Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS). Pathological effect of high altitude on the human body, caused by exposure to low partial pressure of oxygen at high altitude. Symptoms resemble the flu, carbon monoxide poisoning, or a hangover.
Closely related to AMS is Park City Sickness (PCS). Pathological effect of the Sundance Film Festival on the human body caused by exposure to: 1) Standing in ticket lines at all hours in frigid weather 2) Waiting outside (insert corporate sponsor) lounge, convincing the bouncer you’re on the guest list. 3) Enduring excessive press. 4) Trudging on Main Street loaded down with corporate swag. 5) Over-consumption of indy film. PCS symptoms resemble flu, hangover, nervous tremors, shortness of breath, shortness of temper, voice loss, and inability to drag oneself out of a hotel room.
Emergen-C, Echinacea, copious non-alcoholic fluids, rest, rest, and more rest…but when is there time? Anyone attending will tell you the paramount goal was not just to get into a screening of the most buzzed about film, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, rather to make it through the festival without contracting PCS.
This year was my first time to Sundance with my own film, Goats, which debuted in the Premiere’s program. After 10 years to bringing Goats to life, it was an honor to premiere in the same program alongside luminaries like Spike Lee and Stephen Frears.
I was lucky in the past to avoid PCS, but was even more determined to not let the virus destroy this once-in-a-lifetime experience. High-rolling celeb or average festival goer, the virus doesn’t discriminate. I witnessed Tracy Morgan collapse at an awards dinner before being airlifted to a Provo hospital. Well, that was the rumor. A medevac chopper landing on Main St. is a great visual. My agent arrived full of excitement, only to be reduced to a feverish mess huddled in his hotel room. One of my own cast was seen huffing an oxygen bottle all week.
Here I was, eight hours before my premiere in the thick of it, press, photo shoots, more press. The same five questions over and over. I can’t tell what answer goes to which question anymore. I just finished an on-camera with the editor of Vanity Fair and I’m told I “passed the test!” Wow, I’m glad I didn’t know it was a test. Yet, all I can think is, “Please God, let Goats play well tonight AND don’t let me get PCS.”
Hours later as I wait nervously in the Eccles Theater with festival director John Cooper, who’s generously introducing me, now all I can think of is how to get out of walking out in front of 1,400 people. If only I had PCS! I could pull a Tracy Morgan! Someone else can intro the film, and I’ll be on my way to a hospital in Provo!
Alas PCS never struck. Though Cooper’s introduction sounded like the “wa-wa-wa” of the teacher in Peanuts, I was told it was brief but flattering.
I shuffled to the podium, thanked Cooper, thanked the festival, squinted towards the sea of people, told them that 10 years ago this month I begun work on Goats, and that it was a dream come true to be standing there before them. I took my seat, the house lights dimmed and the film ran. At the first place where the audience was supposed to laugh, they did, loudly.
(Feature filmmaker Christopher Neil is repped for spots and videos by production house Honey Badger.)
L.A. Location Lensing Declines In 2024 Despite Uptick In 4th Quarter
FilmLA, partner film office for the City and County of Los Angeles and other local jurisdictions, has issued an update regarding regional filming activity. Overall production in Greater Los Angeles increased 6.2 percent from October through December 2024 to 5,860 Shoot Days (SD) according to FilmLA’s latest report. Most production types tracked by FilmLA achieved gains in the fourth quarter, except for reality TV, which instead logged its ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline.
The lift across all remaining categories came too late to rescue 2024 from the combined effects of runaway production, industry contraction and slower-than-hoped-for post- strike recovery. With just 23,480 SD filmed on-location in L.A. in 2024, overall annual production finished the year 5.6 percent below the prior year. That made 2024 the second least productive year observed by FilmLA; only 2020, disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, saw lower levels of filming in area communities.
The continuing decline of reality TV production in Los Angeles was among the most disappointing developments of 2024. Down 45.7 percent for the fourth quarter (to 774 SD), the category also finished the year down 45.9 percent (to 3,905 SD), which placed
it 43.1 percent below its five-year category average.
The two brightest spots in FilmLA’s latest report appeared in the feature film and television drama categories. Feature film production increased 82.4 percent in the fourth quarter to 589 SD, a gain analysts attribute to independent film activity. The
California Film & Television Tax Credit Program also played a part, driving 19.2 percent of quarterly category activity. Overall, annual Feature production was up 18.8 percent in 2024, though the... Read More