'The Deal' world premiere a success

Wednesday — Well, it all came off without a hitch. Over two years of work on "The Deal" finally paid off last night as we celebrated it's world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The day began under a bright blue, crystal clear sky in Park City with the ground pure white from a fresh snowfall.

Tom Hall and I hung out in the morning discussing the films we had seen before going out to see "Towelhead," a new rather controversial film by writer/director Alan Ball. Alan spent a great deal of time in Sarasota and is best known for his screenplay of "American Beauty" and for creating the HBO series "Six Feet Under."

The film has received mixed reviews, but both Tom and I like it and are relieved since we hope to bring producer Ted Hope into the festival in April. "Towelhead" is a coming-of-age story about a young Arab-American girl with an incredibly dysfunctional upbringing who is sexually abused. Tough subject matter, but that type of dialogue needs to find a voice.

After the screening, I headed back to the condo to rest and get ready for the world premiere screening of the film that I co-produced, "The Deal." By the time I left the condo to meet fellow producer Keri Nakamoto for dinner prior to the film it was snowing hard outside and the temperature had dropped considerably.

Cadillac sent a beautiful Escalade to pick us up with our guests and take us to the screening. It was held at the Eccles, a high school with a large performing arts auditorium that seats more than 1,200 people. The movie has been sold out for two weeks, but I had gotten up at 6 a.m. to wait in line at the box office to see if they had released any more single tickets.
I was about 75th in line when in got to the box office at 7:20 a.m. I asked some filmmakers who were well in front of me to purchase tickets to "The Deal" when they got to the front of the line. They had released 18 tickets and they were all gone before I could purchase any. In fact, they were selling these tickets on Ebay earlier in the week for $200. Unbelievable!!!

All day friends were calling for extra tickets and I had to turn them down. Standing in front of the theater I greeted all of our investors and made sure they had their tickets. They have flown in from Sarasota and Bradenton to see the film and attend the after party. Each one received a red Yarmulke with "The Deal" stitched onto it. It's a running joke in the film.

Former president of the board Neil McCurry walked in and we decided to sit together. It's a great feeling that so many people fly in from Sarasota and Bradenton to support the film. Steven Schachter the writer/director is introduced by Geoffrey Gilmore, director of the Sundance Film Festival, and we are on our way.

The film flies by quickly and I'm proud to see Keri's name as a producer and mine as a co-producer flash on the screen. The audience really seemed to enjoy the film and I'm particularly happy to see our investors names listed in the credits along with a special "thank you" to the Sarasota Film Festival.

Steven and Bill Macy walk out onto the stage and are greeted with a huge ovation. They begin to tell the story of the making of the film and say that it all started in Sarasota at the Sarasota Film Festival. Bill talks of how he had been coming to the festival for years and how each time he was there people had given him cards saying they were interested in investing.

He talked about how he had called me and sent me a script and how I had brought Keri into the project and how she had helped pull so much of the financing together from Sarasota and ultimately how she had helped bring PeachArch in to complete the financing after some of the money had fallen through.

It was a great plug for the Sarasota Film Festival from the stage of one of the biggest and most important festivals in the world and I could not be more proud. Meg Ryan and Jason Ritter joined Bill and Steven on stage and answered a number of questions before being swarmed by press, fans and photographers. Keri and I grabbed a ride back to the Cadillac Lounge where Cadillac hosted the after party for "The Deal."

It's already jammed. I'm pretty low key ... happy, but subdued as if a weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. People seemed to really enjoy the film and I think the investors are really pleased. Bill, Steven, and Jason are giving interviews on the red carpet in front of the step and repeat. Meg had done press earlier in the day and was off to the side. I had the opportunity to speak with her alone earlier in the evening and she could not have been nicer. Everyone remarked how great she looked.

Josh Groban is at the party. I also spoke with him about coming to Sarasota. Very nice guy. His manager hands me a card and they are off. People are discussing Heath Ledger's death, the lack of sales at Sundance, and projects.

Everyone has a project and everyone needs money to finance it. People are dancing now and more and more people have found a way to get inside the party. It's turning into a scene and it's late. Nearly 2:30 a.m. I'm toast and need to leave ... remember, I had gotten up at 6 a.m. to try to get extra tickets. Bed feels good and I'm going to pass on the 8:30 a.m. screening. — Jody Kielbasa

Lots of star sightings at Sundance

Monday — Today was a busy day. I left the condo at 7:30 a.m. to attend an 8:30 a.m. screening of "Smart People" starring Dennis Quaid, Sarah Jessica Parker and Ellen Page. It's a sweet film and one that I hope we can get it for our festival. Then it was on to a screening of "Phoebe in Wonderland" with Felicity Huffman and Elle Fanning . . . a look at a young girl with OCD.

It's 4 p.m. and I'm standing in front of the restaurant Zoom about to enter the Picturehouse party when I see Dr. John Welch, our original president of the festival board of directors, get out of a car in search of the box office. I take him down to the box office so he can pick his tickets up and then get back to the party. Inside I meet up with fellow producer Keri Nakamoto and chat up Peter Levine of the Creative Artists Agency. He is Bill Macy's agent and CAA is repping the film, helping to sell it at the festival.

Peter is also working with us to help bring in some talent to the festival. Since this is the eight or ninth party I have attended in four days, I see the usual suspects that I've talked to at all the other parties. From there it's over to the Heineken Lounge for more sushi and a party that remained a mystery. I never found out what it was for.

When I woke up in the morning it had been snowing outside and a fresh blanket of snow covered everything. The trees were covered with the stuff and everything just sparkles. Now that it's dark outside and there's a full moon, all of the snow is shining and Keri and I are in a shuttle driving up the old mining road to the Stein Erickson Lodge. It's a beautiful mountain resort and we are meeting two producers and two investors in our film who want to discuss other potential projects.

Turns out one of the producers is Matt Battaglia, an old friend from Los Angeles, who I have not seen in 15 years. Matt has been a successful actor who is now turning to producing films. Frank Patterson, the dean of the Florida State University Film School, and Paul Cohen a well-known distributor now join us for a dinner meeting.

The restaurant was full of stars and industry people, with Jodie Foster sitting only a few tables away, Fisher Stevens at the front of the dining room and Adrian Grenier of "Entourage" at another table a few feet away. The food is great, but I'm exhausted . . . it's now 11 p.m. and I've got to try to catch a cab and fight the traffic that is attending the Variety party next door.

I'm annoyed with Variety because I'm usually invited to that party because the Festival spends a fair amount of money with them to advertise and it's a great networking party for industry. Oh well, I'm too tired anyway and have to get some sleep. I have to wake up at 6 a.m. to get in line to try to get a few extra tickets for "The Deal" which will be released at the box office at 8 a.m. — Jody

The unsung heroes of Sundance

Photo above is of projectionist Katie Trainor unloading a reel of 35mm film after a screening at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

Sunday – It’s been a busy weekend of screenings at Sundance; Eleven films in two days and already two more today. Most of the films I’ve seen so far have been documentaries and while they have been decent, three stand out so far: Marina Zenovich’s “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired,” an examination of Polanski’s 1977 conviction for illegal sexual activity with a minor; “American Teen,” which follows a small group of Indiana high school seniors through ups and down of their final year in high school; and a fiction film called “Ballast,” which details a family crisis in the rural Mississippi Delta.

I also ran into a dear friend of mine, Katie Trainor, who comes to Sundance ever year to operate the film projectors. It’s not often you get a look behind the scenes at what makes Sundance tick. With all of the focus on the business of the film industry at this festival, the people who actually make things run are often overlooked. Katie is pretty amazing woman in her own right; a film archivist, film programmer, world-class projectionist and the Director of Operations at the IFC Center in Manhattan, she has seen her share of film festivals.

She attends Sundance every year in order to operate the movie projectors here, bringing world-class presentation to the festival’s various venues. Since most of Sundance’s venues are not traditional movie theaters, the festival spends a huge sum of money to convert non-traditional spaces into movie theaters - a high school auditorium, the Park City Public Library, three enormous conference rooms in various hotels around town and, most surprisingly, the interior of a Racquet Club - all become movie theaters during the 10 days of Sundance.

This is a similar situation to what we face during the Sarasota Film Festival.We bring thousands of dollars of film and video equipment and staff to the festival in order to give the films at the festival the best possible projection, sound and presentation quality. Often the unsung heroes of the film festival circuit, I have been fortunate to work with several projectionists and technical professionals during my time, and Sundance is a great opportunity to say hello and get caught up. I’m off to catch another screening, but I thought it would be nice to give you a sneak peek into the projection booth and to sing the praises of the hard-working professionals who make the whole thing possible. – Tom Hall.

Stars shine at Sundance

Sunday night 11 p.m.

Some highlights today include seeing Mena Suvari in the Cadillac Lounge, Eva Longoria running down the street away from photographers, Colin Furth giving a press interview on a balcony overlooking Main Street and overhearing a manager describe his client as a "South American Brad Pitt only better looking and almost as talented". Met up with SFF board Member Neil McCurry who is in town to attend the screening of “The Deal” and am turning in early tonight to get an early start in the morning. – Jody Kielbasa

Day of missed screenings, more meetings

9 a.m. Sunday morning

Saturday was a long day of missed screenings, meetings, and more meetings capped off by a 10:30 p.m. screening. I left the condo at 9 a.m. to meet up with several other producers of “The Deal” to pick up my credentials and our ticket allotment for the premiere of “The Deal.”

Tickets are scarce at Sundance. Our tickets to “The Deal” were promised out a long time ago. Eighty tickets were doled out among the producers, CAA, Cadillac who is throwing the party and sponsored the film, our investors and guests and potential buyers and distributors. It's not nearly enough. Last week I was part of a lottery that allowed me to purchase four more tickets. It's still not enough. I am receiving e-mails and call every day from longtime friends and associates in the industry requesting tickets to the premiere or to be added to the list for the party in the Cadillac Lounge. The problem is the film was sold out 10 days ago and the party has a capacity of 250 peolple and we are already at 280. It's the norm out here.

All of the people associated with the film are trying to get more tickets to make sure that we take care of everyone and most importantly to make sure that the buyers and distributors get in. The door at the party will be a cluster with everyone claiming that they are on the list, plus one.

I arrived at Festival headquarters in the Park City Marriott and met Michael Prupas and Irene Litinsky, two more producers on “The Deal” who are holding the tickets and credentials for Keri and myself. Steven Schacter, the co-writer and director popped up to say hello and the discussion turned to the articles in the trades that have been discussing that because of the writers’ strike it is a seller's market this year for films. We all hope so. Everyone agreed we need to get more tickets.

I rushed out to make a 10:30 a.m. screening of “The Guitar,” directed by Amy Redford, and even though I was in line 20 minutes early with my press and Industry badge, the film is full and I missed getting in by three people. My next film, “The Wackness,” screens at 1:30 so I headed back to the condo for a little soup when my phone rang and it's Don Most. That's right Donny Most who played Ralph on “Happy Days.”

Don directed a film that was in the second Sarasota Film Festival eight years ago and has submitted a film to us this year. He's in town to support the film “The Great Buck Howard,” with John Malkovich, Colin Hanks, and Tom Hanks. He has a small role opposite Malkovich. We planned to meet later that afternoon for a drink to discuss his film and other projects. I decided that this would be a day of meetings for me rather than screenings and began to call others to set those meetings up.

By 2 p.m. I was at the Butcher's Block having a drink with Mark Burton of IndieVest. Mark brought “Beautiful, Ohio” to Sarasota last year with Chad Lowe and we are discussing the possibility of “Before the Rains,” a film about the Independence movement in INDIA in the 1930s, directed by Santosh Sivan. We also discussed the possibility of Don Cheadle coming for the Festival. He agreeed to follow up with Don's reps later next week and invited me to the IndieVest party later that evening.

I decided to drop into the Cadillac Lounge, a converted storefront, that will serve as the venue for “The Deal” party and is currently hosting a press conference with Stanley Tucci. The place is swimming in swag. Watches, boots, sneakers, makeup, jackets. I'm offered a purse for my wife and some makeup from Sephora. I look longingly at the boots, jackets and watches, but am not feeling the good will vibe from the vendors. I look silly carrying my knapsack and a flowery, print purse fill of makeup out of the lounge, but it's a great way to gain access to other places giving out swag. If they see you carrying some, it can gain you entry.

Then I met at a British pub with the producer of “Battle in Seattle,” starring Charlize Theron and Woody Harrelson and “Numb” with Mary Steenbergen and Matthew Perry. He promises to send me screeners of both films next week and is interested in coming to Sarasota. He believes that he can help bring some of these stars in to support their films and we will continue the discussion after Sundance.

I met Don Most back at the Butcher's Block, but it was too jammed so we walked into the Turning Leaf Lounge, another converted storefront that serves samples of Turning Leaf wine for a $1 entrance fee. It's impossible to find a place to eat or drink without a reservation in advance so it was the best we could do for a meeting place.

Don and I discuss the film he has submitted to the Festival and were interrupted by a fan asking for a photo. Then we discussed the festival and how much it has grown since he came in 2000 and were interrupted by another fan requesting a photo. We talked about the play he directed for me 15 years ago in Los Angeles and we were interrupted by another fan. Don was gracious with all of them. I got a phone call from the PR firm for Heineken that they were throwing a party next door at the Heineken Lounge, a converted sushi restaurant and that I should drop by. While there, I learned that this year they have engaged D.B. Sweeney to represent them for the Heineken Red Star Director's Award. D.B. was in for the second year of the Sarasota Film Festival and we had a small reunion at the party. Sweeney announced the 10 films that participate in this award and Sarasota is one of them. Of course, the party has lots of free sushi and Heineken.

Now, I'm late for the IndieVest party and it's over 2 miles away. Park City is a small, ski resort town with two main arteries that are really, small streets and they are both parking lots full of taxis, SUVs and shuttle busses that are crawling. I decided to walk and I was keeping ahead of all of them. It wasn’t that cold out and 35 minutes later I rolled into the party. I ran into Dan Mirvish of Slamdance again and chatted a little again with Mark Burton. This time I grabbed the hotel shuttle and rushed back to join my fellow producer Keri Nakamoto with two of our investors who were having dinner. Much of the talk centered on the fact that two of our investors who brought friends and needed extra tickets to “The Deal” had bought them on Ebay for $199. Unbeliveable to all of us.

It's now 9:30 p.m. and I excuse myself to take the shuttle back to the theatres to catch a 10:30 screening of “The Merry Gentlemen,” starring Michael Keaton and Kelly MacDonald and directed by Keaton. Keaton plays a hit man who befriends MacDonald. I love this film and hope we can get it. It's 12:15 a.m. when I get out and I have to grab a shuttle back to the condo. I pass people in the dark on their way to other screenings and see the rush line in the tent full of people trying to stay warm as they wait to see if they can get in. I finally make it to the condo at 1 a.m. and am exhausted. Fortunately, I don't have an 8:30 a.m. screening.

Jody

A day of movies, meetings

Friday 2:45 p.m.

Left the condo this morning at 7:45 a.m. to catch my first screening. It was snowing, but not nearly as cold as our first two days here.

Caught the shuttle to the Yarrow, a hotel that houses two makeshift theaters exclusively reserved for press and Industry screenings, to catch the 8:30 a.m. screening of “A Good Day To Be Black and Sexy.” I wanted to see this film as a possibility for a new section of the Sarasota Film Festival that will be attempting to develop new audiences.

The film is set to a ’70s style rhythm and funk beat and chronicles the sex lives of several couples. Next up at 11:30, I duck into the theater next door to watch “The Visitor” directed by Tom McCarthy who won three awards for “The Station Agent” at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. I liked this film a great deal as it follows an economics professor still grieving the loss of his wife who finds his NYC apartment has been taken over by two illegal immigrants, Tarek, a Lebanese man and Zainab from Senegal. He becomes swept up in their lives and it effects a profound change on him.

In between I took a brief meeting with Mike Ryan, a producer and Dan Mirvish, the co-founder of Slamdance, who has a script for my producing partner Keri and I and is looking for financing. We agree to meet up again later in the after to discuss further. — Jody Kielbasa

It's about the films, stupid

While most of the world looks upon the Sundance Film Festival as some sort of luxurious fantasy world, a place that is simultaneously focused on the big business of independent film and the glitz and glamour of celebrity that seems to follow wherever the money trail leads, the reality of the festival is something else entirely. Sundance is a place where film professionals of all stripes mix with the throngs of curiosity seekers, where worlds literally (and often unhappily) collide. As a veteran of Sundance’s almost schizophrenic 10 days (this is my seventh trip to the festival), I’ve learned to side-step the hype and flash in order to focus on the films themselves. Films which, year after year, provide surprise and discovery for those who are interested in the state of American cinema.

And so, while it is easy for star-gazing dreamers to immerse themselves in the fantasy of Sundance as a party crashing, swag-soaked orgy of commercial gluttony, the reality on the ground in Park City is something else entirely; Sundance is work.

The task that I and the innumerable Press and Industry delegates to the festival face each year is unwavering — we crowd onto city buses (the best place to meet new friends and catch up with old ones), we trudge through piles of snow that tower over our heads, we wait in long lines together and we sneak a meal in the 15-minute window between the end of one film and the start of another. All for the sake of what is on the screen. It’s the movies that matter. And my goal, and that of my fellow Programmer Holly Herrick, is to find the best films possible so that we can bring them home to the Sarasota Film Festival.

Of course, loving a film is not enough. Like any business, the independent film world is built on relationships, and with the proliferation of film festivals nearly reaching 2,000 in this country, the competition is fierce for both the films and for industry recognition.

Braving the cold and the crowds to attend Sundance is an absolutely essential part of our year, one of the few events that allows us face-to-face access to our colleagues in the industry and a great place to promote the work we’re doing in Sarasota to the film distributors, publicists, sales agents, producers and directors who are the heart and soul of the independent film business.

It has been a very successful strategy for us. As the Sarasota Film Festival grows and we take a more ambitious approach to film programming, we have become more familiar to our colleagues in the industry who, because they know and trust us, have become more and more amenable to the idea of bringing their films to our festival. These relationships, the coffees and conversations, handshakes and hugs are crucial to the success of the festival. Even films that don’t play at Sundance come to us from the relationships that we work to strengthen in Park City.

And of course, it all comes down to the movies. Industry delegates all watch films together, discuss and debate them and, most importantly, take them very seriously as both works of art and the lifeblood of the industry. In order to stay relevant (you never know which company might buy which film), we work very hard to see as many films as possible. The good, the bad and the ugly. We see them all.

Each day, the team from Sarasota gathers at the Yarrow Hotel, a private screening facility for the Press and Industry, and break off in three different directions to cover as many films as possible. Today, Friday, is the first full day of screenings. Both both Holly and I have a full schedule of six films each. They begin at 8:30 a.m. and end sometime after 11 p.m. My day so far has included two excellent documentaries (both of which we’ll try to bring to Sarasota), and I am moments away from starting my third film, with three more to see after that. In between, I have already seen many colleagues. Programmers from other film festivals with whom I trade war stories, publicists with whom I hope to work in the future, sales agents smiling with the anticipation of selling their latest "hot" film, and all of it a big help in keeping Sarasota front and center in their minds.

It’s time to go back out into the snow and head to that screening. There are hands to shake, business cards to exchange and movies, movies, movies. Celebrities? Parties? Who needs them? The film is the thing. — Tom Hall