Day One – Saturday, Jan. 17

PARK CITY, UTAH — Out of almost 1,000 first features submitted to Slamdance, a personal micro-budgeted movie I made with my friend Simon Reynolds (Only) is among 10 films from around the world screening in narrative feature competition at this year’s festival. The fest says it is ‘strictly devoted to films without domestic theatrical distribution, from first-time feature directors, working with relatively low budgets… The mantra of ‘by filmmakers, for filmmakers’ resounds at every level of the organization.’ Cool.

2 p.m. I arrive at our condo. I am sharing with five other people: two New York filmmakers, a Canadian blogger, Simon, and actor Kevin Corrigan. Fantastic view. Hot Tub. Washer, dryer, fully equipped kitchen. Only 30 minutes bus ride to Main Street. Simon and I get on the bus and head to the festival hotel, The Treasure Mountain Inn.

5 p.m. Saturday night on Main Street is a mosh pit. Every restaurant is packed. Private parties galore. The weather is balmy by Toronto standards (high 35F, low 20F). The Slamdance programmers are so welcoming. We get passes, movie tickets, toques, and free Doc Martens boots!

Day Two – Sunday, Jan. 18

Slamdance is like Sundance’s rebellious sister. I was at Sundance in 2002 with a Canadian Film Centre short I produced, Three Sisters on Moon Lake. There were some high points (meeting Christine Vachon), but every turn had a VIP hustle happening. Slamdance is the opposite. Once you arrive, it’s like an all-inclusive resort. My filmmaker pass gets me into all the screenings, social events — brunches, happy hours, parties — and workshops, which include fireside chats, demos and expos. Beautiful.

12 p.m. Our U.S. premiere of Only. I’m nervous and excited. Will people come? Will it look and sound okay? Feature filmmakers are allowed a half-hour technical check. (So civilized.) The projectionist is awesome and gets everything looking and sounding great within minutes. Our audience is 100 people strong in a house that holds 150. I’m happy, given that we’re competing with brilliant ski conditions and the NFL playoffs. I love watching the audience watch the movie.

During our Q&A, I’m impressed to see our sales agent, Rob Straight, in the front row. He planned to watch the intro and the first 10 minutes, but says, ‘I couldn’t leave… the film gets me every time.’ That’s why he’s our sales agent.

6 p.m. Main Street is calmer tonight. We go to the You Might as Well Live party where the DJ is spinning everything right. Trays of salmon and steak canapés circulate. As I type these last few words, Paris Hilton swoops in to grab a swag bag. Next stop, the Telefilm Canada party.

Ingrid Veninger reports this week from Slamdance. Her CFC feature Nurse.Fighter.Boy directed by Charles Officer (www.nursefighterboy.ca) opens in Toronto and Vancouver on Feb. 6 through Mongrel Media.