Doing the ‘Dance
The Sundance Film Festival is held every January in Park City, Utah over a span of 10 days. Even though 118 films were screened in seven venues in Park City this year, it was still difficult to buy a movie ticket in advance. Although it was possible to purchase a limited amount of same-day tickets at the central box office, most people took a chance on a “waitlist” line. You show up at the theater 2 hours in advance of a showing, take a number, return to the line a half hour before the show time, and hope there are vacant seats. Sometimes, as many as 200 people showed up to a waitlist line, and at that point, odds were you would be turned away. If you didn’t succeed in getting into the movie of your choice, there were still plenty of fun things to do on Main Street.
The Goods – Gimme Gimme
Celebrities including Paris Hilton, Jessica Biel, James Franco, and Nicole Kidman attended the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Between promoting their films by day and partying at night, celebs found time to pop into gifting suites where they are awarded with loads of free swag.
Fortunately, some of this free swag was available to the public. Every day from 10 am to 12 pm, Morningstar offered free gourmet veggie burgers with soda and chips served by a perpetually friendly staff. McCafe served free coffee, the HP tent served free Stella Artois, Brita watering stations could be found throughout Main Street, and Kind Bars and snacks were virtually everywhere. L’Oreal offered free hair styling and makeup everyday, along with product giveaways. If you were willing to stand in a short line, you too could look like a movie star with five-minute hair and makeup treatment. I learned how to put beach curls in my hair and walked away with amazing new L’Oreal mascara.
And, if you were lucky enough to have credentials (press, film, publicity, or industry) and the know-how to RSVP to the various pop-up gifting suites, you could benefit from more upscale swag and mingle with the stars. While you wouldn’t walk away with televisions, snowboarding outfits or a pair of UGGs like the celebs, you might be able to convince the promoters to give you some cool swag. I was able to score a pair of Oakley sunglasses and Oakley snow goggles, as well as an awesome scarf, hats, coffee mugs, shampoos, and skin care products. The ultimate trick then becomes how to get your bagfulls of gifts home from Park City.
I had three favorite watering holes in the gifting lounges. At the Patron bar in the Miami lounge, they taught you how to make a fresh fruit tequila cocktail, giving away a personalized muddler to boot. You could linger with your customized fresh fruit cocktail while munching on selections from Udi’s gluten-free full menu, including pizzas. Decadence! At the Emergen-C bar in the Oakley lounge, they made nonalcoholic cocktails, including a mojito with Emergen-C (surprisingly delicious), and at the Grey Goose House, yummy vodka cocktails were made with elderberry. Oh, did I mention that free alcohol just flows during Sundance? Stella Artois, official sponsor, is ubiquitous and refreshing.
As a representative of LA YOGA Magazine, I was invited to Eco Hideaway gifting suite in the hills above Deer Valley, about a half hour bus ride from Main Street. In the lower level of the upscale Chateaux Hotel, a dozen companies offered samplings of their wares. Accompanied by the musical entertainment (some excellent Foo Fighter backup performers), I was introduced to the vendors at each and every table by my own personal valet. many of the sponsors were offering eco products, From the foot and hand treatment, gluten-free food, clothing and watch vendors, (I’m not sure how eco Lamborghini watches are, but hey, it’s Sundance.). I was most taken with the Cork Couture line of cork clothing accessories just rolled out that week by BX of Napa Valley Vineyard, Minky Couture faux-fur scarves, and award-winning New Zealand Lighting and Furniture Coral Floral Pendant Light Fixtures.
Back on Main Street, the realTV Social Lodge gifting suite at Ciseros on Friday and Saturday was full of sponsors, giveaways and great live music. True to its name, it was a very social scene. My favorite product in this suite is the absolutely delicious line of teas from Colorado-based company Physique.
The Sightings
I’ve had enough celebrity sightings for a lifetime. Those I recognized: Jane Lynch, Tony Danza, Mario Lopez, Nicole Kidman, Daryl Hannah, Brie Larson, One Republic, Prince, Robert Redford, Pauly Shore, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Dave Grohl. The streets were filled with young attractive brown-haired actors with scruffy beards and beautiful young actresses with long curled tresses that I don’t recognize and couldn’t distinguish one from the other. Those older guys with long gray hair must have been the Eagles, but who knows, maybe they were Utah locals. Not to mention all the talented directors and cinematographers who remained anonymous to me. I did bump into Keith Urban, told Daryl Hannah I appreciate her recent film work, and drooled to Dave Grohl that I love him. You just needed to walk up and down Main Street during Sundance to have these brushes with the rich and famous.
My personal favorite celebrity encounter involved Michael Cera (Juno and Magic Magic). I was in front of the doorman for a party at the Red Square pop-up venue on Main Street where Yiddish singer Matisyahu was to perform. Michael Cera came out and told the doorman that “they’re with me.” The doorman thought that Michael meant me, so he gave me a wristband and let me in without me to utter the password that had just been whispered by a friend “red square” or “red squirrel”–I wasn’t sure. Once inside, I enjoyed the party with free drinks and the acoustic beatbox reggae hiphop performance by Matisyahu. When I got home later that night, I noticed that my wristband said Chefdance. This wristband would have gotten me admittance to the most exclusive and coveted celebrity dinner party during Sundance! Obviously, Michael Cera was attending Chefdance, which shared an entrance with the party I attended. I could have had a four-course wine paired meal by a celebrity chef, seated among A listers if I had looked at the wristband early in the evening. Oh well, thanks, Michael, for trying!
Zen Den
LA YOGA Magazine was one of the sponsors of the healthy oasis—The Zen Den—at the Sundance Film Festival. The Zen Den built buzz throughout the first week of the festival as celebrities and filmmakers dropped by for healing treatments, yoga classes, healthy snacks, copies of LA YOGA Magazine, happy hours, and evening screenings of conscious films.
Tony Danza (Don Jon’s Addiction), Mariel Hemingway (Running from Crazy), and Shar Jackson (Moesha) all enjoyed afternoon treatments by Esalan-trained massage and cranio-sacral therapists. Sundance filmmakers, directors and actors (Austenland, Blue Caprice, Charlie Victor Romeo and many more) dropped in to participate in the morning yoga classes and to mingle in the evening festivities.
The Zen Den also brought music to Swede Alley. On Monday, Zen Den hosted the after-party of Dave Grohl’s band Dead Sara. The band and friends had a chance to unwind after their energetic Cisceros performance. Earlier in the evening, happy hour was accompanied by the acoustic sounds of Christopher Hawley and Carmen Corinna Brown.
The Music
There was quite a variety of music-themed documentaries this year. Muscle Shoals and Sound City both chronicled venerable recording studios, one East Coast and one West Coast, and each created inspiring and amazing albums from the 70s and 80s to today. Twenty Feet from Stardom celebrate backup singers that are due their own acclaim. And, History of The Eagles: Part 1 traced the career of one of the biggest band in the 70s.
During Sundance, there is music playing in public and private venues up and down Main. Some music could be found at the regular local spots such as the Spur, Flanagans, and the Sidecar. Other music was found at the pop-up venues including the HP tent, ASCAP Music Cafe, and Fender lounge. Some of the bands were supporting films that they played on the soundtrack, others are hoping to play on a soundtrack someday. The big names played at Ciseros, the Star Bar, Park City Live, and the Downstairs. Discovering which band was playing, when and where, was an adventure since these shows were often hush-hush and learned via text, Twitter and word of mouth. As always, big spenders could buy bottle service tables for their friends and guarantee entry. The game for the average Joe was to get on a list or convince one of the many doormen guarding the venues that you are on a list.
This year, the biggest concert was Dave Grohl’s Sound City Players. Dave premiered his directorial debut of the documentary Sound City about the famed San Fernando Valley recording studio during the festival. For the Friday night show, he brought together musicians who had recorded at Sound City, including Stevie Nicks, Jon Fogarty, Rick Springfield, Trent Reznor and quite a few more. Word is they played for three hours straight to an amazed crowd.
Karen Henry is an Associate Editor at LA YOGA who volunteers in a variety of capacities for nonprofit organizations and artists around Los Angeles. She practices yoga as a counterbalance to her daily impact sports and is a mother of four grown children who also practice yoga . Now, she’s working on teaching yoga and joy of life to the grandkids!