Nerves. Didn't feel myself for most of the day. Upon arriving at the Salt
Lake City Airport, the first thing I did was accidentally (although it felt
good after I did it) punch Kris square in the face. It even took me a few
minutes riding in the van to Park City to realize there were big, beautiful
mountains here. None of those in New York City.
Trying to shake that New Year's Eve/Prom Night Syndrome, when you feel a
debilitating pressure to accomplish a hell a lot of things in a very short
period of time and it absolutely crushes you.
Ate dinner at a place on Main Street (that's where the locals said we could
find all the action) called "The Claimjumper". Kris, Paul (MAN
ABOUT TOWN's Cinematographer) and I all misread its sign as "The Clamjumper"
and were trying to figure out why clams weren't on the menu. What the hell
would a "clamjumper" be? (Actually, I have some provocative ideas
on this, but this is a family website). Then ended up at a little bar called
"Cozy", which wasn't cozy at all. We left declaring defeat and
calling it an early night. Park City on a Wednesday night is deader than
Tricky Dick Nixon. But we were saved. A guy who saw me slip on the ice
a little told me that Roger Ebert had fallen down in the very same spot
last year and broke his ass. It turned out he was a Sundance volunteer
(they're all over here), and he directed us to a party where Kris talked
us in, despite our lacking the proper credentials.
Inside, Trevor Groth ("the man" at Sundance's L.A. office) recognized
me from the movie and introduced himself. He's the guy that broke the good
news about us being accepted here and has said nice things about the film
and recommended it to some other festivals, so I wanted to thank him. He
introduced me to lots of others (including Lisa Viola, another Sundance
principal, who'd seen the film and said she had a hard time looking at me
without laughing- either a very good or very bad thing) who, remarkably,
were all down-to-Earth and cool.
I'm glad Paul Newman put this whole thing together. He sure is a fine actor.
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