sundance

More Movies, New Models and Getting Picked Up in Park City

I have left the crowded streets of Park City and headed for home. For those tramping along at the Festival until the very end, the experience might begin to compare unfavorably with the Bataan Death March. But my only regret -and this is a tribute to the programming- is the number of films that I couldn’t fit into the time allotted.

Sundance Jury Prizes for Short Filmmaking

Park City, UT –The 2009 Sundance Film Festival announced today the jury prizes in shorts filmmaking based on outstanding achievement and merit. The Sundance Film Festival runs January 15-25, 2009 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance, Utah. Full awards will be announced the evening of January 24th at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival Awards Ceremony at the Park City Racquet Club. Actress Jane Lynch will serve as Master of Ceremonies.

Sundance Supports New Filmmakers

Sundance Institute announced today the first five grant recipients of the STORIES OF CHANGE: SOCIALENTREPRENEURSHIP IN FOCUS THROUGH DOCUMENTARY initiative, a $3 million, three-year partnership with the Skoll Foundation designed to explore the role of film in advancing knowledge about social entrepreneurship. This partnership creates new opportunities for leading social entrepreneurs and outstanding documentary filmmakers to collaborate and to create new projects about the innovative approaches found in both fields. The development and production grant awards announced today support the creation of feature-length independent documentary films that examine social entrepreneurship as an innovative approach to the central challenges of our time.

The YES MEN Fix Sundance’s Humor Deficit

I was especially eager, then, for last night’s premiere of THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD.

U.S. EPA Steps In to Set Florida Water Quality Standards

WASHINGTON, DC, January 21, 2009 (ENS) – In one of the final acts of the Bush administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it will set “water quality standards for nutrients” for all Florida surface waters. The standards will apply to concentrations of the agricultural nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus in state waters. The [...]

Hanoi Environmental Police Seize Tons of Illegal Wildlife Parts

HANOI, Vietnam, January 21, 2009 (ENS) – In their largest-ever seizure of illegally traded wildlife products, Hanoi’s Environmental Police have confiscated more than two metric tons of tiger bones, bear paws and gall bladders, and heaps of bones from various other increasingly rare wild animals. Environmental Police officers began investigating after they stopped a man [...]

My Final Post on Digital Distribution, I Swear

A lot of themes have emerged at Sundance this year. The environment. The economy. Noisy gum-chewers.

Beer O’Clock at the Sundance Channel

There are myriad ways of judging whether a party is a success or not.

Festival Updates Spotlight: Nightlife

Filmmakers, actors, and celebrities speak about the various happenings and emotions that define the collective experience that is the Sundance Film Festival.

Festival Updates Interview: Robert Siegel of BIG FAN

Faith Salie speaks with BIG FAN writer/director Robert Siegel and actors Patton Oswalt, Kevin Corrigan, Sarafina FIore, and Gino Cafarelli. Presented by Honda, The Power of Dreams.

Festival Updates Interview: John Hindman of ARLEN FABER

Faith Salie interviews ARLEN FABER writer/director John Hindman and cast members Jeff Daniels and Lou Taylor Pucci in the Sundance Channel Studio. Presented by Honda, The Power of Dreams.

Festival Updates My Premiere: THE YES MEN

Writers/directors Mike Bonanno’s and Andy Bichlbaum’s THE YES MEN FIX THE WORLD, a film participating in the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Composing some Thoughts on Film Music

Someone once said, “Trying to discuss music is like trying to dance about architecture.” Or maybe it was “Talking about music…,” or perhaps “Writing about music…”

Enclosed Grocery Coolers Could Save Energy for Stores

KANSAS CITY, Missouri, January 20, 2009 (ENS) – Grocery stores typically spend up to 50 percent of their total energy costs on refrigeration, but they may be able to save energy and money by replacing open display coolers with cases that enclose refrigerated air behind glass doors. But would customers be as quick to open [...]

Magnolia Snags HUMPDAY

Magnolia Pictures has spent mid-six figures for worldwide rights to Lynn Shelton’s HUMPDAY. The lo-fi buddy comedy attracted six offers and a protracted bidding war. Film stars Mark Duplass and Joshua Leonard as two straight best friends who decide to film themselves having sex for an art project. Pic preemed Friday in the Sundance Film [...]

Poll: Thousands of Scientists Affirm Human-Caused Global Warming

CHICAGO, Illinois, January 20, 2009 (ENS) – While the bitter cold of President Barack Obama’s Inauguration Day in Washington may seem to contradict the idea that global warming continues, a new survey reveals consensus among scientists about the reality of climate change and its likely cause. The survey of 3,146 earth scientists from around the [...]

Don’t See TYSON or He’ll Get in Trouble

Director James Toback introduces Mike Tyson at a dinner for the documentary, “Tyson,” at the Sundance Film Festival.

Clearly moved by the growing interest in the docu since its Cannes preem, Tyson addressed the diners: “I’m really very humbled. I had no idea it’d get to this magnitude. I was looking forward to selling bootleg DVDs… I told James it might be a foreign movie because of the language I’d be using.”

Open Salon Blog Challenge: New Technology, New Stories

Sundance Channel is excited to partner with Open Salon and Lexus as we solicit your ideas around sustainability and how technological innovation will shape our future. Each week a great post responding to the week’s big question will be picked by Open Salon editors, the author will win $200 and the post will be featured here on sundancechannel.com. So log on to Open Salon now and tell us your ideas!

Elvis Costello and Amazing Guests

I’ll try to keep a lid on the hyperbole here, but I have to say the group of singers and songwriters on this week’s show is quite a collection. Kris Kristofferson, Rosanne Cash, John Mellencamp and Norah Jones – that’s a lot of talent on one stage. Oh, and there’s that Costello character QB’ing the [...]

NO IMPACT MAN has Impact, Man

NO IMPACT MAN “Caffe Ibis is committed to providing you with an unbeatable fresh and full flavored cup while engaging in environmental and socially responsible practices. Caffe Ibis has been designated as a Green Business.” So reads the side of my coffee cup from a Main Street café. Of course, it also says, “Made with [...]

Penises for Lunch at New Frontier

I’m not a fan of film shorts. Too often they’re purposefully abstract and unintentionally amateurish. There are good ones out there, of course, but not enough to justify sitting through a spotty, 90-minute collection of them—especially not when Sundance has so many promising full-length films to offer. But I was already there, so what the hell.

Meet Shana Feste director of THE GREATEST

Meet Shana Feste director of THE GREATEST, an official selection in the Dramatic Competition at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Aldo Leopold Farm Becomes a National Historic Landmark

WASHINGTON, DC, January 19, 2009 (ENS) – The farm of pioneer conservationist Aldo Leopold in Wisconsin has been designated as a National Historic Landmark, in one of the final actions of the outgoing Bush administration. Eight other new National Historic Landmarks were announced Friday, located in Connecticut, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, California, Florida, Illinois, Colorado, and Arizona, [...]

Meet Liz Garbus director of SHOUTING FIRE

Meet Liz Garbus director of SHOUTING FIRE: STORIES FROM THE EDGE OF FREE SPEECH, an official selection in the Documentary Competition at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

AN EDUCATION in Screenwriting

Writers—of fiction especially—are a notoriously independent lot, for obvious reasons. They’re their own bosses, and the only (living) person they have to consult with, artistically speaking, is their editor. So what happens when a novelist crosses over into an intensely collaborative medium like film?

Cede control over hiring, for starters.