Sundance Blog: Locals Ticket Weekend

The last couple years, Utah local Jill Adler (from OnTheSnow.com) wrote a couple Sundance blogs for the site. This year she returns, and has an update on Sundance 2008 before the big storm of people hit Park City.

The Sundance Fest's locals ticket weekend came and went but not before the tickets to all of the premieres went first.

They gave me a Jan. 6, 10:30 a.m. time slot. You had to be there before 11 a.m. or the (extremely well-organized) system locked you out and you couldn't buy any tickets at all. I arrived at 10:50, strolled right in and began speaking with the ticket seller. In Bruges? Nope. Transiberia? Nope. The Last Word? Nope. Not a single movie on my list had even one ticket, let alone the four I needed. Luckily, the ticket girl shared pre-Sundance buzz and we picked screenings for the lesser-known flicks Jan.18-20. Whew. At least I got something. I pity the poor souls whose time slots were in the afternoon.

Next comes the advance registration ticket sales this weekend for non-locals who preregistered last year and then the open ticket sales January 14. Organizers have set aside chunks of tickets for each film so that buyers do have a shot at the premieres. Unfortunately, if you're not buying on the first day of the sales, you're going to be S.O.L. On the brightside, just because a film has already been sold to a distributor (a "premiere") doesn't mean it's any good. Usually, it's the less notable films that steal the show. Keep your nose and ears to the ground and listen for the buzz.

We bought tickets for Frozen River, Merry Gentlemen, Kicking It and The Broken.