In asking others to reflect on the career and contributions of production veteran Chuck Sloan, who passed away last month at the age of 71, I found myself hearkening back to when I first got to know Chuck in 1981 when he and director/cameraman Eric Saarinen teamed to form Plum Productions, beginning what was to be a successful 26-year company run.
I knew Chuck only by reputation at his previous roosts, The Film Consortium and prior to that Wakeford/Orloff. I remember finding it curious that after serving at these two major companies with full-service operations, Chuck was opening a small boutique in rather modest trappings, a converted garage space in Los Angeles.
Yet that initial impression melted away when I saw the enthusiasm he had for the venture and the promising early spotmaking exploits of Saarinen. Yes, the production house ambience was unassuming, but you couldn’t help walking away with the feeling that Plum was destined to be a player and that Chuck would help steer Saarinen to stardom. Over the years, I’ve been at countless interview sessions with execs launching companies but I can only recall a handful of times knowing for sure that an upstart shop would go on to prominence. It’s a feeling that goes beyond educated guesswork and analytical insight. Plum was one of those instances.
It was good for a chuckle when Plum was deemed an overnight success by some when the classic Saarinen-directed Jeep “Snow Covered” commercial won the Grand Prix at the Cannes International Advertising Festival in ’94. By this time, Plum was ensconced in much nicer Santa Monica quarters but Chuck struck me as remarkably the same as when I first met him in that quasi-office garage space. He was straight forward, unassuming yet opinionated and forceful when certain issues both in and outside the scope of the commercialmaking business arose. He was unpretentious, had a self-deprecating sense of humor and was a dynamic positive influence on others, qualities that reminded me of the late Frank Tuttle, an exec who was a professional mentor to me and best known for his tenures at Wakeford/Orloff and The Film Tree. I didn’t know until later that Chuck regarded Frank as his mentor, describing him as “a great executive, a man of personal and professional integrity, and he taught me so much.”
That description is strikingly similar to those used to characterize Chuck by his colleagues upon his recent passing (SHOOT, 4/15). It’s amazing to look back to see how many careers he positively influenced both within Plum and for assorted others outside of the company.
Shelby Sexton, partner/executive producer at Wild Plum, a production house that emerged after Plum’s closure in ’07, may have summed up Chuck’s sense of people best as she looked back at her big career break. Sexton had started in the business right out of college as a receptionist at Plum. “A year later one of the executive producers was leaving the company,” she recalled. “Chuck said ‘I’m going to make you the next executive producer.’ Chuck was the kind of guy who saw things in people. He saw something in me that I didn’t even see in myself at the time.”
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More