“See if you can pull Mr. Redford aside for a couple of minutes and do a portrait.”
“Sure, no problem.”
But let me backtrack a bit. The morning of my second day at Sundance, I got to see Park City in the daylight for the first time. The storm forecast for the previous night had not come to pass, but there was a slow and steady snowfall coating the streets and the mountains and ski slopes visible in almost every direction. I took the free bus from my hotel to Main Street and walked up the hill to Sundance Channel HQ. Most people were still sleeping it off from the night before or else hadn’t arrived into town yet, so Main Street was pretty empty.
Park City
Apart from a movie line at the Egyptian Theater, of course.
The Sundance Channel took over and transformed an entire building that previously housed an art gallery. The top floor housed most of the personnel – video production, editing, web (my department), and the studio where artist interviews would take place every day. The bottom floor contained a lounge, cafe, and bar that also served up sandwiches at lunch – all open to festival goers and all for free.
This coffee was free - and delicious
The Sundance Channel studio
What you'd see if you were being interviewed
Robert Redford was scheduled to come in for an interview in the afternoon, and I wasn’t scheduled for anything before then, so I spent the rest of the morning getting to know Park City and shooting some street scenes.
The resulting galleries are up on the Sundance Channel website: A Tour of Main Street and Street Style.
Then I was back at the studio and awaiting the arrival of Sundance Film Festival founder Robert Redford, who was late (as everyone told me he would be.) Finally the man himself arrived, looking handsome as ever at 75, and gave a thoughtful interview on the development of the festival and the growing importance of documentary films, among other things.
Mr. Redford is prepped for the interview
A better candid
My assignment was this: try and grab a few candids in the studio before the interview, then be a fly on the wall during the conversation (no photos as the cameras pick up shutter noise), and finally ask Redford for a couple of minutes of his time for a portrait . But of cousre you don’t ask Mr. Redford himself. You ask the talent booker who asks Mr. Redford’s publicist, who, if you’re lucky, will ask Mr. Redford himself. Or, much more likely, will just say no. So, after the interview ended and Redford retired to the green room, I loitered outside and thought about where and how to do a half-decent portrait in the dimly fluorescent-lit space with no studio lighting and surely very limited time. After a few light tests, I’d resigned myself to bouncing flash and hoping for the best, when the answer came back from Redford’s publicist: no time for photos. Simultaneous relief and disappointment.
So all that was left was to take some more street shots for the style gallery, and then be back at HQ in the evening for a party and Q&A with Mary J. Blige, followed by a concert by Estelle.
The party was for people involved in the new Kirby Dick documentary “The Invisible War”, about sexual assault in the US military. Mary J Blige, who wrote a song for the film, would appear later for a Q&A (Mos Def was also scheduled to participate, but he didn’t show). This was more straightforward event coverage – some candids, grip-and-grins, and shots of the speakers, followed by a little concert photography.
Director Kirby Dick is on the right
Mary J. Blige during her Q&A
Mary J. Blige during her Q&A
Mary J. Blige introduces Estelle
After the Q&A was over, I headed straight into the basement for a scheduled concert by Estelle (remember that song, “American Boy”? That’s hers.) After about an hour of waiting in the stuffy basement-turned-concert space, Mary J. came back out to introduce Estelle, who turned out to be a beautiful, engaging performer.
Estelle performs
Estelle performs
By the time I got the shots I needed, it was after midnight and I suddenly realized how tired I was. I allowed myself a Cornoa from the bar, realizing to my chagrin that it was exactly 3.2% alcohol, per Utah’s strange liquor laws. Given my fatigue, the time and the altitude, I didn’t mind too much.
I left the concert and headed upstairs to gather my things. It was right then that one of my cameras slipped off my shoulder and hit the floor, lens-first. This was the result:
My 135mm lens took the brunt of the fall. That’s a cracked and dented filter. Even though I couldn’t take it off, the lens itself seemed undamaged and could focus with no trouble. Hilariously, about an hour before this happened, I had the following conversation with my new friend Matt, a Sundance Channel employee who is himself a photographer.
Matt: “You ever drop your camera?”
Me: “No, I’ve been pretty lucky in that regard. So far.”
Jinx.
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