The marquee of the Egyptian Theatre promotes the 2020 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Jan. 28, 2020. The 2022 Festival is requiring people attending the festival or Sundance-affiliated events to have received the COVID-19 vaccine. (Photo by Arthur Mola/Invision/AP, File)
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) --
Anyone looking to go to the Sundance Film Festival in Utah next year is going to need more than a badge. All participants must be fully vaccinated too, festival director Tabitha Jackson said Tuesday.
The 2022 Festival is requiring people attending the festival or Sundance-affiliated events to have received the COVID-19 vaccine. That means everyone from volunteers to filmmakers and passholders. More details will follow in the coming months.
Following the largely virtual Sundance earlier this year, organizers are planning to hold in-person events in 2022 with screenings in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, as well as some "satellite" screenings at regional theaters throughout the U.S.
This image released by Hallmark Media shows Hunter King, left, and Tyler Hynes in a scene from "Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story. (Joshua Haines/Hallmark Media via AP)
Two new Christmas TV movies have a Taylor Swift connection that her fans would have no problem decoding.
"Christmas in the Spotlight" debuts Saturday on Lifetime. It stars Jessica Lord as the world's biggest pop star and Laith Wallschleger as a pro football player, who meet and fall in love — not unlike Swift and her boyfriend, Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
"It's clearly inspired by Taylor and Travis, but I don't know them and I don't know what is going on behind the scenes. I only know what's been put out there," said Eirene Tran Donohue, a longtime, devoted fan who jumped at the opportunity to write a script even loosely based on her favorite musician.
She was inspired by the couple's support of each other's accomplishments, particularly Kelce's ease with dating the star despite the glare of the spotlight, adding, "I love the way that he celebrates her."
Tran Donohue wants fellow Swift fans to know she wrote the script with them in mind.
"There are so many Easter eggs," she said of little details added that a Swift fan would pick up on. "I put in as many as I could."
Then, on Nov. 30, Hallmark will air "Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story." Instead of a nod to Swift, it's an ode to family traditions and bonding, like rooting for a sports team. Hallmark's headquarters is also in Kansas City, so it makes sense why the company chose the Chiefs to be highlighted.
In this story, written by Julie Sherman Wolfe, sparks fly when a new employee for the Chiefs organization (Tyler Hynes) meets a woman — played by Hunter King — whose family's dedication to the team goes back generations.
Sherman Wolfe, a San Francisco 49ers fan, said she got the call a week after Super Bowl LVIII, when the Chiefs... Read More
