{"id":646,"date":"2017-01-21T02:34:26","date_gmt":"2017-01-21T02:34:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ramolawpc.com\/?p=646"},"modified":"2017-02-02T02:36:30","modified_gmt":"2017-02-02T02:36:30","slug":"for-killer-films-sundance-is-like-planning-a-snow-covered-wedding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ramolawpc.com\/new\/for-killer-films-sundance-is-like-planning-a-snow-covered-wedding\/","title":{"rendered":"For Killer Films, Sundance Is Like Planning a Snow-Covered Wedding"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"VarietyLogo1\"<\/a>The organizing starts around Thanksgiving and doesn\u2019t let up through the New Year. For Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, the co-founding producers of the indie powerhouse Killer Films, the Sundance Film Festival is an annual trek through the snow that dates back three decades. The duo have sold 25 films here, from the 1995 Todd Haynes drama \u201cSafe\u201d starring Julianne Moore to 2002\u2019s \u201cOne Hour Photo,\u201d featuring an eerie turn from Robin Williams.<\/p>\n

To listen to them reminisce about their memories from past visits to Park City is to step into a time capsule. \u201cI definitely have the nostalgia stories of bringing physical cans of film,\u201d says Koffler. \u201cMy hands were cold and the metal was cold as I put it on the luggage belt. It was a physical experience that has disappeared.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, Killer Films came to Sundance with four more titles that capture the New York-based production company\u2019s eclectic and varied tastes for small movies. There\u2019s \u201cDina,\u201d a documentary about an oddball Philadelphia couple (she loves the Kardashians and he\u2019s a Walmart door greeter) that premiered on Friday night to strong reviews.<\/p>\n

Miguel Arteta\u2019s \u201cBeatriz at Dinner\u201d is a buzzy dark comedy starring Salma Hayek as a medical healer. Michelle Pfeiffer returns to movies in \u201cWhere Is Kyra?\u201d as a lonely woman grappling with the death of her mother. And finally, \u201cLemon,\u201d from first-time director Janicza Bravo, centers on a washed-up actor struggling with a mid-career crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a healthy time, especially when you think of all the different ways a movie can go out into the world,\u201d Vachon says. \u201cOf the four movies we sold last year\u201d\u2014including the Todd Solondz comedy \u201cWeiner-Dog\u201d (Amazon Studios) and the college hazing thriller \u201cGoat\u201d (MTV Films with Paramount Pictures)\u2014\u201cnot one of them went to a so-called traditional indie distributor. I never would have said it a couple years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

She admits that she\u2019s sometimes \u201cshocked\u201d at which movies go where. But they\u2019ve learned to tell their filmmakers to downplay their expectations as they brave the city storms and slow buses circling around town.<\/p>\n

Vachon, the seasoned producer behind such indie darlings as \u201cVelvet Goldmine,\u201d \u201cBoys Don\u2019t Cry,\u201d \u201cFar From Heaven\u201d and \u201cCarol,\u201d has served twice on the Sundance juries. But she first came to the festival as a filmmaker with the short movie \u201cThe Way of the Wicked,\u201d a satire of the Catholic Church. She bunked in a dorm-like dwelling, provided by the festival, with an aspiring story teller name David O. Russell.<\/p>\n

She recalls the year she raced out of the screening for \u201cSafe\u201d to make it to the Egyptian Theater for a late-night screening of \u201cKids.\u201d The Larry Clark picture hadn\u2019t officially made it into Sundance, but distributor Harvey Weinstein \u2014 then at Miramax \u2014 rented out the venue on Main Street to create buzz. After that, Sundance stopped the practice of allowing producers to screen movies that weren\u2019t part of their lineup.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do remember seeing \u2018Precious\u2019 and having no preamble,\u201d says Koffler of her 2009 trip to Sundance. \u201cIt was just a pure discovery.\u201d And 15 years ago, one of her favorite moments was after the Q&A of \u201cOne Hour Photo,\u201d when Williams launched into an impromptu 20-minute stand-up routine. \u201cIt was that intimate festival experience when something unexpected happens,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Against the backdrop of late nights and chili parties (which Vachon used to make at their condo), there are still difficulties associated with juggling so many films at once, especially when premiere times overlap.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter shaking our fists at the Sundance Gods\u2026\u201d Vachon says.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe divide and conquer,\u201d Koffler adds.<\/p>\n

Last year, there was a mild panic attack, after a stack of tickets for the \u201cGoat\u201d premiere disappeared. Fortunately, they were able to sneak the right VIPs past the volunteer ushers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like planning a wedding,\u201d says David Hinojosa, the company\u2019s head of production and development. \u201cYou have to make sure you include everybody. We have four weddings. That\u2019s better than three, because it would have been hard to tell one of our kids that they couldn\u2019t go.\u201d<\/p>\n

View this article at Variety<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The organizing starts around Thanksgiving and doesn\u2019t let up through the New Year. For Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, the co-founding producers of the indie powerhouse Killer Films, the Sundance Film Festival is an annual trek through the snow that dates back three decades. The duo have sold 25 films here, from the 1995 Todd
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