Sundance 2012

I was able to check out "Indie Game The movie" which was made from a couple Winnipeg Filmmakers. 
I had an excellent seat! Front row at the corner!
Actually, it turned out ok. I ended up sitting beside Eric Vespe, one of the writers for Ain't It Cool news. After the film, we had a brief conversation about the 2012 Comic-Con. I then went out and congratulated Jamie and Lisanne on their film! The films premieres in February back home---I recommend you attend! 

I went up and down Main Street after the movie and took a few other pictures. I know there are few famous actors here walking round but I keep missing them. For example, while waiting for a shuttle one of the volunteers had told me that Seth Rogan just came by and they got into a brief conversation. I also know Common is around here. And of course Robert Redford is kicking around somewhere too. There are quite a few others but I know I keep missing them.
After going to the Slamdance Filmmaker's Lounge to grab free water, energy bars, and a lot of Monster Drinks, I headed over to the Sundance Filmmakers Lounge and had a coffee. 
They let you sit in the Sundance Filmmakers Lounge except when there are official Sundance Events, where they only let you in if you have a pass.

It was here I overheard one of the filmmakers saying he had worked with Terrence Malik on the Tree Of Life. Pretty interesting stuff. He explained that Terrence Malik takes his time with his movies and really studies/ plans out his shots. Sounds good to me.
I interrupted their conversation and introduced myself. I explained how I came all the way down from Winnipeg to check out the Festival.
We got into conversation and I asked them questions about the industry down here, as they seemed a lot more "in the know" than I was. 
One of the filmmakers, who is based in Denver, explained to me that you can make it a career anywhere in the world and you don't necessarily have to be in LA to do that. He also explained that in LA is a rat-race and sometimes the rats win. Haha.
He was also talking about meeting the infamous Stan Lee at Slamdance (the night I was too arrive--thanks a lot Snow Storm!). The filmmaker explained that he was very impressed on how giving and friendly Stan Lee was, considering his age. The filmmaker said he was just in awe of Stan Lee's energy.

One thing they both said about being a filmmaker, and I firmly agree with this, is that filmmaking is about building up a positive network and community---support others and hopefully they support you in turn. 

Just before I was about to get up and leave one of them says to me "It says something about a filmmaker when they can drive that distance and not be afraid to sleep in their car in order to attend this big festival--it shows passion."
I was taken aback but those words but I definitely appreciated it and said thank you.
Both filmmakers gave me their cards, one gave me a USB with his short films. Now that's a great networking idea.
I said "See you guys next year" and they said 'Have a good trip back home.'.
The filmmakers names were Alan and William.

That's one thing I learned about attending the festival. You certainly don't need to have a film in the festival to be able to come down and enjoy it. It's actually an excellent place to meet filmmakers/ actors from! 

Well, that's all for now. Time to hit the road and head home.

-Roger™