SIGHTINGS, ADS, AND PROMS, OH MY!

Hi from fairly warm Park City!
Wow. Day 3 and it's already an unbelievably time. So far I've seen 5 films, 2 Redford sightings, one Pierce Brosnan and Susuan Sarandon sighting, and lots of assorted filmmakers, producers, writers, editors, actors, publicists, and patrons of course!

When Robert Redford shows up at a screening, it's obviously a happy time for all. There is a standard that seems to be set as well, with the audience for the most part showing respect to the man even as their flashes are going off. Granted, he travels with some security, but it almost seems like the people are tenderly aware of all that Redford has done in the interest of film.

Lots of acronyms are thrown around different parts of Sundance, but the most common one of course is Q & A, the very popular Question and Answer portion of the film. The way films are presented at Sundance is typically with one of the programmers introducing the filmmaker and the film, followed by a Q & A. It's a favorite of audience members, and rarely disappoints.

Sometimes there are interesting and unlikely comparisons of films that come across my path. I'll talk about 2 here that could be parallels to the current times. The first, PROM NIGHT IN MISSISSIPPI, (Paul Saltzman - Director/Screenwriter) is a documentary based on the actor Morgan Freeman's attempt at integrating a high school prom in his home town of Charleston, Mississippi. Morgan proposed this idea to the school two times, with the offer to pay for everything. The first time he was turned down. The second time, his proposal was accepted, and history happened. With candid and diverse input from the kids at the high school, we are brought into the realm of what it is like to attend a school with practices that seem shocking to most people. On the eve of a time that will create history with the swearing in of Barack Obama, one can't help but think that we have come very far, but that there is a long way to go.

The second film, ART & COPY (Doug Pray - Director), brings us into the iconic world of advertising and how it has affected us, from the 60's to the Ipod. Director Doug Pray interviews what could easily be called 'the best of the best' of the advertising world. The names and faces behind 'Just Do It', 'got milk?',' Where's the Beef' and so on share stories and tales of what went into these campaigns. Voyeuristically appealing, the audience is drawn into hearing "the good, the bad, and the ugly" from these men and women of the ad industry. Considering the fact that ad revenue wouldn't be as gigantic as it is without the advent of satellites, the film is intermingled with shots of the technology that gets the job done to launch the big satellites in the sky. Along with that are some of the factoids about the mountainous amount of money spent in this strange and exciting world.

One of the most unique of the personalities represented in the film is the seemingly lovable, yet no holds barred George Lois (see the film or at least Google him to learn why). During the Q & A, an audience member asked, "How do you think the economy will affect the future of the advertising industry?" George Lois didn't miss a beat and said, "Greater creativity is needed. Case closed." He went on to say how creativity can save anything, and that creativity within the Obama administration can save everything. Let's hope so George. George Lois that is.