Approximately 160 decision makers, influencers, and film industry luminaries will fly to the 2016 Sundance film festival together on a special "Delta Festival Shuttle" on Thursday, January 21, 2016. (Mikey Glazer background photo, inset via delta.com)
Park City, brace yourself for the “Hollywood jet set.” Literally.
On the opening day of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival Thursday, a select group of 160 film industry buyers, bosses and big shots will fly to Utah together on a special Delta Air Lines flight.
“The ‘Delta Festival Shuttle’ is a private event at 30,000 feet,” Ranjan Goswami, VP, Sales-West told TheWrap in a statement. “(It’s) akin to a member’s club o fcreatives in the sky.”
It’s also a members’ club with perks: That cry of joy coming from seat 24F means a raffle winner is headed to Beijing (or Paris or JFK, on Delta of course) and even if your seat isn’t called for one of the vacations, there’s a gift bag on each to one-up the traditional sick bag that normal flights offer.
It is the type of insular, clubby, experience-within-an-already-elite-experience that Hollywood eats up, which they will at a pre-flight brunch at Rock & Brews in the terminal.
In a haze of a ineffective swag strategies that lure celebrities, their gatekeepers and influencers to various festival and award show lounges to foist questionable products on them that nobody really needs, this entertainment marketing strategy proves smart: Give the people you’re trying to sell to exactly what they need, when they need it, in an environment of peers that amounts to a “show” instead of a “tell.”
Back on the ground in Park City this week, there are many fewer swag suites than in years past. From a perusal of the offerings, here are a few of the cool and quirky items that may be worth a talent’s time to take a photo with.
Interactive pet cameras, $100 AMEX gift cards, yacht gift certificates, watches and winter coats. (Photos from Petcube, American Express, Luxury Day Charters, Huawei and CMFR)
$100 American Express Gift Cards: Choices Recovery is gifting in $100 increments and “will give major name talent multiple cards when they sit down for an interview in the “Choices Recovery Media Center hosted by Courtney Sixx.” (At the EcoLuxy Lounge.)
Internet Connected Pet Cameras: Web cameras that let you play your pet remotely by making them chase a laser while you watch. (From Petcube, normally $200, at Kari Feinstein’s Style Lounge.)
Yacht Gift Certificates:
$500 off a one-day yacht rental in Cuba, the Hamptons, the Bahamas or South Florida. (From LuxuryDayCharters.com, at the EcoLuxe Lounge.)
SmartWatches: Watches that tout how much they look like a real watch (“not Apple” they say): (From Huawei, normally $350-$600, at Kari Feinstein’s Style Lounge.)
Retro Members Only Gear: At the Toyota Mirai Music Lounge.
Winter Coats: From CMFR Luxury Outerwear, normally $700-$1,200, at Kari Feinstein’s Style Lounge.
TheWrap’s Party Report at Sundance is presented by the vehicles that will be shuttling filmmakers and to casts to special events, the 2016 Kia Sorento CUV. Among those special events are The Party Report’s party pal and HQ, the Kia Supper Suite by The Church Key. Keep up with real time images of the scene in Park City on @SundanceParties (Twitter and Instagram) .
Sundance 2016: 13 Breakout Stars to Watch, From Parker Sawyers to Lily-Rose Depp (Photos)
Tika Sumpter and Parker Sawyers, "Southside With You" - Richard Tanne's drama chronicles the epic first date of Barack Obama and Michelle Robinson across Chicago's South Side in the summer of 1989. This could be Sumpter's breakout feature role, and while Sawyers doesn't have a U.S. agent heading into Sundance, expect that to change quickly.
Harley Quinn Smith and Lily-Rose Depp, "Yoga Hosers" - The Colleens from Kevin Smith's "Tusk" are back in the director's follow-up, which finds the two teenage yoga enthusiasts teaming up with a legendary man-hunter to battle an ancient evil presence that threatens their party plans. The daughters of Smith and co-star Johnny Depp stole a couple scenes in "Tusk," but this is their first real opportunity to prove they can hold the screen like their fathers. Depp is already on Hollywood's radar, co-starring opposite Natalie Portman in "Planetarium" and testing for the lead in Paramount's "Looking for Alaska."
Michael Barbieri and Theo Taplitz, "Little Men" - Director Ira Sachs returns to Sundance with this film that rests on the slender shoulders of its teenage stars. The duo play best friends whose bond is tested by their parents' battle over a dress shop lease. Taplitz has done plenty of theater and creates short films in his spare time, while Barbieri is a student at the Lee Strasberg Theater and Film Institute in New York. While "Little Men" is his feature film debut, he also appears in Matt Kazman's short film "Killer," which premieres at Sundance.
Lucas Hedges, "Manchester By the Sea" - You probably remember Lucas Hedges as the lead bully in Wes Anderson's "Moonrise Kingdom." The son of director Peter Hedges has since appeared in Jason Reitman's "Labor Day," Terry Gilliam's "The Zero Theorem" and "Kill the Messenger," in which he played Jeremy Renner's son. Here, he plays a teen who falls into the care of his uncle (Casey Affleck) when his father dies. Director Kenneth Lonergan has gotten strong performances out of his young leads in "You Can Count on Me" and "Margaret," and Hedges could be his secret weapon in this film.
Morgan Saylor, "White Girl" - Best known as Dana Brody on "Homeland," Saylor takes center stage in "White Girl," as a college student who goes to extremes to get her drug dealer boyfriend out of jail. It's a potentially explosive role for Saylor, so keep an eye on the rising young actress.
Jacob Latimore, "Sleight" - After holding his own opposite veteran co-stars like Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett in "Black Nativity," Latimore graduated to supporting roles in box office hits such as "Ride Along" and "The Maze Runner." Now he's in the Sundance spotlight with "Sleight," playing a young street magician who turns to dealing drugs when he's left to care for his little sister following their mother's death. When his sister gets kidnapped, he must rely on his smarts and sleight of hand to save her. If that doesn't sound like a star-making opportunity, what does?
Emma Greenwell, "Love and Friendship" - The "Shameless" star is about to break out in a big way between her supporting role in this Whit Stillman movie and her upcoming turn in "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies." She plays Lady Catherine opposite Kate Beckinsale and Chloe Sevigny in this comic riff on an incomplete Jane Austen novella. Greenwell also co-stars in the upcoming Hulu series "The Path" with Aaron Paul and Michelle Monaghan.
Shashank Arora and the cast of "Brahman Naman" - Controversial Indian filmmaker Q has assembled an intriguing cast for his raunchy sex comedy, which showcases Arora's knack for comedic timing. Arora (in yellow shirt) plays a nerdy, hormone-fueled teen who competes for the National Quiz Championships in 1980s India while trying to lose his virginity along the way.
Lily Gladstone, "Certain Women" - This Native American newcomer is said to hold her own opposite her veteran co-star Kristen Stewart as a reclusive young ranch hand in the throes of her first existential crisis who meets Beth (Stewart), a recent law school grad who teaches an adult education class. Gladstone caught the acting bug after watching a "Star Wars" spinoff and quickly became involved in local theater in Montana, where she grew up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. She starred opposite Stewart's "Twilight" co-star Chaske Spencer in "Winter in the Blood" and had a small role in the Benicio del Toro movie "Jimmy P."
Lilith Stangenberg, "Wild" - This up-and-coming German actress plays an young anarchist who chooses a life without hypocrisy or an obligatory safety net. Stangenberg is an unknown entity in the U.S., but seeing as she shares the screen with a wolf, she's guaranteed to have tongues wagging in Park City.
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The festival has made stars out of Ellen Page (”Juno“) and Michael B. Jordan (”Fruitvale Station“). Who will it be this year?
