“Hey everybody! #SundanceFilmFestival #Sundance Learn a little bit about Sundance… And look for balloon messages on how you can participate with the Festival wherever in the world you are – all you need is an internet connection!!” – Cynthia Troyer
In Like Cyn – Season 1 Episode 6
Sundance
Published on YouTube January 22, 2015
by Robert Gold
In the sixth episode of In Like Cyn accomplished screenwriter Cynthia Troyer continues her latest project. An awesome new selfie reality show on YouTube channel The Comedy Multiverse, chronicling an epic day in the life of one of Hollywood’s next rising starlets. In a dazzling sixth installment our host Cynthia Troyer schools us on a guide to enjoying the annual Sundance Film Festival.
Sundance is an annual independent film festival in held in Salt Lake City, Utah started back in 1978 by Sterling Van Wagenen. He created the festival in the hopes that it would bring more attention to the potential of independent filmmaking as well as attract more filmmakers to shoot their future projects in Utah. This why the festival originally only showcased American-made films though in modern times international filmmakers from across the globe come to Sundance every year to present their work.
The festival goes for two weeks every January.There’s always something for everybody at Sundance. What they offer in potential cinema is vast and enticing. They have dramas, documentaries, full length features as well as short films. The festival has also helped bring notoriety to a number of independent filmmakers such as Joseph Gordon Levitt, Kevin Smith and James Wan who have all gone on to have very successful careers.
Joseph Gordon Levitt, most notable from his role as Tommy Solomon in Third Rock from the Sun departed from Hollywood for a number of years to attend college. His love for independent filmmaking was spurred during his return to cinema with a little independent romantic comedy film called 500 Days of Summer made on a budget of $7.5 million that premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. It grossed $60 million worldwide and received two Golden Globe nominations.
Joseph has since gone on to form his own independent production company called HitRecord and direct his own romantic comedy film entitled Don Jon, a political statement about how people in today’s society are more consumed with watching pornography then experiencing real human connection. A film in which he both wrote and starred in. The film cost $3 million to make and grossed $30.5 million.
Independent filmmaker Kevin Smith got his first big break at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival with his comedy film Clerks when it was picked up for distribution by Miramax Films. Smith shot the indie flick on a budget of $27,575. It grossed over $3 million when it made its theatrical release. The film was shot at a real-life video store where Kevin Smith worked at the time. Most of the actors that appeared in the film were Smith’s friends and fellow employees.
Clerks box office success led to a live action series, animated series, comic book series and two full length feature film sequels. This multi-million dollar franchise was the beginning of Kevin Smith’s 20 year career as an independent filmmaker. He went on to make a number of notable indie films including Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jersey Girl and his most recent incarnation which came out this past year Tusk.
James Wan and Leigh Whannell, the innovative minds behind the popular slasher series Saw first premiered their film at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival where they were offered a distribution deal by Lionsgate Entertainment. Shot in 18 days on a mere budget of $700,000 the film grossed a total of $103 million in theaters worldwide.
These two aspiring Australian filmmakers couldn’t get a single Australian film production company interested in their project and were forced to come overseas to pitch their script on the American continent. After finally finding one film company, Evolution Entertainment, who believed in their idea enough to fund the project they were able to build the most commercially successful Hollywood horror franchise in cinema history grossing over $1 Billion with 7 consecutive installments premiering every October 31st.
Many audiences have criticized that James Wan’s films, including Saw, stating that they don’t follow the traditional horror film platform. They don’t have any of those classic scary moments. There’s really nothing that pops out at you and honestly there’s really nothing to be afraid of when you’re watching a James Wan movie. But isn’t that the whole point of a horror movie?
James Wan has defended against these attacks describing Saw and many of his other films as “psychological thrillers” not “horror films” though critics and moviegoers alike have mistakenly dumped them in the horror film category. Despite these minor criticisms James Wan has gone on to do a number of other notable projects since his days at Sundance including Annabelle, The Conjuring, Insidious and numerous other films.
But despite the Sundance success stories of men like James Wan, the festival has come under fire in recent years by many independent filmmakers. Sundance was meant to be a place where independent films could be appreciated. But some critics have been in an uproar in recent years claiming that Hollywood celebrities and major studios executives have hijacked the festival. More and more people ever year are attending Sundance in the hopes that they’re going to be able to sneak into one of Harvey Weinstein’s crazy Hollywood after parties or maybe they’ll be able to snag a selfie with Kate Winslet.
But this is far from what Sundance’s founder had envisioned. This is not independent filmmaking. This is gearing away from the filmmakers who are trying desperately to showcase their work. This is Hollywood hijacking the spotlight from people who normally wouldn’t be paid a second thought if you passed them on the street.
Sundance, my darling, I have to ask you a very serious question and I want you to answer honestly. Have you gone mainstream? Many independent filmmakers have criticized the festival saying it’s extremely hard to your film premiered there nowadays. Is Sundance becoming like the Golden Globes? Is this just another exclusive A-Lister party where you have to know someone to get on the guest list? Kevin Smith publicly stated that his film Clerks never would have made it into Sundance today. The Sundance of the 1990s is the not the Sundance of the 21st Century. In other words, this is not your father’s Sundance.
So many wonderful festivals with unique subcultures of their very own have been hijacked by the big sharks time and time again. Sundance may become the next Comic-Con. A place where fresh comic book artists used to get discovered the way young filmmakers like Kevin Smith used to get discovered at Sundance.
Now Comic-Con is just another place for upcoming television shows and blockbuster movies to advertise themselves before their initial release date. Don’t believe me? Why does Family Guy get a Q&A Panel Discussion at Comic-Con? Or Modern Family or any of these other network sitcoms? Last time I checked Sofia Vergara was not a super sexy hero flying around town with laser beams shooting from her boobs!
Is Sundance becoming like another one of these God forsaken snore fest award shows like the Oscars? Just another place for Hollywood to pat itself on the back and congratulate itself for another year of a job well done. Sundance filmmakers submit their projects to get recognition for films that normally wouldn’t get much attention. But if they can’t even get their films in the festival because the whole shebang is being overshadowed by the Brad Pitts and the Leonardo Dicaprios then the true essence of Sundance is dead.
But what about the filmmakers who do get their films into Sundance? Then those guys get bought up by major production companies that milk it for as many sequels as they can get. Fans often complain about artist’s “selling out.” This is the time when the artist begins to value the paycheck over the quality of their art. This often happens when a show goes on for too many seasons or a film has too many sequels. To prevent this from happening to him, James Wan left Saw to pursue other projects after the third installment hoping to preserve the integrity of the franchise he had helped build.
He had always envisioning Saw as a trilogy. So in the third installment James Wan killed off the main antagonist, John Kramer, leaving the Saw mythology with a conclusive ending. But Lionsgate, in possession of a cash cow, put out four more installments over the subsequent years. With their main antagonist dead, future Saw screenwriters told the story of John Kramer’s evolution into The Jigsaw Killer and used flashbacks to explain how John trained several proteges who would continue on his serial killer work even after his death.
But despite all the criticisms I’ve shackled out I have to give Sundance respect. Without Sundance Kevin Smith would still be working at a video store. Film franchises like Clerks & Saw would never have come to pass. These independent filmmakers would never have gotten their recognition. Their artistic potential never truly realized. High-profile actors like Meryl Streep and Steve Carrel would never get a chance to be cast in roles with character studies that most cinematic actors never get the opportunity to sink their teeth into.
Catch Episode 7 of In Like Cyn when Cynthia Troyer, the lyrically epic music composer Sage Emeralds and I discuss the controversy behind comic books. A philosophically in-depth conversation about the psychological effects that violent media have on American youth culture in our society today.
IN LIKE CYN – SEASON 1 – EPISODE 6
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In Like Cyn – Season 1 Episode 6
Sundance
Published to YouTube January 22, 2015
[Key: Cyn: Cynthia Troyer; DH: Dennis Hopper, AM: Audience Member]
Cyn: Hello, hello and welcome to another episode of In Like Cyn.
TITLE: Cynthia Troyer
Cyn: And this week I am going to take you down a little rabbit hole I call Sundance.
Cyn VO: The Sundance Film Festival is held every January in Park City, Utah.
TITLE: Sundance!
Cyn: If you have never been and you are a filmmaker or you are interested in the film industry the Sundance Film Festival –
ANNOTATION: This show is all shot on my iPhone!
Cyn: – is very energetic and its amazing fun. Cruising down Main Street and like you’re interested in seeing movies that have just been conceptualized by a filmmaker, they’re being brought to market. They’re looking for a distributer to put these films out en masse to get out to everybody. Sundance Survival Guide 2015!
ANNOTATION: The Sundance Film Festival is one program of Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization that discovers and supports independent film and theatre artists from the U.S. and around the world, and introduces audiences to their new work!
Cyn: So Sundance this year is January 22nd to February 1st. So there are people already descending on Park City as we speak. Okay so let’s talk about the practicality of Sundance. Let’s talk about money issues. I think as a guideline you should have $800 dollars in your pocket. But that depends on how much booze you drink (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND) and how crazy you are. You have your airfare. (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND) Ahhhhh-aaa. Your lodging. (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND) When it comes to lodging a couch will do. I’m telling you there is so much to do like 24/7 you’re going to be out on the town. You’re going to be out of that little hovel. Like, but, you know if you’re like renting a couch and they’ve got like a Jacuzzi that’s – ah – I’d take that one, you know what I mean.
ANNOTATION: Enjoy Sundance From Anywhere – Subscribe to SFF channel!! Links to: http://www.youtube.com/user/sff
Cyn: There are sometimes things you don’t take into consideration like you’re flying into Salt Lake City – and then you have to take a shuttle (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND) all the way up to Park City which is like 40 minutes away. It’s like a really beautiful ride. You’re gonna be in a van with a bunch of other people who are going to do what you’re doing. Network with the people in the van. And I would encourage you if you haven’t pre-arranged your shuttle to pre-arrange your shuttle. And that’s two shuttle rides, okay. (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND). Then we have the food and drinks category (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND). What are you gonna eat and drink at Sundance. Okay, you are in Utah. And like these Mormons…
BREAK
Cyn: …like to control who’s drinking what, drinking what so in order to drink in a bar you have to get on – you have to be sponsored. Drinking in Utah is a very strange animal. You have to get yourself accustomed to this. You cannot just walk into any grocery store and buy some wine. The cool thing is that at Sundance they’ve made that all easier, and set up so that the waitress that is serving you can sponsor you.
ANNOTATION: Enjoy Sundance From Anywhere – Subscribe to SFF channel LINKS TO: http://www.youtube.com/user/sff
Cyn: Like you don’t need – I mean the Mormons are probably still going to look at your name on a list. Cause sometimes they’re checking that list out.
ANNOTATION: Plan for 2016 – put January 21 – 31st in your calendar, make your arrangements in October.
Cyn: All the beer there is like 3%. You go to Albertsons and you’re like ah, let’s get some Bud Light. That is not your regular Bud Light. It’s a Light Light Bud Light. Like every beer is like lesser alcohol. Like read up about Utah alcohol rules. They have everything set up for Sundancers so you’re going to be able to get sponsored by your waitress, and you’re going to be able to drink right there. So don’t panic about that. But you can’t get wine at Albertsons. You can’t wine at – you have to go to this little wine shop and it’s down this little back alley, down behind Main Street and you gotta go way down there to get the wine, okay. Or bring the wine with you. You can fly with wine. Put it in your suitcase. Like put it inside a ziplock so it doesn’t fuck all your clothes up. Oh I’m just gonna stock up and drink in my room. You’re not going to drink in your room. You’re going to be out at the parties. You’re going to be out at Sundance. You’re going to be seeing a movie. You’re going to be at a panel (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND). You’re going to be hanging at the filmmakers lodge, you’re going to be running around on these busses and shuttles that will take you all around the city. And you are going to be meeting filmmakers and seeing movies (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND)! That is what Sundance is all about. So the other thing you have to build into your budget is the fact that its cold, you finish an event at 2am, and where you live is like up 800 flights of stairs. And you take a taxi. (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND) Alright, you’re going to be taking taxis. (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND). Alright there is another element that not everybody has to budget for at Sundance, but there are a lot of people doing drugs at Sundance. (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND).
ANNOTATION: “Just say no” – Nancy Reagan
Cyn: And if you plan to do drugs at Sundance then you better find a hook up and you better build that cost into your budget. Okay. I’m not advocating – this is not advocation and I’ve been to Sundance I’ve seen – I’ve had a – I saw a mountain of cocaine shaped like a matterhorn with goats and shit on it. What to pack. What do we pack. What do I pack to go to Sundance? What do you pack? Okay. You’re going to need a good coat. It’s fucking cold up there, okay. It’s cold. You need a winter coat. LA people a winter coat – no a winter coat. Okay. You’re going to be going inside, and then you’re going outside. Inside, outside, like that. It’s like that type of environment. You’re in a hot shuttle, and then you’re out in the cold. Ahhh. You know like you feel normal and then you – okay everybody knows this cold weather, unless you live under a rock. People understand how to deal with cold weather. You need hats, you need gloves, you need scarves, you need… Like the wind gets bad. There’s a lot of people when they go to Sundance they plan a dual trip and also go skiing. Okay this is an Olympic ski area that you’re going to be entering.
ANNOTATION: Bobsled, Luge, Skijump at the Olympic Park!! http://www.parkcityactivities.info/park-city-tours.htm
Cyn: So dress like you’re going skiing. Because that’s – you’re fucking going skiing. You’re going skiing, and it’s like – they actually have a Bobsled run. An official Olympic bobsled run. You can pay and do that. (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND) (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND). Don’t do it drunk. Don’t do it drunk! Take some long underwear. You need like long johns under your pants. Thermal underwear. Take some thermal underwear there. It’s cold, you’re going to be cold. If you lose your gloves, get on the shuttle, get on the buses and get off at Albertsons. There’s a sporting good store there. They’re probably going to gouge you. (DOLLAR SIGN SOUND). You’re going here, you’re going there. You like – you dropped your glove. I mean everybody that’s been to Sundance everybody’s seen that one glove in the mud and you stepped on it. And you kept going and you’re like, oh, glad that’s not my glove. You know, I mean girls I don’t have to tell you, you’re going to be taking extra pairs cause you need one to match this jacket and one for these boots, I know.
ANNOTATION: eWaitlist
Cyn: Okay, it’s back. eWaitlist. This is the app that you need to get to survive Sundance. If you want to see a movie, you – on any internet capable device you can get a waitlist number. You never have to wait in the cold again. Back in the old days you got in line and you waited. People would sit, save your space, come back. None of this anymore. All you need is your iPhone or an internet capable device to get this app. eWaitlist.
TITLE: Variety’s 25 Must See Movies at Sundance 2015.
Being Evel
Best of Enemies
The Bronze
Chuck Norris vs. Communism
The D Train
Drunk Stoned Brilliant
Dead: The Story of the National Lampoon
The End of the Tour
Experimenter
Finders Keepers
Fresh Dressed
I Am Michael
I Smile Back
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
Listen to me Marlon
Mississippi Grand
Mistress America
The Nightmare
Sleeping with Other People
Slow West
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Tig
Welcome to Leith
What Happened, Miss Simone
Z for Zachariah
Cyn: They bring in people from South America. They bring in so many people for the Sundance Film Festival I don’t even understand where they put everybody. It’s like this sleepy little village up in the mountains. And I don’t even know how they fit everybody in.
ANNOTATION: Go to www.sundance.org/festival for news and stories on the films you’ll want to see throughout the year!
Cyn: You’re going to Sundance! Get excited because you’re about to have one of the best experiences of your life. Okay, so let’s talk about parties. Let’s talk about events. All these parties they are guest list parties. Everything at Sundance are lists and badges and lists and badges. That being said there are still ways – sometimes there are wristbands, the stamp transfer. You don’t – you don’t – you don’t really want to get caught doing these kinds of things. But if you know someone who knows someone call that person. The person you know. Call that person. Yo, get me on that list I’m over here in Park City, you’re over there in New York, maaaaah, you’re over there in LA. Get me on the list. Get on a list, otherwise you’re going to be like I’m waiting in line with this app and like I didn’t get into this movie.
ANNOTATION: Harry O’s is now called Park City Live – it is a large venue on Main Street for concerts and events during Sundance
Cyn: Harry O’s. Harry O’s is like – if you can’t get into a Variety party if you can’t get someone who knows someone who knows someone that can get you on the list to get into like a cooler party. You can try to get into Harry O’s. Like Harry O’s is still – like they have special event parties and – but I saw Snoop Dogg there. Like you can get- if you can get – go see – go there, go there, go there. Let’s talk about the venues of Sundance. Eccles. No if you – if you want to see a premiere at Eccles – fuck yeah! Dude, like seeing a premiere at Eccles is like thrilling. It’s so thrilling. Like if there’s an actor you like who’s in a movie there, a filmmaker you’ve been looking forward to their next film. Get into the premiere. It’s a giant auditorium that can fit anybody that wants to see Werner Hertzog’s new film. You know. The Yarrow. The Yarrow’s cool. If you go – if you see a movie at the Yarrow, okay you gotta get there early and sit by the fire cause you never know who you’re going to meet. The Egyptian is best for seeing the midnight horror film. Like they always put the best midnight horror films there. Like I saw Saw there. The Holiday Village Cinema, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. There’s like three of them or something. Like, those are decent screens, they’ve got good seats. And you never know, like one time – I – ah I saw Werner Hertzog having a conversation with Tobey MacGuire at that theater so. The Library. The seats like suck. But I heard they put new seats in. Then there’s the Prospector’s Square. The newer theaters, the Redstone 1, 2 and 7. And then the Mark and the New Frontier. Ah Holiday Village 1, 2, 3, and 4. Um, The Temple Theater and then you want- you want to get acquainted with the Filmmakers Lounge. The Filmmakers Lounge is on Main Street. You wanna get your map and locate that little location.
TITLE: Dennis Hopper 1936-2010
ANNOTATION: Dennis Hopper
ANNOTATION: Charlize Theron
ANNOTATION: Nick Stahl
ANNOTATION: Anna Sophia Robb
TITLE: Sundance 2008 “Sleepwalking”
Dennis Hopper: Yeah.
Audience Member: You’ve been making movies for over 60 years, how does it feel to get so much ass on screen!
CROWD LAUGHS
Dennis Hopper: I’ve got a big family that I have to – you know – I have to go make money for. No I ah – I ah – You know I love my work, you know. And ah – it was wonderful to have a really – as small a part as it was – but a wonderful part in a really – you know – terrific script.
AMISH BUDDHA FILMWORKS
Cyn VO: Join me next week for another episode of In Like Cyn.
OUTRO
Cyn: Hey everybody! Thanks for watching the video. Subscribe. All the social media links here are down below. Click subscribe! Look for a new In Like Cyn every Thursday.
END OF TRANSCRIPT
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