If you’re at all interested in the world of filmmaking (and if you're not and you're on Collider, what's wrong with you?), you may want to mark January 28th on your calendar. That date falls at the tail end of the Sundance Film Festival, but today they announced a slew of various panels that will be taking place over the course of the fest, with one big panel in particular taking place on the 28th—and it’ll be livestreamed on the interwebs, so you don’t have to brave the cold of Park City, Utah to enjoy it!
Filmmaker Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Philip, Queen of Earth) will moderate a discussion between Christopher Nolan and Jurassic World helmer Colin Trevorrow about the artistic choice to use film as a shooting format over digital. The panel, dubbed “Power of Story: The Art of Film”, is described as a celebration of celluloid, and while there are plenty of other filmmakers who I would’ve loved to see join Nolan and Trevorrow on the panel, they’re pretty fitting choices for what should be a fascinating conversation. Nolan popped up at last year’s festival, and Trevorrow got his big push at Sundance with his debut Safety Not Guaranteed, from which he subsequently went on to helm the blockbuster Jurassic World, which he shot on a combination of film and digital cameras.
Trevorrow is, of course, tapped for an even bigger franchise film in Star Wars: Episode IX, but he’s currently in post-production on his Jurassic follow-up, the small-scale drama The Book of Henry. Nolan, meanwhile, is in pre-production on his next film, a World War II thriller called Dunkirk.
Sundance’s The Power of Story and Cinema Café panels—which this year also include a discussion with Anomalisa filmmakers Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson and panels on the burgeoning artform of VR—will be able to stream at sundance.org/festival.
Take a full look at the schedule below, and stay tuned for Collider’s extensive coverage from the festival as myself, Matt Goldberg, and Steve Weintraub make the trek to Park City once again. The 2016 Sundance Film Festival runs from January 21st – 31st.
‘POWER OF STORY’ PANELS
Both Power of Story panels will be live streamed at sundance.org/festival.
Power of Story: Evolution of Storytelling
Monday, January 25 at 2:30 p.m. MST
Egyptian Theatre
While story is how we understand ourselves, our society and the world around us, it doesn't exist until it’s shared through the mediums we use to communicate – our communication architecture. In celebration of the 10th anniversary of our New Frontier Program, join a group of remarkable minds – storytellers and creative technologists – for a workshop that explores imagination, innovation and the deeply intertwined worlds of technology and storytelling. Led by John Underkoffler (Minority Report, Iron Man, CEO, Oblong Industries), guests Nancy Bennett (CCO and Head of Virtual Reality,Two Bit Circus), John Gaeta (TheMatrix Trilogy, Executive Creative Director, ILMxLAB), Kevin Slavin (MIT Media Lab), Lynette Wallworth (Collisions), Reggie Watts (Waves) give us a glimpse into the mind-blowing future of story.
Power of Story: The Art of Film
Thursday, January 28 at 2:30 p.m. MST
Egyptian Theatre
Kicking off Art of Film Weekend, in this celebration of celluloid, we look at film aesthetics, its intrinsic qualities and its appeal to filmmakers who have made the artistic choice to employ film as a shooting format. Since the birth of cinema, artists have found within a thin strip of celluloid film myriad forms of expression and a magical medium through which to tell stories. Join Christopher Nolan (Memento, Dark Knight series, Interstellar), Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed, Jurassic World), and moderator Alex Ross Perry (Listen Up Philip, Queen of Earth).
‘ART OF FILM’ WEEKEND
Friday, January 29
Cinema Café with D A Pennebaker & Chris Hegedus
11:30 a.m. MST
Filmmaker Lodge
Each morning at the Filmmaker Lodge, Cinema Café invigorates the culture of conversation with a daily series of informal chats featuring special guests for thought-provoking discussions. This edition of Cinema Cafe during the Art of Film weekend features a conversation with D A Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
Adapting Genres to Virtual Reality
1:30 p.m. MST
New Frontier Gateway
Close ups, fast cuts, and pacing were all initially accidents that became staples in conveying mood, tone, and story in film. In virtual reality, much of those tools are gone, and with that, our tools to shape genres are also changing. What have we learned so far in approaching story in virtual reality? Join us in an open discussion with virtual reality pioneers Saschka Unseld (creative director, Oculus Story Studio), Jessica Brillhart (principal filmmaker, VR at Google), Eric Darnell (CCO, Baobab, director, Madagascar) and Emilie Joly (CEO, Apelab). Moderated byYelena Rachitsky (creative producer and Head of Education, Oculus Story Studio).
Art of Music Supervision: Show & Tell with Randall Poster
2:00 p.m. MST
Filmmaker Lodge
Setting scenes to particular tunes and selecting artists for the soundtrack are crucial to contributing nuance, tone, and expression to a film. This is where an accomplished music supervisor like Randall Poster comes in. Poster works with filmmakers Wes Anderson, Todd Haynes, and Richard Linklater, to name a few. Through film clips and discussion, Poster will share what inspires him, how he collaborates with filmmakers, and how his craft of music supervision ultimately brings a film to new heights and deeper meaning. #SFFonMusic #ArtFilmWeekend
Song Exploder Live with KT Tunstall
3:00 p.m. MST
Festival Base Camp
Presented by Canada Goose
Art of Film Weekend welcomes the Song Exploder podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Using the isolated, individual tracks from the recording, host Hrishikesh Hirway asks artists like U2, Björk, The National, Alexandre Desplat and KT Tunstall to delve into the specific decisions that went into creating their work. #SongExploder
Saturday, January 30
Cinema Café with Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson
11:30 a.m. MST
Filmmaker Lodge
This edition of Cinema Café during the Art of Film weekend features a conversation with Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson of Anomalisa.
Behind the Scenes: The Art of Casting
2:00 p.m. MST
Filmmaker Lodge
Casting directors play a critical role to narrative filmmaking, but how well much do we understand about their craft? How do instinct and experience play into their decisions? How does their work generate fresh and meaningful characters?Richard Hicks (Gravity, Zero Dark Thirty) moderates a conversation with seasoned casting directors Jessica Daniels (Wiener-Dog, 30 Rock), Jessica Kelly (Precious, Obvious Child), Stephanie Holbrook (Christine, Equity) that will take us behind the scenes to illuminate the art and alchemy behind their process. #SFFonCasting #ArtFilmWeekend