Legends of Sundance

What's it worth to be a charter member of the Sundance club?

by Jennifer M. Wood | Published February 4, 2004

Kramer: Where I am now and where I was before the festival is light years apart.

Like the legend of Bigfoot, the stories surrounding the Sundance Film Festival—and the chosen few moviemakers whose work gets to screen there each year—are mythical and widespread. But how does one go about separating fact from fiction when it relates to the country’s most important independent film event? Six festival veterans recently spoke with us about where they’ve gone after Park City—and how their status as “Sundance alumni” has affected them on their journey to success.

Wayne Kramer
Not a Sundance Virgin Anymore

Having the cooler premiere at Sundance was the best thing that could have ever happened to the film—and my career. Literally overnight, people were asking ‘Who is Wayne Kramer?’ and ‘How can we get an early look at his film?’ With the Sundance stamp of approval as one of the 16 coveted filmmakers who had a Dramatic Competition slot, I was suddenly (and finally) on the industry radar.

Even though I had been toiling as a (sometimes-paid) screenwriter for years, nobody really knew who I was. Now I had one of the “hot” movies and the buzz was building.

The Sundance experience itself was exhilarating. The sheer excitement around the opening was something to file away as one of those cherished memories. There were about 600 people waiting outside the theater in the freezing cold, hoping to get a ticket to the screening.

After the first two screenings, the word was already getting out. Distributors were circling and a print was being shuttled around to all the bigwigs in LA. We signed a distribution deal with Lions Gate by the end of the festival’s first weekend. Both The Hollywood Reporter and Variety gave us glowing reviews, and suddenly we were a success story. At the same time, I was being courted by all the major agencies, being invited to all the cool parties and getting the hard sell. I met Robert Newman, the best director’s agent in the business (in my opinion), at the ICM party, and we started a dialogue that would lead to me signing with him…

When I got back to LA after the festival, people were starting to see the film around town. I was getting phone calls from studio heads like Sherry Lansing, who loved it (I’m doing my next project with Paramount), and directors and actors I’d admired for years. I get several directing submissions a week these days, and the irony of it is, no one wants me to write anything anymore! Everyone now sees me as a director who can get their project greenlit. Before Sundance, the idea of me suggesting I direct my own work always resulted in that dull-eyed stare that translates to “forget about it; we’ll never get the movie made with you attached.”

It’s almost impossible to put a value on how important the Sundance imprint is on a filmmaker. It’s literally career-making. Without a doubt, it’s the ultimate seal of approval for an emerging director. You will always be considered Sundance alumni, along with the likes of Quentin Tarantino, Bryan Singer, Chris Nolan, Paul Thomas Anderson, Joe Carnahan, etc. For years I longed to be a member of that exclusive club, and now I do have that distinction on my resume. It’s definitely worth its weight in gold.

I know that not every Sundance filmmaker becomes a success story and that success in and of itself in Hollywood is completely ephemeral, but where I am now and where I was before the festival is light years apart… I feel a little pang of envy reading the 2004 Sundance selections, knowing that those competition filmmakers are about to become the toast of the town and how that whole experience is still ahead of them. My advice to them would be to savor it. You’re only a Sundance virgin once!

Kramer wrote and directed The Cooler, at Sundance 2003

Garbus: The festival continues to be an extremely powerful force.

Liz Garbus
Sorry, Sundance Matters

The meaning of success at Sundance? I wish I could be more controversial and say that it really doesn’t matter. But in fact, it does. When The Farm won the Grand Jury Prize there in 1998, it jettisoned the film into the public eye, set the stage for an extremely successful year of festivals and a theatrical run, leading up to the Academy Awards. Of course, as a filmmaker, it really puts you on the map in the way few other festivals can. The festival has been, and continues to be, an extremely powerful force in the world of documentaries.

Garbus directed and produced The Farm: Angola, USA, Sundance 1998; and The Execution of Wanda Jean, Sundance 2002

Keith Gordon
Drinking and Talking in the Early Days

My first time at sundance was back in 1986, with a film I acted in, co-produced and co-wrote (but didn’t direct) called Static. At that time, the festival was called the “USA Festival.” There was very little press or industry hype; you could walk into any screening just before it started. Mostly, it was a lot of filmmakers and film lovers going to each other’s films and sitting up all night drinking and talking.

Nonetheless, soon after our screening there, Jonathan Krane, who ran a company called MCEG, called me to talk about what I wanted to do next. Before long, I had a deal to direct my first film, The Chocolate War. Maybe it would have happened without Sundance, but maybe not. In which case, God knows what I’d be doing now!

Gordon directed A Midnigh Clear, Sundance 2002; Waking the Dead, Sundance, 2000; and The Singing Detective, which screened at Sundance 2003

Gordon: Maybe my directorial debut would have happened without Sundance, but maybe not..

Sandi DuBowski
Sundance Launched My Career

Sundance launched my first feature, Trembling Before G-d, in a way no other festival could have. We had a fantastic audience reaction to our world premiere, outstanding press, and unique events like the first “Shabbat at Sundance” and a “Mormon-Jewish Dialogue on Homo­sexuality.” The film was picked up for a theatrical deal and went on to be supported by so many of the people who were at those Sundance screenings. They are now helping the development of my new projects. Recently, the film opened nationwide and was just released on DVD.

DuBowski directed Trembling Before G-d, Sundance 2001

Mark Decena
Sundance Allowed Me to Do it My Way

I  started making short films because I wanted to reconnect with doing art. After I had two short films in Sundance, I was encouraged to submit a feature-length script for consideration to the Institute’s Filmmaker Labs. Tim Breitbach and I co-wrote Dopamine, and were accepted to the Labs, and from there, were propelled on a four-year journey to bring the film to life.

While at the Labs, we became extremely aware of the diversity of artistic voices that surrounded us. Not only diversity of age, race and sexual orientation, but there were poets, spoken word artists, performance artists, you name it. I will always respect Sundance for that. They have an unwavering resolve to find independent voices amid the pressure to conform. For myself, I made the film I wanted to make—and Sundance gave me the encouragement and the courage to do that.

Decena co-wrote and directed Dopamine, Sundance 2003

Anderson: During those first 10 days I met many people who have since become friends and colleagues.

Brad Anderson
The Hype (and Partying with The Sex Pistols) Made Me Dizzy

I’ve had three films screen at Sundance. My first, The Darien Gap (which I shot on 16mm short ends and Super8 for $45,000 of my own money) screened in competition in 1996 and, more than anything, that experience was my introduction to the independent film community—it was my first festival. We didn’t sell the movie; in fact, it hardly got noticed. Our so-called “publicist” managed to set up a whopping three interviews over 10 days. (She admitted to us that our movie was a hard sell. ‘Why?,’ we asked. Answer: “Because the smart people like it.”)

It was mentioned in Film Comment, which pleased me. Variety seemed to like it. The Hollywood Reporter didn’t even bother to review it. But during those 10 days, I met many people who have since become friends and colleagues. Also, I had virtually no expectations going in, so I had no reason to be disappointed. The fun and excitement of being at Sundance for the first time (I drank beers with Johnny Lydon of the Sex Pistols!) was payback enough.

My second film, Next Stop, Wonderland, screened in 1998. This time we did sell the film to Miramax. The thrilling, but grueling, nature of that experience I look back on now as my crash course in the business and politics of moviemaking. I remember a harrowing 10 days of cutthroat contract negotiations; the background pressure of millions of dollars at stake. I remember feeling dizzy in the epicenter of festival “buzz;” the endless interviews spouting the same mantra; the demands to meet the new owners’ lofty expectations; the jealous, occasionally admiring, often hostile glances of fellow filmmakers passing you by on Main Street...

I left Sundance this time aware that I had fully embarked on a career as a filmmaker.

My most recent experience at Sundance was in 2000, when I premiered Happy Accidents. I felt like a veteran at this point.
I knew the motions, the routines, the rituals of this festival circus. Also, I’ll admit, after my experience with Next Stop, there was a sense of inevitability that we would sell this film after the first screening. And we did, sort of. Paramount Classics bought the movie—and then for reasons unspecified, reneged on the deal a month later. Disheartening, to say the least. But there’s always an upside to any disappointment. I met some agents from Endeavor at a dinner that year who were interested in signing me. They now rep me and have helped me find other projects, like The Machinist, the film I am premiering at this year’s festival. MM

Anderson wrote and directed The Darien Gap, Sundance 1996; Next Stop, Wonderland, Sundance 1998; Happy Accidents, Sundance 2000; The Machinist, Sundance 2004

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