I’m up at Sundance for the Filmmakers Lab, where I serve as an advisor.
I’ve written about [previous sessions](http://johnaugust.com/archives/2007/summer-sundance), and the overall experience is remarkably consistent year-to-year. The projects change, but the work is largely the same — helping writers (mostly writer/directors) get their scripts into their best shape before shooting.
I learn a lot from the fellows and their projects — many of them are international, and focus on stories and situations I would never otherwise encounter. But I pick up a lot from the other advisors as well. I quoted one of them [on Twitter](https://twitter.com/johnaugust/status/2273804191) yesterday:
“Writing is betraying the people you love to impress people you’ll never meet.”
That was [Chris McQuarrie](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003160/), re-quoting an advisor from several years ago.
When writers give notes, they can often articulate issues in ways that feel more like poetry than problems. [Etgar Keret](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0449316/) felt one script had a bunch of sticks very cleverly holding up the roof, but what it really needed was a central pillar to support the weight. [Susannah Grant](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0335666/) wanted to help that same writer find a taproot to drink from. Both clever ways of expressing an idea that you wouldn’t get from a producer.
To the degree there’s a formula to the labs, it’s that sense of literary philanthropy. Not only are the notes you get here more thoughtful than a producer’s, they’re also genuinely disinterested and agenda-free.