Sundance / Slamdance 2008: Moments

Following is a brief photoblog of some of my occurrences in Park City. Each one of the photos really doesn't have enough narrative to warrant its own post, but as a collective, they're an interesting set of moments.


Ronnie Bronstein & Benny Safdie at Slamdance HQ

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Kent Osborne, Ashley Sabin & David Redmon at the Queer Lounge Party
The Queer Lounge had parties like every night and it was right across the street from our condo, so we had to hit it up. I drank a wee bit too much for that night (Poyser can vouch for that) and did some really, amazingly annoying things that night. Probably the dumbest, was going around poking everyone in the club with a lift ticket pass plastic holder thing... Right. Going around, "Poke! Poke! Poke!" Really though, the only person who seriously seemed upset was the bouncer, who almost threw me out.

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Joe Swanberg at the spa!

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A view of Park City thru some tree branches.
This photo was taken on my way to the Slamdance Sled Off; which I almost missed, because I had to go home and get my jacket. When I got there, I saw all sorts of people sledding down the hill and I just had to try it. I've got a few snippets of video that I may upload at a later date. But I'm really glad I went out and checked it out and was even happier when I found a short cut back to our condo! I could see it from the hill!

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One final sled on the Slamdance banner. Courtesy Slamdance.

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We all survived the Slamdance Sled Off! Courtesy Slamdance.

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T-Shirt and shorts on Main St.! Courtesy David Lowery.
This was taken right outside the condo. I was totally ready to get into the hot tub--so ready that I quickly put my hiking boots on and walked about three blocks to meet up with our friends to hop on in. People were really looking at me funny in the street though!

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The Ghost of Bryan Poyser!
This photo of Bryan was taken in the "VIP Room" of a nifty little condo party we happened upon after, well, some other party we were at. David actually called me with directions and I couldn't understand his voice mail, so I attempted to call him back. Being cold and frustrated, I mashed the wrong button and ended up calling his parents' house... at 1:00am their time! I still haven't apologized to them because I think I want to do it in person. Anyway, the "VIP Room" was really just the bathroom where we all sort of ended up in order to talk to each other. And so we'd be close to our shoes... In the bathtub. Right... Moving on.

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A meditative break from the festival!
I only got to snowboard once while I was at the festival, but I chose to do it during night skiing hours (4:00 to 7:30). It was totally worth it. The night pictures really didn't come out, but it was such a spectacular sight. Although, it was about ten below--plus a wind factor--so the lifts were pretty chilly. And I lost my gloves. But with the London Symphony Orchestra in my ears I seemed to make it through just fine. Oh yeah, I totally caught air on a ramp I didn't mean to jump. And then my board sliced through the snow and it kinda hurt. But everything else was mellow and Zen.

Sundance 2008: Blue Collar Confessions

The Church of the Latter Day Saints affects people in very different ways. Some find solace in its structure and organization. Being told what to do and how to do it gives many people meaning and purpose in an otherwise vapid existence. But it's the other group of people that I find most interesting. Those people who've been raised by practicing Mormons and have broken away for one reason or another.

We checked out of Park City early this morning and caught a cab to Salt Lake City, where we'd spend the afternoon engrossed in history and religious discourse. After getting an earful from an irate hotel desk clerk who thinks the complex should just "shut down during Sundance," we hopped into the taxi. We were exhausted:


Upon reaching our destination, we had a bit of trouble acquiring our hotel room so early in the morning. After a bit of discussion, however, we were able to check in. Bill and a friend of his met up with us and, after sharing a few drunken tales, we immediately left in search of Temple Square.


In the center of Temple Square lies the Salt Lake Temple, the largest Mormon temple in existence. Members of the church must be "recommended" by church authorities to be allowed inside. The official LDS response to this is that the temple is a "sacred" place and therefore it cannot be made public.

Below are an exterior and interior (Bill gives it a thumbs up) shot of the Salt Lake Tabernacle:



The Victorian Gothic Salt Lake City Assembly Hall:


After taking in the sights and chatting it up with local LDS missionaries, we all decided to hit a downtown vegetarian restaurant, Sages Café.


After talking at length with our waiter, we discovered our first alternative viewpoint of LDS. What I find particularly fascinating about the church is all the secret happenings inside the temple. I asked our server about his knowledge of such things and, while he had no personal experience inside the temple, he too had heard similar stories of odd practices. One of the most well-known practices, "Naked Touching," was abolished in 2005.

I was intrigued by our waiter's candor and his willingness to discuss Mormonism so openly and naturally. After bumming around the city for awhile and then seeing the new Zellner Brothers' film, Goliath (I'll post a follow up with pictures and perhaps my reaction to the film later), we decided to hit the hay early and called a taxi.

What began as a normal, monotonous discussion about Sundance and film, turned into a brutal dissection of organized religion--in particular, the Church of LDS. A victim of an abhorrent sexual crime very young in his life, this tormented soul reflected on his experiences--effectively indicting the LDS for all its sins, calling it an "anti-sexual predator." Without getting into all the obscenely graphic details, he basically argued that debasing sexuality and all its naturalness is equally as bad as forcing oneself sexually onto another person.

His logic is flawed and he's incapable of being objective because his emotions are clouded and jaded; but his passion and his need to express his viewpoints are far more important than the specific points he attempted to make. And this is what makes these stories and confessions so vitally important. The bitter contrast I've seen between members and non-members shocked and amazed me today.

An interesting end to the festival, indeed. Tomorrow, I'll be on a plane back to Dallas. While I've immensely enjoyed the Sundance experience, I'm certainly ready to go home. I have a lot of blogging to do!

Slamdance 2008: I Think We're Alone Now

What thoughts enter your mind when you see the above image? If you're on higher ground and have thoughts of marriage and love and all that other mushy stuff, then you might already be in the documentary film, I Think We're Alone Now. The film chronicles two over-obsessed Tiffany fans, who's sole purpose in life (or one of the top three life goals, according to one fan) is to marry the burnt-out pop singer. To get an idea about the nature of the documentary and the people it documents, check out the trailer:



I saw the film several days ago and I've already heard some criticism on the Slamdance grapevine. Several fellow filmmakers seem to think the documentary does less documenting and more exploiting of these two individuals. While I agree the film doesn't necessarily portray them in a positive light, I don't think they themselves portray themselves positively either--at least in the "normal" mainstream light.

Jeff Turner, a victim of Asperger syndrome, is a likable enough guy and I'd totally hang out with him because he's a vessel of knowledge. However, most of this knowledge is dedicated to his pseudo-relationship with Tiffany. He's taken great steps and read many books in an attempt to justify his idea that Tiffany loves him as much as he "loves" her. For example, Tiffany's appearance in Playboy was apparently a silent gesture of love for Jeff.

Towards the end of the documentary, we learn that he's begun a similar fascination with Alyssa Milano. He even thinks she's gone back in time in order to prevent his relationship with Tiffany! Jeff's innocuous attitude and gentle perspective on life really persuades the viewer to fall in love. He's kooky and fascinating and I really adore him and it's the opinion of this reviewer, that he's portrayed fairly and accurately.

Kelly McCormick, however, is really where I believe all the controversy lies. A hermaphrodite, Kelly already has to deal with a great deal of persecution already. She (I say "she" because Kelly's ultimate desire is to fully become a woman) too believes she's destined to be with Tiffany, but for a very different reason. After a bicycle accident that left her in a coma, she claims she had a vision of a woman who looked just like Tiffany (even though she'd never seen the pop star, nor heard of her) surrounded by a white light and all the other normal comatose visions people claim to have. This vision has thrown her into a tailspin of mental anguish and depression every day she's not with her love. At one point she really breaks down and while I did not feel it was appropriate to laugh as some did, it did disturb me a great deal.

A documentary, in order to stay true to its form, must be unbiased and objective about its subject(s). In this case, the documentarian, Sean Donnelly (this is his first feature film), does just that. He shows these people for who they are and they're more than happy to display themselves. Whether you like them or not, or feel sorry or pity for them, the fact of the matter remains: this documentary is a) true to its form and b) interesting.

For more information on this film, go to: http://ithinkwerealonenow.com/

"Beemer and the Bot" Rough Cut

As promised, here's a link to Clay's rough cut of Kiddo! Episode Twenty-Five: "Beemer and the Bot."



I've already blogged about the shoot. Clay's also got a new blog and he's also posted about the shoot here, here, here, here, and here! Hmmmmm... Methinks Clay be bored, now that David and Adam are away!

Sundance 2008: New Frontiers

The last two days have been chock full of film and art. This post is about the art because I just experienced one of the most amazing live music and art shows I've ever seen at the Sundance New Frontiers exhibit. Brent Green, a self-taught animator and filmmaker, regaled us by screening five of his short films, with the band Califone providing a most enjoyable soundtrack accompanied by his moving spoken word. He's titled it: "God Builds Like Frank Lloyd Wright: Brent Green and Califone." I was so compelled by the exhibition that I failed to snap any photos of the event. However, I checked out Brent's website and found he'd posted a live show on YouTUBE:



Brent Green's brooding imagery and oftentimes macabre narration, mixed with musical discord and a hardened voice is chilling to the eyes and ears. At the same time, he remains hopeful and calm. As Paulina Hollers concludes, Brent declares, "The world is beautiful and I can't believe that we are always forgetting that."

Perhaps Brent will post something from Sundance as well. He's also got all of the non-live versions of the animated videos posted on his website. But if you get the chance to see it live, it's certainly beyond comparison.

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The New Frontiers exhibit was host to some incredible artworks as well with its multimedia installation, focusing on the moving image. Here are some of my favorites:



The lighting in the above installation constantly changes, as it reflects upon a plethora of empty water bottles. The plastic illuminates yellows and blues and reds. The above picture shows only a fraction of the total number of bottles used.



The above installation consists of many pieces of wood which represented digital pixels. As an object or person moves into frame, a camera takes its image and the wooden pieces move to shape it. Although I didn't touch the wood, I was interested in its tactile texture.

It's organic nature, juxtaposed with the image below, made for an interesting contrast. This particular image uses very much the same technology, but chooses a much different interface. Instead of the organic, three-dimensional aspect of the circle of wooden "pixels," this image literally translates the image into pixels on a screen. If you look carefully, you can see it's outlined me accurately--down to the folds in my jeans, jacket and scarf.



Both of the latter two installations were created by Daniel Rozin. For more information about his and the other artworks, check out the descriptions from Sundance.

Sundance / Slamdance 2008 Day Two

A staple of the Sundance Film Festival, the Mary G. Steiner Egyptian Theatre, has been a venue for festival screenings for almost as long as the festival has been active.

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David admiring his poster for A CATALOG OF ANTICIPATIONS, premiering Saturday and playing again on Monday. David forgot to bring tacks so he found a free one on the board and I happened on one in the snow.

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Star Struck Update!
Colin Farrell and George A. Romero were both spotted, entourages in tow, walking down Main St. earlier this morning. No pictures because I'm not that cheeeeezy. Later in the evening, Ian Ziering from Beverly Hills 90210 took in a bit of pizza at the Moose Head Grill!

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It's always a disappointing omen when your first film of a festival sours any desire to watch anything else that day. I won't mention the film because I really don't care to review it.

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The evening activities included me enjoying a rare buffalo burger at the Moose Head Lodge and filing into a packed crowd of talented filmmakers at the Zellner Brothers Goliath Pre-Screening party. After about an hour, the entire city-block blacked out, yet the liquor service didn't skip a beat.

Finally, David and I joined Joe Swanberg (HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS) for a long trek to his condo, where we also found Ronnie Bronstein (FROWNLAND) and Benny Safdie, who has a short playing in the same block as David's: The Story of Charles Riverbank. A wide variety of subjects were discussed: the Sundance experience, upcoming films, and The Room, among other things. Joe and Ronnie are here filming their experiences of the film festival in association with Spout.com. Check out their offbeat coverage of the festival.

Sundance / Slamdance 2008 Day One

Me, David Lowery (A CATALOG OF ANTICIPATIONS) and Toby Halbrooks (former member of The Polyphonic Spree) headed to Park City, Utah early, Thursday morning to the airport, only to discover our flight had been delayed an hour. After finally meeting our destination, we met up with fellow filmmaker Michael Tully (SILVER JEW) and made our dissent into Park City for the Sundance / Slamdance festivities.


After dropping Michael off, we met up with Bill Sebastian (MIDLOTHIA) at his condo. After a bit of catching up, we decided to try out the Good Karma restaurant just around the corner. I had the Tandoori Lamb Kebab and loved it.


After Bill and Toby posed for this picture, David tried to murder me with a table knife:



After drinking a bit of whiskey, me and David went to the Slamdance opening night party (first picture above), which was actually fairly lame. Given the fact that we really knew no one else in the festival, it felt like a typical night club gathering. David left early and I stuck around for a bit and mingled with some fellow filmmakers. Eventually I left and took a picture of a moose and the streets before I caught a bus to Bill's condo.





After shuttling back to the condo, I drank another glass of whiskey and sat down to blog about tonight's events. Not a whole lot happened tonight, but I'm really excited about the upcoming week: films, snowboarding, mingling and partying! And I'll keep you all posted as I make my way through the festival.

Finally, David wanted me to let you all know that his ability to blog is temporarily disabled. Just as soon as he's capable, he'll share his own experiences of whatever he feels like. But for right now, he's quietly sleeping like a baby a mere ten feet from me. Speaking of which... I'm out. Goodnight!

Kiddo! Episode Twenty-Five: "Beemer and the Bot"

Lynus Turcot, star of the old TV show, "Beemer and the Bot" (I think they still play this on the Sci-Fi Channel from time-to-time) is pictured above with me, playing CREEPY OLDER NERD (who I've affectionately named "Dwayne" after a conversation about "The Rock" with Clay and Barak) in Kiddo! at the Dallas Comic Con today.

This first day of shooting only occurred this early because of the comic book convention schedule--the rest of the shoot is slated for early March, immediately following St. Nick. The cast so far is fantastic. The only thing that went wrong today was the fact that I was nearly an hour late!

I'll talk more about the film as we get closer to principle photography and I'll post some production stills, if they become available, when I get them.

Yen's dog, Tanner, says:

Obviously, Tanner's a bit upset; and I'm sure you are too. But I assure you, I haven't not been blogging for any decent reason, other than the fact that there's really been nothing to blog about. Wait. That's not good, is it? Oh well. Really, I've just been quite busy with all sorts of fun things... Like taxes and...Taxes! Yay!

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However, I certainly haven't been neglecting my film endeavors! As you can see, from the above picture, I'm really looking forward to hitting up a comic convention where I get to play CREEPY OLDER NERD for a film I'm producing for my friend, Clay!

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As far as St. Nick is concerned, this may be a bit pre-mature, but after David forwarded me this still photograph of the house we're planning on using for the film, I simply had to post it. It's utterly magnificent and lovely, isn't it?!

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Other than that, I'm really excited about hitting the slopes in Park City, drinking loads of beers and Gin on Main St., and maybe--just maybe--catching a film, or two, at Sundance.

Alright then! I should have some stills to post when we're finished with the Sunday shoot--so come back for more!

Let's Go Exploring!

It's been twelve years since Bill Watterson published his final Calvin and Hobbes comic strip. The brilliant strip about a boy and his stuffed tiger that is alive, Calvin and Hobbes will always be an inspiration to explore new and unconquered territories. It teaches us to follow our creative instincts and allow ourselves the freedom to truly live!

As it's been twelve years since the retirement of the comic strip, I was a twelve-year-old kid when I bought my first Calvin and Hobbes anthology, Attack of the Deranged Mutant Killer Monster Snow Goons. I remember reading the strip for a long time before in the Sunday paper and felt a strong connection to Calvin. I longed to live his and Hobbes' adventures.

On my fifteenth birthday, November 9th, 1995, I remember reading Watterson's statement--that he was going to retire Calvin and Hobbes at the end of the year. That December he published the final comic strip. And what a way to bring in the new year! Every few years I think back to this particular strip--I'll see it in print somewhere, or someone blogs about it, or whatever--and it always puts a smile on my face.

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On a related note, David and I went and explored a ranch we'll be using in St. Nick, owned by a friend of mine the other day. Along with prospecting the land for great shots, we made friends with the cows, the buffalo, and the horses--particularly an overzealous glass-eyed horse with a propensity for biting (my wool sweater, David's sport jacket, my SUV, etc.).





The ranch is located in Valley View, TX, just north of Sanger, and we hope to shoot there for several days.

St. Nick is inspired, in part, by a series of Calvin and Hobbes comic strips featured in the anthology, Yukon Ho! The titular strips feature Calvin and Hobbes running away from home, in an effort to free themselves from the constraints of parental control and its silly family rules. They choose the Yukon where they can sled all day and make friends with wild animals. That being said, the trip is short-lived due to the fact that Hobbes consumes the only two sandwiches Calvin bothered to pack. From "The Yukon Song":

Oh, what a life! we cannot wait,
To be in that arctic land,
Where we'll be masters of our fate,
And lead a life that's grand!

No more of parental rules!
We're heading for some snow!
Good riddance to those grown-up-ghouls!
We're leaving! Yukon Ho!

"A new year... A fresh clean start!"