My friend Errol Morris didn't exactly love going to the Sundance Film Festival. He used to say that he prepared for the trip by locking himself in a deep freeze for a day with a guy who talked incessantly on a cel phone. One year, Errol took the flight from Cambridge to Salt Lake City, rented a car and drove out to Park City. Just as he was stepping out of his car into the cold Utah air, he spied a director of photography he particularly disliked. He had fired the cameraman (now an Academy Award nominee) on the very first day of shooting of his debut film, "Gates of Heaven." I don't really know what upset Errol more--that it was cold or that this dude was the first thing he laid eyes on--but he got right back in his car, drove back to Salt Lake City and flew home.
I also have a fond memory of Errol, sick as a dog with the flu, lying prone on a couch while doing an interview with the New York Times' Janet Maslin. "Couldn't we do this interview posthumously?" he asked.
In a few days I'll be on my way to the Sundance with the Zoom In team. I'll be giving two workshops on Publicity for Independent Filmmakers at the New Frontiers on Main (Friday, 1/19 at noon and Tuesday 1/23 at 5 pm). The workshops--kindly sponsored by Adobe--are my attempt to try to fit 25 years of experience into an hour. I think whoever turns up will have a good time and maybe learn something too.
I'll also be doing a bunch of video interviews that will also be uploaded to Zoom In. I'll be talking to various people in the independent film business, some directors, and maybe some actors too. It'll be sort of like the stuff you see on IFC or the Sundance Channel, but done by a very cranky guy who thinks that the "indie" film world takes itself way too seriously. A lot of my friends have already agreed to talk to me out there, something I hope they won't regret too much.
I am actually very excited about this. I have always felt that I would never be a real blogger until I became a vlogger. Joanne Colan, watch out!
This stuff should turn up Thursday or Friday on this page and won't stop until the festival's over. Unless I run into Errol.
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January 15, 2007 - 4:40am
