Kinky Boots intro with a smiling Julian Jarrold and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
My top moments of joy from Sundance London 2024
Lots of linked videos – do click through and watch them, they are short and fun!
Meeting all our lovely filmmakers – they’re just names on emails and flight tickets until you meet them and then they are all nice human beings too. Video
The audiences – we set a new record selling tickets and passes this year – if you create a festival and nobody comes, it’s not really a festival is it? So seeing busy, happy audiences is the BEST.
Our AWESOME brunches where people were having real, meaningful conversations. I’ve alredy heard of people who made the right connections and are having follow-up meetings this week. Result!! Some people have said it literally changed their life. That might be an exaggeration but it felt like we made a difference to people’s careers for four days and that’s why we do it and it worked. Whew! A bit of the vibe in this video.
The Reunions – two of our rep titles had very special reunions bringing together people who hadn’t all been together in decades. Special vibes with Kinky Boots (video) and Under the Skin - the Carine Adler one not the Glazer one (video).
The Kneecap lads telling one of the Picturehouse managers, Cormac O’Connor, that his name was “Irish as fuck”
This video summing up Sundance London in one word.
Reuniting with my first boss in the film industry, Eugene Hernandez, 20+ years after he hired me to work at indieWIRE and took me to my first Sundance in Park City!
Talking to Marc Webb about (500) Days of Summer and him revealing he and Ed Helms were Sundance (Utah) parking lot volunteers one year! Video coming soon.
Watching the grape throwing/catching routine from Kim Yutani and Mike Plante. Magic caught in action:
Carlos Lopez Estrada being so thoughtful and open and raw and real during his industry keynote – we’ll post the whole talk online in the next few weeks.
The Kneecap hats, the Didi team’s I Heart London T-shirts, and Rich Peppiatt’s wife getting the Kneecap script (in tiny font!) printed on his opening-night shirt.
The green room moments – Maisy Stella fangirling on Emerald Fennell and then Emerald fangirling with the Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared duo Becky and Joe.
Seeing the amazing bonds of real friendship amongst the creators of our audience award winning film, Your Monster. These ladies really have each others’ backs. And it gave me a moment to jump into a photo beside Meghann Fahy of White Lotus fame!!
Seeing BIG audiences for all our shorts programmes. Video
Our AWESOME pitch panel – second time we did this and even better this year – great pitches, great jury, new gold jacket for MC extraordinaire Sam Clements and such love and support in the room.
Surprise film - Kinds of Kindness - unveiling moment (and the person who shouted “Fuck Yes” from the back of the cinema – video here.
A panellist telling me I was “a hoot” as a moderator – I like that word. I AM A HOOT!
Sitting in the green room chatting with Carine Adler and Rita Tushingham as they ate cheesy chips – I tried to do Scott proud and talk to Rita about LFC (she'll miss Klopp but she's not too worried).
Seeming real friends come in and out of the festival – you know who you are – and making a new friend who gave me the BEST hug on closing night when I needed it cause I was tired and hangry. Somehow I got stuck being the one collecting all the pizzas for the party but didn't actually get to eat any of it! the photo is funny though:
It’s not all name drops some of the joy is behind the scenes – seeing some of our team just absolutely smash it – especially looking at you, Storm Patterson and Salome De La Garanderie.
Learning to combine the avocado bap and bacon bap at Picturehouse Central on the final day of the festival – yet another reason I’m indebted to Storm.
The industry badgeholder who told me he liked my dresses every day. Thank you, kind sir, whoever you were, cause I did try to raise my dresses game this year.
The inside jokes with our team – lick of paint, bad cop, laptops in the snug, the egg count for Jon P's breakfasts – these people are my people and I love working with them for a few months a year.
Getting to learn from Clare Binns, absolute legend, even if she did keep eating my chips. here she is yelling at people to shut up at a party in the charming and sweary way only she can.
The volunteers – shoutout to Sophie Shores from Duke of York’s in Brighton who kicked ass running the volunteers and to the vols themselves who join us year after year and really do feel part of the team. Special shoutout to Monica who volunteers in Utah AND London every year! Video here
This video sums it all all the magic so well:
Thanks to Joanne Davidson for the photos and Flick, James, Andy and Hope for the videos – brilliant and hardworking folks.
(PS Social media reality check: running a festival is not entirely joyous. I won’t go into the dozens of small moments of headaches, annoyances, failures and frustrations that come with running any kind of event! Let’s just remember the good stuff).
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