The commercialmaking community will again be well represented at the annual Sundance Film Festival. Artisans involved in the ad biz will have their work–ranging from shorts to feature-length fare–showcased at the 2006 fest, which will run from January 19-29 in Park City.
However, a new wrinkle in the crossover dynamic bridging spot industry talent and Sundance has emerged this year. Bicoastal/international Moxie Pictures, a commercial production house that has diversified into varied filmmaking forms, has seen one of its branded entertainment endeavors make the grade for screening at Sundance. Moxie partnered with Glamour magazine to produce Reel Moments, a series of five short films based on stories from the magazine’s readers (SHOOT, 12/16/05, p. 4). One of those shorts, Dealbreaker, written and directed by Gwyneth Paltrow and Mary Wigmore, was selected for Sundance’s Short Film Program. Sponsored by Nokia, Dealbreaker stars Arija Bareikis as a woman who is finally able to look beyond superficial flaws when she finds the right man.
Dealbreaker came from a story written by Glamour reader Gail Hildebrandt as part of a contest initiated by the magazine. The competition asked Glamour readers to write a short essay about an event, encounter or moment in their lives that made them victorious, stronger and/or wiser.
Some of Hollywood’s top female talent was recruited for the Reel Moments shorts–four of which are on Glamour.com. Dealbreaker is not yet on that site in that Sundance prohibits Web broadcasts of films being shown at the festival. All five shorts, though, are on a DVD contained in the January issue of Glamour.
Dealbreaker was Paltrow’s first turn behind the camera and her longtime friend Wigmore’s initial narrative directing experience. Julie Drazen edited the short through 89 Editorial, New York.
FEATURE ATTRACTIONS
Among the feature premieres from talent with ties to the spotmaking biz are:
- Thank You For Not Smoking, from director/screenwriter Jason Reitman, who helms spots via Tate USA, Santa Monica. This satirical comedy follows the machinations of Big Tobacco’s chief spokesman who manages “spin” on behalf of cigarettes while trying to remain a positive role model for his 12-year-old son.
- Director/screenwriter Michel Gondry brings The Science of Sleep to Sundance. Gondry’s commercialmaking roost is bicoastal/international Partizan. The Science of Sleep centers on a man held captive by the people in his dreams. He tries to wake himself up and take control of his own imaginings.
- Little Miss Sunshine, directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the spot helming duo from Bob Industries, Santa Monica. The film tells the story of a family determined to get their young daughter into the finals of a beauty pageant.
- The Secret Life of Words, directed by Isabel Coixet, whose spotmaking home is Santa Monica-based Carbo Films. In this film from Spain, a nurse forgoes her first holiday in years, instead opting to travel to a remote oil rig where she cares for a man suffering from severe burns.
- The Illusionist, directed by spotmaking veteran Neil Burger. In this film set in Vienna, a magician uses his talents to win the love of a woman far above his social standing.
- Alpha Dog from feature filmmaker Nick Cassavetes, who is repped as a commercials director via Creative Film Management International, New York. This drama is based on the real life of a suburban drug dealer who made the FBI’s Most Wanted List.
- Art School Confidential, directed by Terry Zwigoff, a feature filmmaker who’s handled for spots by Independent Media, Santa Monica. In this movie, an art school student becomes embroiled in a murder that makes him a celebrity.
- Old Joy, directed by Kelly Reichardt. This film is a production of Washington Square Films, a New York-based house with roots in commercialmaking. Washington Square Films’ spot director Peter Sillen served as DP on the movie, which is an account of two old friends who reunite for a camping trip that takes them through a series of emotional and spiritual discoveries.
- Additionally, Washington Square Films’ newly formed WSF Independent Film Sales Division will be representing two films slated for Sundance screening: Flannel Pajamas written and directed by Jeff Lipsky; and Salvage, a thriller co-directed by Joshua and Jeffrey Crook.
SHORT TAKES
Returning to the shorts leg of Sundance, 73 films were selected from a total of 4,327 short submissions. In addition to the aforementioned Dealbreaker, the Sundance shorts that commercialmaking artisans were involved in include:
- An animation film, At The Quinte Hotel, directed by Bruce Alcock of Global Mechanic, Vancouver, B.C., and Boston. This animated version of the Al Purdy poem features a man who waxes on about various topics, including beer, in a small-town basement tavern. Alcock directs commercials via Global Mechanic.
- Aruba, helmed by Hubert Davis, who directs spots via Toronto-based Untitled’s Runt division. The film tells the story of a young boy who uses his imagination to escape a home life marked by domestic violence and drug abuse.
- Losing Lusk, directed by Vance Malone, who helms spots via Food Chain Films, Portland, Ore. The short focuses on a young man who leaves the small town of Lusk, Wyoming.
- Bugcrush, directed by Carter Smith whose spotmaking roost is bicoastal Park Pictures. The film centers on a high school loner who is led by a “friend” along a sinister, destructive path. The short was edited by Holle Singer, a partner at Consulate, New York.
- Gopher Broke, an Oscar-nominated animation short, directed by Jeff Fowler via Blur Studio, a Venice-based CGI/animation house active in spots.
- Antonio’s Breakfast, directed by Daniel Mulloy, is about a young man and his friends trying to accommodate a father’s needs. The short was edited by Dan Robinson of Cut+Run, London.
- And A Supermarket Love Song, directed by Daniel Outram. In this short, a teenaged community service volunteer takes an elderly man to the supermarket. Again the editor was Cut+Run’s Robinson.
