It’s quiet in Hollywood this morning, because a large percentage of the town in is Utah for the [Sundance Film Festival](http://festival.sundance.org/2006/).
For those who’ve never been, let me give you a quick impression of what it would feel like if you were there.
* First, imagine everyone you’ve ever worked with, both good and bad.
* Next, put them in parkas and boots.
* Arrange them all in a long line stretching down the sidewalk. It’s very much like the queue for a Star Wars movie, except the film in question is a vulgar Hungarian “comedy” about three generations of masturbators. (Note: I actually saw this film.)
* Add a Weinstein.
* Call in favors to get on the list for the secret Beastie Boys show.
* Somehow get into the secret show, only to realize that a room packed with two hundred people in parkas is pretty miserable.
* Go to sleep, wake up, then see a few movies you probably wouldn’t bother watching on cable.
I’m not at the festival this year, partly because I just got back from the “other” Sundance: the [Sundance Screenwriters Lab](http://institute.sundance.org/jsps/site.jsp?resource=ffp_labs_home&sk=FRw0Izzi1EWn3eSo). I was an advisor this year, helping five filmmakers work on their upcoming features. The projects were all terrific.
Two of my advisees have films in the festival this year. So Yong Kim’s film [In Between Days](http://www.soandbrad.com/) is intimate and amazing, and a perfect example of why digital filmmaking allows for new kinds of storytelling.
Photographer [Carter Smith](http://www.artandcommerce.com/AAC/C.aspx?VP=Mod_AlbumPages.Portfolio_VPage&L4=2U1XC55BVJW&L5=2U1XC5J9RTV) has his short film [Bugcrush](http://bugcrush.net) in the festival. Looking at the [trailer](http://bugcrush.net), you’d think, “Hmm. That looks disturbing.” Trust me: the film is so, so much more disturbing than that. In a good way. Mostly.
Unless you have a thing about bugs.