Festivals

Actors talking about their craft can be either completely self-indulgent or wildly entertaining. This Sundance panel was luckily more the latter than the former thanks to the cast of characters participating in it: Viggo Mortensen, Thomas Middleditch, Diane Ladd, Bryce Dallas Howard, Rebecca Hall and John Krasinski.

“James Foley was an extraordinary, brave man. I think the film is a wonderful antidote to all the nonsense we hear in the world from ISIS, Donald Trump and the like.

Coming off his Golden Globe win (and an Academy Award nomination) for The Martian, the actor/ writer/ producer hit Sundance for a day, not to promote a new film but to create awareness for his charity project Water. org.

Golden Globe-nominated director Ava DuVernay announced a new collaboration between ARRAY, an LA-based film collective dedicated to amplify works by people of color and women that she founded in 2010, and Indiegogo, the largest international crowdfunding organization that so far has helped over 40,000 films getting made. "On behalf of ARRAY's Maverick and Rebel members and our Founding Leaders, I'm thrilled to hold hands with our friends at Indiegogo on this intimate gathering of film artists and advocates focused on community and change," explained DuVernay.

As snow falls on Park City, Sundance is knee deep in the first weekend and as usual the only constant is variety – in subject matter, origin and quality, all of which vary widely. Originality and creativity don’t always equate with a successful film and so far the festival has alternated hits and misses, sometimes succumbing to that indie film mainstay: quirkiness.

Part of the “widening palette” promised on opening day by Keri Putnam, Executive Director of the Sundance Institute, is “episodic fiction”. That’s the genre formerly known as TV series to you and me and one that, in this “golden age” of premium cable and subscription streaming, is arguably the most vital area of storytelling.

The Sundance film festival opened under clear Park City skies and a relatively balmy 45 degrees with the traditional Day One press conference at the Egyptian theater where Salt Lake Tribune movie critic Sean Means welcomed festival director John Cooper, Keri Putnam who heads the Sundance Institute and Sundance founder Robert Redford. The actor, producer and all-around Sundance legend said: “What I’m looking forward is to most is the audience response.

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