I write about the festivals themselves and I leave the critique of the films to the experts (the nerds who sit in the theater all day and write big reviews that we cannot understand). Lets talk people and the mood of Sundance.
OK enough of the bitching that it’s all about Hollywood releases and not what it used to be. Sundance has become a huge success. This place is happening. Filmmakers from all over the world come here to look, talk, share and some actually learn. I felt that people were optimistic about the future. More young people here, except for me, and that’s a good thing. More room in the restaurants. Good for being able to talk to strangers about film, bad for the owners and the cabbies. Back to the bitching. It seems that if your film gets in, it’s a well run festival. And if not, it sucks. This festival works. It does what it was designed to do. It gives us a sense of the direction that movies, documentaries, shorts, indies are all going in both creativity and production. Is big in? Or is small? People or style? Reality or fantasy? Comedy or tragedy? Or maybe everything at once. This year I felt like it was everything at once.
The mood was a kind of cynical hope for the industry. The movies themselves also reflected this mood. “When all around us sucks, entertain me.” This festival also does what is most important. It brings filmmakers together in one town to actually talk and stop texting. Well not everyone. I sat next to one woman who was texting the entire movie under her cheap fur coat. Let’s outlaw bluetooths and texting for a 24-hour period and see who’s left standing. Less parties, money I guess. More real people dramas and documentaries. Better live music and the food is always good. The women at the box office are amazing. And the Ray-Ban ladies made my day, but not my night.
The weather was too hot. The skiing (don’t let Chris Cooney read this) was wet but fun. Not as many drunks, but I am going to bed earlier. Not a big ad presence week two. I may be in the minority but we need to be here. The lines between films and advertising are shrinking and because both reflect the mood of a country and a culture, we need to share more and not just when we have something showing here. My favorites: Humpday, about two straight guys making a porn (sounds like me and Ferg), Afghan Star, In the Loop, Pulse, Heart of Stone, and Helen.
We need to step outside our own whiney hiney ad world and see what’s going on. We keep talking about the new and nobody is doing it. We want to expand advertising. The only way to do that is to get out of advertising and go interact with other forms of entertainment: music, film, sports, sex. Yeah money’s tight in the film business just like in the ad world. But shooting tight with a good story is still a great formula for success. Movies about people. Tight shots of faces. No more than two or three people in a scene. Limited locations. Documentary-style cinematography. Smaller crews. Performance and story are driving the bus. Real life situations. I feel this is the direction we are also moving into in ad land. Enough texting and cross consultants. Think man, think.
The film business needs Sundance.
[Tom Mooney is president of N.Y.-based production house Moon.]
Oscar Nominees Delve Into The Art Of Editing At ACE Session
You couldn’t miss Sean Baker at this past Sunday’s Oscar ceremony where he won for Best Picture, Directing, Original Screenplay and Editing on the strength of Anora. However, earlier that weekend he was in transit from the Cesar Awards in Paris and thus couldn’t attend the American Cinema Editors (ACE) 25th annual panel of Academy Award-nominated film editors held at the Regal LA Live Auditorium on Saturday (3/1) in Los Angeles. While the eventual Oscar winner in the editing category was missed by those who turned out for the ACE “Invisible Art, Visible Artists” session, three of Baker’s fellow nominees were on hand--Dávid Jancsó, HSE for The Brutalist; Nick Emerson for Conclave; and Myron Kerstein, ACE for Wicked. Additionally, Juliette Welfling, who couldn’t appear in person due to the Cesar Awards, was present via an earlier recorded video interview to discuss her work on Emilia Pérez. The interview was conducted by ACE president and editor Sabrina Plisco, ACE who also moderated the live panel discussion. Kerstein said that he was the beneficiary of brilliant and generous collaborators, citing, among others, director Jon M. Chu, cinematographer Alice Brooks, and visual effects supervisor Pablo Helman. The editor added it always helps to have stellar acting performances, noting that hearing Cynthia Erivo, for example, sing live was a revelation. Kerstein recalled meeting Chu some eight years ago on a “blind Skype date” and it was an instant “bromance”--which began on Crazy Rich Asians, and then continued on such projects as the streaming series Home Before Dark and the feature In The Heights. Kerstein observed that Chu is expert in providing collaborators with... Read More