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When I walked into the Sundance Film Festival screening of Before You Know It, I was emotionally wrecked. I had seen a handful of very good but very heavy movies and to be frank, I needed a little light in my day, and Before You Know It really did the trick.

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Image via Sundance

Hannah Pearl Utt directs and also stars in the movie as Rachel, a woman sharing an apartment with her father Mel (Mandy Patinkin), sister Jackie (Jen Tullock), and niece Dodge (Oona Yaffe) in New York City. It's a home filled with love but also a good deal of baggage as Rachel takes it upon herself to keep things in order for everyone, and the complications that come with the fact that Rachel and Jackie were always under the impression that the mother that walked out on them is dead.Turns out, she's not and she's actually a soap opera star (Judith Light).

Utt, Tullock, Light and Mike Colter who steps in as an accountant trying to help Rachel and Jackie sort everything out, all came by the Collider Studio in Park City to talk about the journey from the Sundance Lab to production on the streets of New York City to their world premiere at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. You can find a full breakdown of the interview at the bottom of this article.

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Image via Kia Motors

I’d also like to take a moment to give special thanks to our Collider Studio partner, the all new 2020 Kia Telluride, which was transporting filmmakers to our studio in celebration of the debut of the all new model, Kia’s first eight-passenger SUV that is several inches longer and wider than the brand’s award-winning Sorento.

Libations were also flowing at the Collider Studio with parties hosted by LIFEWTR, Tequila Comisario, Sensi Tuscany Wines, Blue Moon Belgian White and Dragonfly Coffee Roasters. Food during the parties was provided by Greene St. Kitchen of Palms Casino Resort lead by Chef Du Cuisine Lanny Chin. Brand partners active during the day included mou, a luxury footwear and accessories line, and The Wild Immersion endorsed by Jane Goodall who was on-site with the world’s first "virtual reserve."

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Mike ColterJudith Light, Hannah Pearl Utt & Jen Tullock:

  • What is Before You Know It about?
  • The inspiration for this story; how family dynamics can inform personal identity.
  • Light on her experience working with Utt and Tullock at the Sundance Lab.
  • Colter on what drew him to the project and to his character.
  • They pick an unsung hero of the production; the importance of a location manager.
  • That challenges and happy accidents of shooting a movie in New York City.
  • Tullock on the efficiency between Utt and the producers, and Utt's ability to maintain a sense of calm on the set.
  • Utt and Tullock on one of their favorite characters in the film - who also happens to be my personal favorite.
  • Light discusses the satirical approach to working on a soap opera in the film.
  • The quality of their characters they admire most.

Here's the official Sundance synopsis for Before You Know It:

Stage manager Rachel Gurner still lives in her childhood apartment—along with her off-kilter actress sister, Jackie; eccentric playwright father Mel; and deadpan preteen niece Dodge—above the tiny theatre they own and operate. Level-headed and turtleneck-wearing Rachel is the only thing standing between her family and utter chaos. Then, in the wake of a sudden family tragedy, Rachel and Jackie learn their presumed-deceased mother is actually alive and thriving as a soap-opera star. Now the sisters’ already-precarious balance turns upside down, and Rachel must figure out how to liberate herself from this surreal imbroglio.