New York City in Park City

Park City, Utah may be the place to be—but New York City is the place to beat at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. The fest seems to be in a New York state of mind, with 45 projects at this year’s fest either shot in New York or made by New York moviemakers.

“We love shooting films in New York,” says producer Celine Rattray of Plum Pictures. “It really is a great place to make films. For a start, the city is stunning, and has such varied and interesting locations. The crews are great. And so many fantastic actors and filmmakers live here, and want to work here. I think that the state is a haven for creative types because of the buzz and energy in this city. There is never a quiet moment. There is such a variety of people, or ideas. This city makes you want to get things done.”

Rattray is in Park City with two films this year, Craig Lucas’ Birds of America, starring Hilary Swank, and Terry Kinney’s New York-shot Dimished Capacity, starring Matthew Broderick and Alan Alda. Some of this year’s other New York highlights?

—Ari Gold’s Adventures of Power
—Michel Gondry’s Be Kind Rewind, starring Jack Black and Mos Def
—Boaz Yakin’s Death in Love
—Amy Redford’s (daughter of Robert) The Guitar
—Andrew Fleming’s Hamet 2
—James Marsh’s Man on Wire
— Azazel Jacobs’ Momma’s Man
—Ellen Kuras’ Nerakhoon (The Betrayal)
—Steven Sebring’s Patti Smith: Dream of Life
—Carlos Brooks’ Quid Pro Quo/U.S.A.
— Jackie Reem Salloum’s Slingshot Hip Hop
— Nao Bustamante’s Untitled #1 (from the series “Earth People 2507)
—Tom McCarthy’s The Visitor, starring Richard Jenkins and Hiam Abbass
—Jonathan Levine’s The Wackness, startting Josh Peck and Ben Kingsley
—Morgan Spurlock’s Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?