I remember the first time I went to Sundance. It was 1999. I was a young film student and my head was exploding at all the films taking their first step out into the world: American Movie, On The Ropes, Regret To Inform, Three Seasons, Tumbleweeds. But what really made it special was seeing Jon Else win the filmmaker’s trophy for Sing Faster: A Stagehand’s Ring Cycle. It was in that moment that the seed was planted.

In the intervening years I attended the festival, but never with a film. In 2012 I submitted my first feature documentary THE WAITING ROOM, but didn’t make the cut. I knew many worthy films didn’t make it in, but still, I wondered what it would be like to stand on the stage at the Egyptian or the Temple. When I finally got the call I was in my garden, pulling weeds in between wrestling with a cut of my new film THE FORCE, a film that resisted completion at every turn. Sundance programmers Caroline Libresco and Harry Vaughn were on the phone. I immediately knew I had gotten into Sundance.

There were tears, disbelief…and then excitement. I was finally going to Sundance!

The festival was the culmination of years of work to develop my craft. And it was to a large extent the result of my 5-year collaboration with producer Linda Davis and editor Lawrence Lerew that began with THE WAITING ROOM. They were not just collaborators. They were difference makers. And then there was Dave Eisenberg and Lois Vossen at ITVS and Independent Lens again by my side again as co-producers. And of course it was no accident that Jon Else, who inspired me so many years before — and had become my mentor & friend — was now my executive producer. This is how the film got into Sundance.

The days and nights of the fest were long, and sometimes stressful. A record amount of snow was dumped on this ordinarily sleepy mountain town. I fought off a threatening cold with liberal doses of Dayquil, which seemed to contain magical qualities. My wife Vanna, daughter Karina and son Paolo came for a visit at just the right time, giving me the perspective to understand that we do not do this alone. And then it happened. I was on stage accepting the prize for best director.

These are some of the people and the memories that will sustain me for the remainder of my career. This business of independent filmmaker is brutal, unforgiving and fulfilling beyond description. And as we turn our attention down the road we’re excited to think how special the homecoming will be at the San Francisco Film Festival in April. See you then!

Best,

Pete

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