Up Syndrome at Slamdance!
SLAMDANCE
WEEK
2001
Friday, January 19, 2001
Still a little sick. It never fails that I sit next to a sleeping mutant. For some reason I thought saving 50 bucks was worth putting up with a connecting flight and getting up at 4:30 am to make the 6:20 departure. Arrived in SLC at 11 am, and I probably looked like an extra from Day of the Dead. Met a guy on the flight from Phoenix to SLC, Dan Nelson. He just finished some FX work on Rodriguez’ Spy Kids. A lady who has a film in Slamdunk called “The Other Woman” was also in my row. She said, “Wow, Slamdance is hard to get in, congratulations!” The flight out of Austin I sat next to a guy who looked like PT Anderson with a mangled ear. He kept nodding off and his head would drop, raise, drop, raise. Stumbled through the rental car line like a zombie and decided to grab a bite to eat. Took a short tour around downtown SLC. It really is a beautiful city. Called Rene and he was excited to hear I'd made it safely. Took a nap at the hotel. Picked up Aaron Webb (producer of Up Syndrome) who flew in later and we’re off to Park City in the morning. It’s snowing, but I know there’s much more waiting at the top of the hill.
Saturday, January 20, 2001
Arrived in Park City about 11 am and drove straight up Main Street. Rene would love this shit. It amazes me to see the amount of people crammed in such a small area. This year nobody can solicit their films on the streets, so cars are painted with ads and people are walking along Main St. in costumes. 
Checked in at the Silvermine, which appears to be an ex-tourist attraction and/or museum which has permanently closed. The festival actually fits pretty well in there, and there’s many rooms to hang out in or browse the net on their nifty iMac terminals. Put down some Up Syndrome postcards. One of the programmers asked, “Are you Duane?” and told me she loved the movie. Aaron videotaped the Slamdance “filmmakers lineup” where everyone introduced themselves. Then we all grouped up for a photo op. I told the crowd about the mangled ear guy on my plane and they laughed. Met Brian McDonald finally (the director of the short film White Face screening before Up Syndrome) and his crew and they seem like a very nice, professional and talented group. Did an on-camera interview with someone. Drove to the Egyptian Theater on Main St. and got a Sundance schedule just in case I feel like “crossing over.” Waited for 30 + minutes outside in the razor-sharp 15 degree cold to get into the Slamdance opening night party. What a crazy evening; I’d have lost Rene in this crowd for sure. Met Bruno Derlin from Guerrilla Filmmaker, which recently printed a wonderful article on Up Syndrome. Also met up with Kat Candler, director of the Texas film cicadas, and gave her all my complimentary tickets to tomorrow’s screening. Aaron passed out a huge stack of postcards to drunk people.
Sunday, January 21, 2001
Screening #1. I've collected a lot of business cards so far. I doubt if I'll remember all these people to even get back to them. Didn’t get much sleep because of Mr. Producer’s trademark Bring-the-Roof-Down snore. Met with Dan Mirvish before the show and he explained how it’d all go down. Sound/pic check looked good. People filed in and Aaron taped. “White Face” was very funny and clever, and the acting was superb. I was surprised it wasn’t in Sundance, it was truly worthy of it. I’m happy to be paired with them.
A lady gave me a very warm and flattering introduction, calling Up Syndrome a “new approach to documentary filmmaking.” Wow. Did a very short intro and the screening went off without a hitch. SP tape looked great and sound was tight.
Nobody left during and almost all stayed for the Q&A afterwards. I was going to call Rene on the cell and let him hear the applause but time was short for the Q&A. Got most of the standard questions, and everyone seemed interested in what Rene was doing now and if he’d become an actor. Did another on-camera interview afterwards, shook a few hands. A number of people, professionals in the business, distributors, etc. came up to say how much they enjoyed it. Hung up ‘Up’ posters around the Silvermine and Treasure Mountain Inn on Main Street. Read another positive review on TNT’s roughcut.com handout. The writer was a little tough on Rene I thought, saying he had a mental capacity of a three or four year old. Bullshit, but still a nice writeup. Saw a Sundance film called “Raw Deal,” about a rape on the Florida State University campus. It was a bit long and drug out the issue, but sparked debate and held my attention. Damn the crowds are so much bigger at Sundance, it’s sad. Not fair I tell ya, but I’m happy. And Rene would be, too.
Monday, January 22, 2001
Relaxed a bit today. Slept in and caught up on sleep lost over the weekend. Dropped by the Silvermine and Aaron hung posters all around. Drove to Salt Lake City and found Brewvies, which was closed. Sat in the airport and chilled until Aaron’s flight left, then took an evening drive around downtown SLC. Caught the end of Trouble With Lou, which screened before my film. My screening at Brewvies had a modest size audience, about 30. I laid on the couch in the very back. The “White Face” gang ducked out after their Q&A. Nobody left when the credits came up and there was good applause. Had a decent Q&A session and several audience members shook my hand and told me how much they enjoyed the movie. One guy said: “You have every right to be very proud of this film.” The reactions seem to be wonderful. Made my way back to Heber City after the show.
Tuesday, January 23, 2001
Thought I’d actually watch a couple movies today. Shot some super 8 down on Main St., outside the Treasure Mountain Inn, Egyptian Theater, etc. A guy yelled to me: “SUPER 8 LIVES!” It hasn’t snowed since Friday. Today it’s very sunny and not incredibly cold, but still numbing enough. While in the Treasure Mountain Inn, a group of three women stopped me and said they loved my movie. They told me to tell Rene that three ladies from Montana think he’s a cutie. Hung out at the Silvermine for a while and saw Memento Mori. It was one of the Korean features in competition, and it was decent. It was shot and edited beautifully, but the story was lacking in my taste. It didn’t compel me as much as it seemed the rest of the audience. Shot over to a Sundance venue after it finished to catch Chris Smith’s new documentary Home Movie. I got there in time but the line was long and they had already given out all the numbers to the “standby” audience. Sundance is insane, there’s so many people trying to get in the screenings it makes me sick a little. Here I am, trying my hardest to get my screenings to fill up, and Sundance filmmakers can kick back and let the people roll in. Sigh. About 2 minutes before the film started, the Sundance goon got word on his headset that there was one single seat left, and since I was the only single guy in line, they sold me a ticket. I was then escorted into the theater by Sundance Goon #2 and led to the very front of the theater, where no seat was available. Finally they got me an aisle seat. Crazy. The movie was great, although it was nowhere near the magnitude of American Movie, it is the best I’ve seen in Park City so far. The Q&A with Chris afterwards was nice, although several people queried him more about American Movie than Home Movie. I gave him a card and invited him to my screening tomorrow night but he said there was no way he could make it, but invited me to e-mail him and send him a tape. I might do that.
Wednesday, January 24, 2001
Ran into the White Face gang on Main St. while I was shooting more super 8. Followed them around as they put up fliers on the various kiosks downtown. We clocked the poster visibility life at somewhere between 30-45 minutes. Within an hour they are covered by other filmmaker’s posters. Insane. When I couldn’t feel my face anymore I ducked into the Treasure Mountain Inn and ran into Kat Candler. We sat and chatted for a while. I met her friends who made a documentary called “Last Hope,” about a bunch of crazed Star Wars fans who camped outside a theater in LA awaiting ticket sales to the prequel. Bob Ray dropped in and I finally met him, briefly. He gave me some Rock Opera rolling papers. 
That dude has the marketing angle down in a bad, bad way. He has a screening on Friday. It seems like Opera will never die. It’s like the Rocky Horror Picture Show of Park City or something. It’s playing with Up Syndrome AGAIN at the Texas Film Festival next month. Went back to the Silvermine and caught “Trouble With Lou.” I wasn’t incredibly impressed. It wasn’t that funny, and when you’re dealing with a plot about a compulsive masturbater, funny is about all you can hope to be. I laughed a few times, but the tape they showed was a low res Avid dump which was bitmapped and jerky as hell and had timecode cutting in and out throughout the film. Very annoying but, of course, they had a packed house. They gave out Trouble With Lou hand creme to the audience members. Cute. Of course, everyone in the theater pretty much cleared out after it ended and my movie was next. I had about 30, which seems to be the ceiling on my audience here…it never gets above that. But it was an awesome 30 people because the reaction was spot on. Great, loud laughter in all the right spots and everyone seemed to stay with the movie all the way through. Again, nobody got up after the credits rolled and the Q&A was fairly long. When I walked up front and looked at the audience, everyone had huge smiles on their faces. I think Up Syndrome really does uplift, because it’s amazing to see the beaming faces. A guy named Anthony Howard introduced himself and said he cried “tears of joy” all the way through and invited me to see his movie Friday. He has a short playing in the lounge called Oui We. He said Up Syndrome made him want to have a baby and he wanted to talk so I went with him and his group to a pizza and noodle place on Main St. It finally started snowing tonight. A few other filmmakers came along that were in the audience and they all told me how much they enjoyed my film over dinner. It was very flattering.
Thursday, January 25, 2001
Snowed all day today. I shot more super 8. I hope it comes out okay. Ran into the Guerrilla Filmmaker guys again at the Silvermine. They are a great bunch of people I’m lucky to have on my side. A guy came up and said he cried during the first 45 minutes of my movie. Watched a block of short films including Monkey vs. Robot, which is screening right before mine at the Texas Film Festival next month. 
It’s only 3 minutes, but a very catchy, hilarious music video. Ballad of Roger Meade was a standout. A boy displays an unusual talent during a small-town talent show. Much to his parents chagrin, Roger has a knack for projectile vomiting. He can chuck it up straight into the air, and catch it again in his mouth. My favorite was Warplay, which has a bunch of kids playing war with army men who suddenly turn into real guys. Quite possibly the best explosions and effects I’ve seen in such a low budget production. The block ended with “What Girls Want,” a short documentary on how pop media shapes our young girls minds. It was disturbing to hear some of the pre-teen girls talking about sex and losing weight. I thought it was a great topic, well done, and the subjects were interesting. Finished the day of moviewatching with Virgil Bliss, a digital feature in competition. The short before the feature was called Here, a stylistic 35mm short about an aging hitman played by Lee Majors (who was in attendance). Bliss was an excellent film, well shot and acted, with compelling, sharply written characters. I was surprised to see the female lead was one of the Up Syndrome fans that was in our group after my film screened last night. I went out with the Virgil Bliss clan after their screening and we ate at the only place open: some understaffed bagel shop that had very little beer left and no tables. They had to push four tables together to seat all of us.
Friday, January 26, 2001
Met yet another Guerrilla Filmmaker member at the Silvermine, Sebastian Lazzara.
We talked about indy cinema for about 30 minutes and he requested a signed Up Syndrome poster. No problem! Variety mentioned my movie today, but not by name. They mentioned a “doc that sees Down’s Syndrome as a misunderstood gift.” That’s all I could get? Come on guys! Caught another block of shorts. Saw Anthony’s “Oui We,” which blew me away. He shot on 16mm B&W. It reminded me of a surrealistic French New Wave film set in modern day. His character was reminiscent of the lead in Breathless. Hilarious and shocking at the same time, this was one of the best movies I’ve seen all week. Also caught Change, a film made by a couple other Up Syndrome fans. It was about a homeless man who cleans himself up, only to find himself unable to function as a productive citizen. Went out to eat at the same pizza and noodle joint with the whole gang. I’ll sure miss this talented group, and I hope the contacts Slamdance has created are solid.
Anthony had a wrestling match with a fellow filmmaker outside the Silvermine and I shot it on film. I can’t wait to develop it! Met Merle Bertrand from Film Threat finally. He wrote a great review of Up. He watched the craziness go down outside the Silvermine. He asked about SXSW and I told him the story and he informed me that he’s well aware of their politics. I still think it’s a bit strict and back-turning on local artists, but oh well. Rene can attend the other Texas festivals later this year. Earlier in the week I met the Austin-based director of Radio Free Steve, a feature that screened with mine at the Austin Film Festival last year (and got a review in Variety!). He’s in the same boat, and we were thinking about setting up an alternative screening of our films during SXSW week. Good idea. The Slamdance awards ceremony was packed and surprisingly unstructured. Everyone stood around waiting for what seemed like an hour before they let us in. The stage was in an awkward position and most people couldn’t hear or see what was going on. White Face won the audience award for best short. Brian McDonald weeped on stage when he accepted the award, dedicating it to his father who recently had cancer surgery. Hybrid won the best feature award, an experimental documentary about a man who dedicated his life to hybrid seed corn. I didn’t get a chance to see that one. The closing night party kicked into full swing after the ceremony, but I was ready to get going. Swapped contact information and tapes with my newfound film-friends and made my way back to SLC. I'll be lucky if I get half these tape requests out. I leave in the morning, and there should be an article in the Austin American-Statesman when I get home.