The vibe is cool, calm, collected, and exciting. I overhear one of the hundreds of Sundance London volunteers asking if anyone has seen any celebrities yet. It’s only day one, and the diverse UK audience is thirsty for the best of American Indie Film.

The first event I attend is SUNDANCE LONDON FUTURE FILMMAKERS, hosted by Sundance Festival Director John Cooper and Director of Programming Trevor Groth. Trevor Groth opens the event discussing the underlying goal of Sundance: to gather like minded people who have a passion for storytelling, and storytelling within film. Though Sundance has an open-policy for submissions, Trevor addresses the broad misconception that you “have to know someone” to actually be accepted into the festival. Without a doubt, being accepted to Sundance is highly competitive as well as prestigious. While receiving 7,500 short film submissions for Sundance Film Festival which takes place January in Utah, there are only 80 slots to fill.

So what type of content do the programmers of Sundance look for when choosing films to screen?

As far as content goes, there is no specific answer. Originality may be a broad term, but seeing something that they have not seen before is exceptionally exciting. The fact that John Cooper and Trevor Groth see thousands of films a year and trends do arise in independent filmmaking, they stress one quality: the element of surprise. For me, that captures the true essence of being a filmmaker: taking risks.

Does it help if you have a big name attached?

“From a programmer’s perspective, it does not help getting into the festival, which is truly based on the film and talent that went into creating the film. It may help the filmmaker as far as resources, etc – but is not necessarily a component that is absolutely necessary.” – Trevor Groth points out.

What about comedy?

John Cooper points out that the indie film world in the USA tends to go on the serious side, but that comedies are extremely programmable. Audiences at Sundance see as many as five films a day, so it is important to have entertaining comedies to brighten up the mood. He does give one extremely invaluable tip: while Sundance does accept rough cuts, submitting a rough cut for a comedic film may not be the best idea. Comedy is about timing, and it is best to decide whether it is worth rushing a submission for their September deadline, or taking your time to finish the film the right way.

“It’s a case by case basis” says Trevor Groth.

So why London, why now?

Sundance has had extreme success in the USA with UK films. So now, why not bring the USA films to the UK?

“It makes perfect sense to me” says John Cooper.

I cannot think of a better venue for Sundance London than the O2 Arena. John Cooper discusses how America is saturated with the same films that lead to filmmakers traveling for years from city to city to get their film shown. As borders come down, and it seems to be more of a global world, they wanted more opportunities for American filmmakers outside of their own borders. What better city than London, where there is a vibrant film enthused audience.

When they programmed the 14 films brought from the US to the UK, the approach was what Sundance was about, not what UK film audiences liked. In fact, that is why they are here, they are curious to know what UK film audiences connect with.

Why are film festivals important?

John Cooper stresses the importance of building a connection with Sundance London, taking advantage of watching the films they have chosen to bring to the UK, as well as music events – which is a new component of the festival itself. A way to nurture your own filmmaking voice is to see other films, not replicate, but to gain inspiration, and that is why film festivals are important.

Following the open discussion, the winner of the first ever Sundance London Short Film Competition, “Extranjero” was screened with a Q&A with the UK filmmakers.

The short, Robots of Brixton was then screened with UK filmmaker Kibwe Tavares present. Robots of Brixton won the Short Filmmaking Award – Special Recognition title at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

Also present, was LA Filmmaker Sheldon Candis, director of LUV. What a treat that was. Sheldon said he moved to Los Angeles in 1999. The film made it’s world premiere at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Utah. The film took Sheldon 8 years to make, and 3 years to write. This part of the panel was particularly inspiring. Sheldon held nothing back regarding his struggles living in Los Angeles pursuing his career as a filmmaker.

Some inspirational quotes Sheldon shared were:
“There is no Plan B when it is all Plan A.”
“No matter how hard the horse bumps you, don’t get off.”
“If it happened for me, it will happen for you.”

Check out this Meet the Filmmakers featurette with Sheldon Candis below.

For the first panel of Sundance, I was thorougly impressed at the quality of the films and exceptional talent that was present. It was truly an honor to attend this panel at the 2012 inaugural Sundance London Film Festival.

PRE- SUNDANCE LONDON 2012

WHEW just did our schedule for Sundance London 2012! Super stressful choosing which films and events but super excited to attend as many screenings and panels as possible. Ah! I seriously cannot wait to fill my brain with knowledge from the best of the best. I’m ready to learn and grow!!

I will be covering and reviewing screenings and panels attend right here on this blog. So watch this spot!!

Cheers y’all

LMP

I’ve been a member of SAG since 2007 and AFTRA since 2008. The union has always taken care of me and the proof is in the residual checks I still receive to this day. I am happy with this decision and only hope it will make us stronger. Solidarity! I have been helping with the organizing in Miami for dancers and other artists – and also being a Miami AFTRA board Member.

Reminds me of chanting UNION POWER in the streets of Seattle at the 2011 AFTRA National Convention. The next convention (which will be SAG-AFTRA) is 2013 in Los Angeles.

Check out my video footage of the 2011 National Convention in Seattle and what I captured of the city!

It’s been nice while I’ve been here. I’ve had a variety of jobs (dance studios, yoga studios, film related gigs, 9-5, starting my own business, etc) but what has surprised me most is I forgot how much this city has going on!! It’s SO much. It’s a great thing, but sometimes I wonder how anyone gets any work done here. As soon as one festival has taken over town leaves, another one comes. Recently, Ultra passed, and next is Memorial Day Weekend! When does it stop?!

Anyway, I leave in exactly a week so I’m trying to get back into the habit of blogging so I can document my experiences. Sometimes I spend too much time thinking of logistics (branding, domains, blog names, etc) — that I don’t get down to the knitty gritty work part of it! It’s like worrying about what you are going to do with a great film idea you want to make or write… well you can’t do anything unless you have the product. i.e. write the blog, make the movie! — So I decided, forget logistics, I’m just going to blog. I started blogging almost exactly a year ago, and then my website crashed. At this point I am very unattached to my digital files… it’s like anything in life. It can come and go at any moment. Save yourself the energy and don’t get too attached to things. Especially types of food. That’s another post.

The first time I actually went to LA was in 2004, during high school – for an acting and dance competition called “Best New Talent.” I went with a group of other talents who were managed out of the same company I was with in Weston, FL. The competition was held at the Century City Hyatt Hotel just off of Avenue of the Stars.  I love this hotel because opposite is the famous Creative Artists Agency. Since the competition which was in 2004, I’ve been back to that hotel several times for other events, each time just dreamily sitting on my balcony and staring at the bold office that is CAA’s headquarters. Sometimes I wished I could miss the events so I could just sit on the balcony and watch all the cars drive in and out, and the valet attendants attending to each car. Ok, that was corny I admit…

I remember competing in various categories from dance, acting (dramatic and comedic), and hosting. My comedic monologue, which I also wrote, ended up winning 3rd Place Best Comedic Actress. What’s up Tina Fey?! HA! I wish.

My pictures and video from this group are somewhere up in my attic though I’ll upload a few once I get my hands on them. Flash forward to 2 years later, and here I am on the set of Miami Vice working as an extras casting assistant. Hey, you have to start somewhere right?

Here are some pics from the set of Miami Vice in 2006 and where it all really started.