Director of Programming James McNally is attending this year’s Sundance Film Festival from January 16th to 28th.
Last year, I missed Sundance due to my job working at the Audi Dublin International Film Festival. That was a lovely and rewarding experience, and I miss my friends and colleagues there dearly. But because I’m not returning to my position there, it means I can return for my third year volunteering in the Artist Relations Office (formerly the Film Office). Unfortunately, I won’t be working on one of the shorts programmes this time, but I’ve been assigned to a new section of the program called Indie Episodic, which features episodic content that may end up on television, streaming services, or VOD. Celine Roustan, my assistant programmer at Shorts That Are Not Pants, is also returning for her fourth Sundance, and we’re both working in the Artist Relations Office, so I’m hoping that between the two of us, we can meet a lot of the short filmmakers and see their work.
I’m particularly excited to be making the trip to Park City this year, because the new year started off with some pretty bad health news for me. If you’re interested in all the details, I’ve written more on my personal blog. In any case, I’m able to attend both Sundance and, for the first time since 2014, the Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, so there will be lots of festival diary entries for you to read in the next month.
Now it’s back to packing and looking over the festival program. Excited to see some great new work in 2018!
P.S. In a weird coincidence, I also packed 22 granola bars this year, the same number I brought with me in 2016!