Five Sundance Stories that Celebrate Park City
Remember Tim Robbins’ studio exec character Griffin Mill in The Player and his line, “See you in Park City!” What will we say starting in 2027?
While the first half of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival is wrapping, I remember my thirty years as a Sundance attendee going back to 1995. My boots-on-the-ground streak is second only to that of festival director and my former indieWIRE editor Eugene Hernandez.
This year, a vibe of uncertainty hangs over the film premieres and celebrity photo studios. Following up on their 2024 announcement to leave Park City, Utah, after their 13-year contract ends in 2026, Sundance Festival leadership will decide between three location finalists, nearby Salt Lake City, Boulder, Colorado, and Cincinnati, Ohio.
Ask any agent, filmmaker, publicist, or journalist at Sundance; they’ll agree that Park City is a grind, especially during the festival’s opening weekend. Depending on how long you’ve been waiting for a festival shuttle, you’ll say Park City gridlock is part of the Sundance charm, or you’ll agree that Sundance Festival leadership needs to close out its Park City chapter and relocate to a high-functioning environment.
Enjoy the snowy Wasatch Mountains while you can. Instead of predictions regarding the breakout film with the best chances at a Jury Prize, Sundance attendees are betting on the festival’s future locale.
Whether in Park City or abroad, I’m following the inspirational storytelling projects of Sundance 2025 and remembering my thirty Years of Sundance. Check out my five stories from Thirty Years of Sundance to capture the Sundance spirit and the Park City vibe.
A Critic Becomes a New York Post Story.
Movie fans can find my Sundance reviews in indieWire, Boxoffice, and other trades. My 2007 review of Deborah Kampmeier’s Southern coming-of-age drama Hounddog became a New York Post story about a scathing review single-handedly extinguishing a movie’s chance at success. Here’s what I wrote: “Calling filmmaker Deborah Kampmeier’s over-the-top Southern gothic “Hounddog” the “Showgirls” of Sundance is recognizing the much-talked-about adolescent drama as the great, unintentional cult classic in Sundance history…
Critics do not aim to become news stories; sometimes, it happens simply for being clear, concise, and honest.
Is a Slamdance Horror Movie the Next Cloverfield?
My thirty years of reporting on Sundance also includes covering Slamdance, the alternative festival at the top of Main Street.
Following the recommendation of a trusted publicist, I watched a packed midnight screening of director Oren Peli’s no-budget ghosts-in-the-house horror film Paranormal Activity. I predicted box-office success in the first major story on the film for New York Magazine. Later, a documentary crew wanted to know how I knew Paranormal Activity would become a smash. I know what’s scary and when an audience connects with a movie.
Critic Hits Dude
You know how impactful trade reviews can be from my story about the Sundance drama Hounddog. Indie producer and sales agent Jeff “the Dude” Dowd confronted Variety critic John Anderson at a popular hotel restaurant about panning one of his clients’ movies, Dirt! Anderson did not like having breakfast interrupted and landed three punches to Dowd’s face. It turned out to be the best publicity for the movie.
Sundance Smash Walking and Talking and a Smashed Jet Windshield
Filmmaker Nicole Holofcener delivered the Sundance breakout hit Walking and Talking. Still, the festival premiere almost didn’t happen when a bird cracked the windshield of her Delta flight, and the pilot returned the plane to New York City. Holofcener and her producers spent $15,000 on a private plane, making the premiere and igniting her career and the careers of her cast. The story for the early digital-only magazine Turner Entertainment’s Spiv remains one of my favorite Sundance stories.
James Gandolfini Agrees to a Sopranos Movie.
I’m speaking one-on-one with Sopranos star James Gandolfini inside a tent alongside the Town Ski Lift when he shared a commitment and quote heard around the entertainment world. Gandolfini would reunite with creator David Chase on a Sopranos movie. “It would be great to bring everyone back together,” Gandolfini told me. Sadly, Gandolfini would die unexpectedly in Italy soon after Sundance.
There are plenty more published Sundance stories for me to share and new ones to discover at future festivals.
Remember Tim Robbins’ studio exec character Griffin Mill in The Player, and his line, ‘See you in Park City!.”
What will we say starting in 2027? We’ll find out soon. Until then, let’s watch some movies.
