PARK CITY, Utah — Every year, Hollywood takes over the Sundance Film Festival. But this time around, Houston has a big presence, too.
At theater venues and on the frigid streets, where nighttime temperatures have hovered around zero, we have run into Houston movie buffs, producers and financiers who have made the festival their home-away-from-home over the past week.
Every year, Hollywood takes over the Sundance Film Festival. But this time around, Houston has a big presence, too.
In Houston, Jerri Moore is known as a designer whose collections have graced the Fashion Houston runway the past two years. But Moore is also a film producer who debuted a female buddy comedy, Ass Backwards, starring TV comediennes Casey Wilson (Happy Endings) and June Diane Raphael (Whitney), Monday night at the historic Egyptian Theater.
"Before I started designing dresses, I was producing and it was always my first love. I had to put it on the back burner when my designing took off. Now the films are taking off and I'm switching gears again. I'm loving it all and am having a chance to also do costume designing for the films — best of both worlds," Moore said.
Thought-provoking documentaries
We struck up a conversation with Jay Sears and Debbie McLeod while waiting in line to see After Tiller, a thought-provoking documentary about the handful of doctors who perform late-term abortions in the United States. Sears and McLeod are members of Impact Partners, a national non-profit that finances independent films that address pressing social issues.
They have provided financing for Who is Dayani Cristal?, a documentary that examines the issue of immigration as actor Gael Garcia Bernal searches for the backstory of an unidentified Latino man whose decomposing body is found in the Arizona desert, and American Promise, a provocative look at education through the experiences of two families.
"These are our first documentary films to fund, so we are excited to be in attendance at the premieres," Sears said.
They also provided in-kind support for Anita, a documentary tracing the life of law professor Anita Hill since she accused Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of sexual harassment 20 years ago.
"These are our first documentary films to fund, so we are excited to be in attendance at the premieres," Sears said.
All three documentaries promise to be more widely seen as Dayani Cristal has been acquired by the international distribution start-up Mundial, American Promise is set to air on PBS' POV, and several distributors are interested in acquiring Anita.
Class reunion
Nearly every winter for the past eight years, Kristy Bradshaw has rendezvoused with seven classmates from Stanford Graduate School of Business for a long weekend at Sundance. This time was lower-key for Bradshaw, who is expecting.
"Enjoying the nightlife of Sundance isn’t the same nearly six months pregnant! We did enjoy some great films and dinners, though," she said.
"Enjoying the nightlife of Sundance isn’t the same nearly six months pregnant," Bradshaw said.
Among her favorites were the big Sundance hit, Don Jon’s Addiction, written, directed and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and co-starring Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore. Gordon-Levitt portrays a man addicted to porn who is forced to examine the impact this addiction has on his relationships.
Relativity Media purchased the film for $4 million, so expect to see it in theaters later this year.
Birthday celebration
Jackie Fair celebrated her birthday at Sundance with friends Angela Craven and Linda Bell. They enjoyed Fruitvale, a movie that has gotten lots of Sundance buzz, and Mud, starring Matthew McConaughey.
They also dropped in at parties at New York club owner Nur Khan's pop-up club, frequented by actor Bill Pullman, musician Dave Grohl and several New York Yankees players, and the Nikki Beach pop-up club at Skylodge.
"The beauty and charm of Park City makes you feel like you've stepped into a postcard," Fair said.
They spotted Jennifer Hudson strolling down Main Street, dined alongside Jesse Williams of Grey's Anatomy and attended a panel discussion that featured Anita Hill. They braved the weather that has sometimes hovered in the teens and stood in long lines, but, they agree, it has been well worth it.
"The beauty and charm of Park City makes you feel like you've stepped into a postcard," Fair said. "The streets are bustling with lots of people both young and old; however the glitz and glamour of Hollywood has given way to a laid back (although still stylish) wardrobe of jeans, sweaters, Uggs, beanies and puffer coats. All in all, it's been a wonderful experience; I'll be back for sure."
Houston connections
At the Sundance Press office, we ran into Indie Slate publisher R.D. Walker and editor Maureen Herzog. They write, edit and publish the magazine, which is a leading guide to making, marketing and distributing independent film and TV in Houston.
Ginni Mithoff and Chree Boydstun were spotted enjoying The History of the Eagles, Part I, where band members Don Henley, Glenn Frey, Joe Walsh and Timothy B. Schmit participated in a question and answer session afterwards.
CultureMap contributor Jane Howze and husband John Mann were at venues all over town, as was serious moviegoer Mark Wawro, with Houston Cinema Arts Festival artistic director Richard Herskowitz, Trey Peacock, Chris Bryant, Katie Sammons and Terry Lohrenz.
John and Lynda Irvine and houseguests Ray and Zulay Hankamer, Ron Woods and Patty Hair and Jeff Carlson and Elizabeth Babin, are combining some heavy-duty skiing with Sundance movie-going. (Park City has gotten a lot of snow this season and skiing is excellent.)
Ray Hankamer ran into Stein Eriksen, the director of skiing at the Deer Valley Resort who serves as host of the famous Stein Eriksen Lodge, and shared a story about meeting Eriksen's mother 40 years ago.
Other Houstonians who took in Sundance included Bruce and Carole Bilger, Bill and Sandy Bryan and Bob and Carol Richardson.
Jerri Moore and son, actor Chris Pinkalla, enjoyed the Sundance premiere of Ass Backwards. Moore is a producer of the film.
