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Pete Goes to Sundance
Nearly a year after stepping into the Project Greenlight spotlight, Pete Jones found himself under another light, the flashbulbs of paparazzi at the Sundance Film Festival.
The Sundance Film Festival has become a bit of a study in contradictions over the years. Robert Redford founded the Sundance Institute in Sundance, Utah, 20 years ago, as a place where young filmmakers could congregate in a collective effort to revive the independent spirit of filmmaking.
Many in Hollywood felt it was Redford's big "F you" to the movie-making machine that was housed in New York and Los Angeles, while others felt it was just what cinema needed: a place for young and aspiring filmmakers to hone their craft in an environment that encouraged the bending and breaking of staid cinematic conventions.
Every year, Redford would assemble the best of what he saw, and showcase a collection of features, documentaries, and short films from the independent film community. For Hollywood, Sundance soon became an excellent poaching ground where quality films could be acquired at relatively low cost and turned into profit makers and awards contenders.
Quickly, Hollywood caught on, and flocked to Utah every year in hopes of finding that obscure auteur who could actually run with the big dogs back on one of the coasts. 20 years later, the word "independent" is used loosely, as many would argue that the Sundance Film Festival is anything but.
Sundance has fast become one of Hollywood's greatest traditions. In anticipation of a frenzied two weeks, scores of left coasters pull out their heavy jackets and snow gear, while their assistants scramble to get assurance that the boss will have cell phone reception in the rarified air of Park City, Utah.
Once in Utah, the buyers and sellers clutter their schedules with screenings, drinks, and parties, and try to catch wind of the ephemeral buzz that surrounds the not-so-sleepy town.
Most of these "independent" movies feature recognizable stars and directors. This year, Gus Van Sant, Jennifer Anniston, Robin Williams, Ray Liotta, and Mariah Carey all had projects at the festival, to name a few.
When the festival began to field criticism that it had gone too Hollywood, lesser-known mini-festivals began popping up around Park City, pimping themselves as the "truly independent festival." SlamDance, NoDance, TromaDance, and the Sundance Online Festival all bucked for position this year to try and catch independent lightning in a bottle.
Nonetheless, Sundance gave Pete Jones his first opportunity to present the fruits of his hard work to a public whose curiosity and imagination were piqued by a television show that highlighted the production's miscues.
Critics, Project Greenlight fans, and savvy moviegoers waited in long lines, sometimes for over three hours, to catch the first glimpse of "Stolen Summer."
In a sense, Sundance got the monkey off of Pete's proverbial back, as he fielded criticism and adulation from an audience that, for the first time, was truly independent.
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