it.

The Utah Film Commission is hosting The Hub. For sure drop in and see what’s cooking in our fair state with regards to film production. The spot at 751 Main will have hot drinks, snacks and hands to shake. Open daily from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

One of the busiest addresses last year was the MorningStar Farms Veggie Burger Bar. Who can resist free food even when it’s veggie burgers? To be fair, they have veggie sliders, veggie chili and chik’n buffalo wings and vegan options as well. Located in the Eating Establishment (317 Main), the Bar is open to the public through Tuesday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.

The SkyLodge becomes the ZenDen for exclusive morning yoga workouts (7 a.m! Ouch.) bodywork appointments and private parties co-sponsored by the Awareness Festival and Lulelemon. It’s an eco-friendly retreat for VIPs from the usual crazy scene at Sundance.

Another retreat for VIPs, the EcoHideaway, is the not so much of a gifting place as it is a spot to take in live music. This year’s lounge is back on Main after relocating to Stein Eriksen Lodge for a few years. Expect over 40 musical performances over the three days they’re there. Park City’s Whole Foods gets involved. Last year, I collected some sweet lotions and eye cream. The Spa at Stein Eriksen Lodge will do mini-facials, Utah’s Minky Couture will gift their adorable, uber-soft blankets and scarves; looks like they’re doing OC Hair and Makeup too. Other sponsors touted are LAMO Footwear, Fur Frenzy, OC HAIR and MAKEUP, Bula (yay for a ski connection!), and Under Canvas Glamping Trips to Yellowstone, Moab Desert, and Montana).

Who’s Coming To Sundance 2014?

Jill Adler Leave a comment

Sundance Credential approved! But just as important as checking out the independent films in Park City, Utah, this week is checking out the independent filmmakers themselves. The buzz on the street is this year’s Sundance Film Festival is going to blow up. Which means you should expect to see hundreds of indie darling celebs- actors, musicians, producers and directors. You’ll catch them at the movie premiere QnA’s but it’s way cooler to run into them on the street –literally.

I’m not really a ‘star’ gazer but when a friend of mine told me I needed to get photos of them at Sundance, I accepted the challenge. “You can’t just take a picture,” Scott followed up. “I don’t want to see that. I can see those anywhere. I want to see YOU with them.” Game on.

Last year, a very hammered Eric Roberts swayed outside Flight Boutique, corralling passersby for photos like Cinderella at Disneyland. That one was easy pickings.

So buckle up and grab your camera because Park City is going over to the dark side starting Thursday and you won’t want to miss a moment. Here are just some of the faces to play Where’s Waldo with:

(P.S. If you don’t recognize a name go to IMDB for stats and photos

Michael C. Hall

Sam Shepard

Don Johnson

Vinessa Shaw

Wyatt Russell

Anna Kendrick

John C. Reilly

Molly Shannon

Paul Reiser

Elijah Wood

Tom Sizemore

Maggie Gyllenhaal

Philip Seymour Hoffman

John Turturro

Zoe Saldana

Mark Ruffalo

Kristen Wiig

Luke Wilson

Ty Burrell

Rachel McAdams

Willem Dafoe

Robin Wright

William H. Macy

Billy Crudup

Anton Yelchin

Selena Gomez

Ryan Reynolds

Gemma Arterton

Brendan Gleeson

Chris O’Dowd

Nicholas Hoult

Elle Fanning

Michael Shannon

Aaron Ashmore

Gilles Marini

Diane Kruger

Rose McGowan

Zach Braff

Kate Hudson

Ashley Greene

Glenn Close

Flea

Liv Tyler

Kevin Smith

Kristen Stewart

John Lithgow

Alfred Molina

Marisa Tomei

Cheyenne Jackson

Bill Hader

Elizabeth Banks

Jesse Eisenberg

Felicity Huffman

Jason Schwartzman

Amy Poehler

Paul Rudd

Ed Helms

Aaron Paul

Juliette Lewis

Brit Marling

Katie Couric

Anne Hathaway

Mary Steenburgen

Josh Gad

Joey King

Jim Parsons

Mandy Patinkin

Ashley Greene

Elisabeth Moss

Morgan Spurlock

Brooke Burke

Big Boi from Outkast

Effie Brown

Happy Hunting!

Ski Porn Review: Warren Miller’s Ticket To Ride

Jill Adler One comment

Halfway through the first part of Warren Miller’s new ski flick, Ticket to Ride, my seven year-old daughter Sage leaned over and whispered, “Momma, will you let me miss a couple of days of school this winter so I can ski with you?” I smiled proudly, my heart tickled. I said, “Of course I will.”

Warren Miller comes through again. I didn’t really expect it from Sage…yet. In fact, just before we went into the screening at Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City, Utah, she asked if she could play around in the lobby if she was bored.

Bringing on the stoke of the season, Warren Miller traditionally inspires people of all ages to dream of those epic days where they come down with the powder flu to miss work and school; where they buy that ticket to ride.

But was it Sage’s age that made the difference or did the vibe of this new installment change from past years? Sage has been to a WM screening ever season since she was born. And she has fidgeted, whined, complained, and slept through each film until now. I gotta say, Ticket to Ride reminded me more of that light-hearted, playful epitome of skiing that WM used to be before his son took over the biz. There was well-placed humor (thank God they dropped that stupid Yeti idea from last season) and even added a sequence that was a throwback to the old Miller flicks with classic crash footages and old Warren narrating. Sage was laughing with glee. She loved the ninjas and the soothsayer on the mountain too. These were a bit out there for me but when ski porn runs two hours (inc. intermission) you need silly stuff for the kiddos. You also need more scenes with kids in them, WM. Just saying.

Anyway, back to the movie itself. It was more fun than it has been since Jonny Mosely first came on board to narrate (2008). He’s still narrating but the writing and the delivery are better.

We got to see the athletes as people and characters while they visited places like the Alaskan Tordrillos, Switzerland’s Jungfrau, Iceland’s Troll Peninsula, Kazakhstan, Norway, and Montana. Intense segments like Chris Davenport skiing the West face of the Eiger and JT Holmes speed flying off massive cliffs drew you out of that “ho-hum it’s another jibfest” mentality.

There were no scenes from Utah’s backcountry and the stuff from Aspen and Mammoth went by as a rapid afterthought. The only true lower 48 showing came from Montana. My biggest criticism of these 21^st-century WM films is the failure to label athletes and places. I get that this type of filmmaking is pay-to-play and if the payment comes from the state rather than the resort they won’t call out any particular areas but that does the audience a disservice. I want to know WHERE those skiers are- even if it’s the backside of Big Sky, out of bounds. I also want to know who is who. The athletes are always introduced in some random clip before they start skiing and once the skiing starts they all look alike. I waste the entire segment trying to figure out if that’s Sierra Quitiquit or Julia Mancuso by the clothes they’re wearing.

If you don’t really care, then you’re in luck. There’s an adequate mix of big mountain skiing, park and rail riding, humor and tree shots in Ticket to Ride to get the heart engaged and psyched for missing a day or two of school this winter.

Sundance Hikes Ticket Prices

Jill Adler Leave a comment

There’s no way to sugarcoat the news. Sundance Film Fest ticket prices are going up…33 percent. The $20 ticket charge for films that may go straight to Netflix has more than a few Park City locals miffed. “That’s called gouging,” Tom Richardson posted on The Park Record Newspaper’s Facebook page. “Just ridiculous. We should just wait till they come to the Park City library when they’re a lot cheaper.”

Sundance organizers added $5 to the face value of last year’s $15 ticket in order to offset their operating costs. They seem to be keeping the increase on the down-low though. You would have had to visit the website to notice. The hike comes on the heels of a summer press announcement that the 2013 Festival generated an overall economic impact of nearly $70 million for Utah.

Individual tickets won’t go on sale until January but with the busiest time at the box office starting with the locals-only purchasing period.

Linda Pfafflin, a Sundance associate director, told the Record that it’s been seven years since the last increase. “The funds generated from this adjustment will help us meet rising costs associated with putting on the festival,” Pfafflin said in a prepared response. If it’s any consolation, a waitlist ticket will still be $15.

In comparison, tickets to screenings for the Toronto Film Festival are $21 and those for the Telluride Film Festival taking place this weekend are $25. Sundance organizers say they price tickets competitively but that news won’t take the sting out of those already hard-to-get Sundance tickets. So why pay $20 instead of waiting for Netflix? You’re paying for the experience, the filmmaker question and answer sessions and the chance to spot a celebrity.

Sundance 2014 runs Jan. 16-26. www.sundance.org/festival/tickets.

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The Zen Den, Zoom Room and Sundance 2013

Jill Adler Leave a comment

I first heard of Urban Herding at the Sundance 2013 Zen Den. The lounge, devoted to healing, social consciousness and a non-profit called Heal One World had invited a company called the Zoom Room to participate. The Zoom Room came with all sorts of goodies from pet partners (dog swag!) and an interest in exposing their company to media and VIPs with pets. ZR is basically a large indoor dog park with certified training, agility gear and the ability to be rented out for private time. Think Gymboree for dogs. Very cool concept for cities that lack enough open space.

As I sipped Hint Water (a naturally flavored, zero-calorie water that’s better than most) I thought, “I’m not sure it’s something that would fly in Park City.” Most dog owners- that’s about 80 percent of our community- take their pups on the trails, lakes, slopes and basically anywhere they can so they get plenty of exercise; but the Zoom Room owner made some indelible points- that it’s often way too cold in the winter to stay out too long; that there’s nowhere nearby for a herding dog to get his sheep on, that the closest agility course (besides a mountain bike trials lap) is 45 minutes away; that when it’s hot in the summer, the doggy does nothing but sleep all day. I’m pretty sure I’d spend the $15 for an hour inside this air-conditioned/heated playground if it were here.

In the meantime, he mentioned that an Aussie like Takoda might want to try Urban Herding. My ears pricked up. The newest dog sport in the U.S. is spreading like bunnies. You heard it here first, Folks! Treibball originated in Germany. Instead of livestock, dogs herd exercise balls, maneuvering them from a start point to a specific goal where you direct from a distance. Dogs burn off energy, problem solve and learn self-control. It’s also a team sport where both you and your dog work together.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acCt7VWTnlg]

I can’t wait to try this at home. My dog already has fun with the soccer ball.

Celebrities and filmmakers visited the Zen Den through Sundance week for massages, yoga classes, Tres Sietes Tequila happy hours, and evening screenings of conscious films (animal night screened Buck, a 2011 Sundance documentary).

Tony Danza and Mariel Hemingway (holding SkinGlow’s Shea Butter). This was the first year for the Zen Den but you can find a similar atmosphere in Los Angeles at the Heal One World foundation – a program that offers alternative treatments and fitness classes to low-income and underserved demographics.

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