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Today was the first day of the Sundance Film Festival when I did not attend a screening, and I’ll admit, I felt a little guilty. Not that I was doing anything wrong, of course. It just kind of felt like going to a coffee shop to sip on water, which, again, isn’t wrong…exactly.
I instead spent the day having my first proper sit-down meal since Wednesday, attending more panels, sitting next to Jon Hamm at a bar on Main Street with my friends (yes, you read that right), and covering 1497’s evening festivities, which included a keynote session featuring the cast, creatives, and executives of Hulu’s upcoming show, Deli Boys, an IndieWire Chili Party, and an after-party dance party with Jai Wolf.
As you can see, it was a full day in itself. And I topped it off with an order of Dominoes to accompany a late-night viewing of Entourage’s Sundance episode. My experiences have been widely different from those of Vince, Eric, Drama, and Turtle. But rewatching the episode that I had first seen in high school, at a time when Sundance did not seem attainable, feels pretty surreal.
As the first weekend of Sundance is officially over, I thought I’d do something different for this entry. In lieu of a written account of my day, I’m sharing a couple of insightful thoughts from influential creatives that I had the privilege of listening to and witnessing in the past couple of days. These quotes are ones that I found compelling enough to jot down in my ‘quotes’ notes page, and I hope they resonate with you as well. They are not entirely comprehensive, by all means, as I have heard so many more nuggets of wisdom. These are just the ones I happened to note down on my page.
In case anyone is interested, Day 5 consisted of an interview with a very exciting director who premiered his debut film last night, another premiere screening, and a surprisingly delightful meal from a Thai restaurant on Main Street. Does anyone else seek out Thai food whenever they travel? Oh, and the latest celeb sighting—that is, celebs walking around casually and not in the midst of a panel or screening—has gone up to eight today.
My dad always says to judge how successful your move is based on how useful it is for the community.
Tadashi Nakamura, Director of Third Act
Keep track of the people who consistently showed up. That is your community
Meera Menon, Director of Didn’t Die
I build trust by over-delivering.
Glenn Kaino, Artist and Filmmaker
It is important to have someone by your side in this [creative] endeavour who gets it.
Himesh Patel, Actor
His role as a film critic is not to tell people what to watch but to tell people how to watch
Siddhant Adlakha, Film Critic, quoting critic Scott Renshaw
Our role is to be the best storytellers for our storytellers when it comes to the marketing campaign.
Nicole Balgemino, Vice President, Communications, Slate Publicity & Special Events at Disney Entertainment Television
I find the best connections I’ve made at Sundance have been through genuine conversations and finding out later what they do. I find forming a genuine connection to be the longest lasting ways to make a connection.
Therese Larson, Features Editor of Collider
I find that people have a desire to connect with those who they perceive I’ve as already successful but I’ve found connecting with people at my level to be impactful. Those are the people who you will grow with.
Rishi Rajani, CEO of Hillman Grad
I was raised only caring because no one cares about us. We have been demonized and scrutinised and we never had a chance to say anything back. This is my chance to speak back.
Saffiya Ingar, Actress
At a time when people want to dim the lives of young women, I say don’t let them.
Nadia Fall, Director and Playwright
Innovation happens when doors close.
Guneet Monga, Film Producer