After a wonderful flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake City in first class (we were fortunate to get an upgrade), Amna and I made the short drive to Park City, Utah. The air is so clean out here; you wouldn't believe it.

The presence of Sundance is felt everywhere in the tiny resort town of Park City. From the town below, one can see skiers and snowboarders careening down the mountain sloops right into the down town area. A sky lift actually carts the brave and adventurous snow folks up the mountain right above a well-traveled city street. All over the place, young and beautiful people (you know the type) mill about from screening location to screening location.

In time, Amna and I find a parking place near the Treasure Mountain Inn the headquarters of the 2003 Slamdance Film Festival. The Inn is crawling with filmmakers and movie-goers. Checking in was a breeze, Margot Gerber, the director of media relations, gives us the score and outfits us with press packages. According to the schedule, I have arrived in time to screen Greg Pak's Robot Stories who is to be in attendance.

We hook up with Stephen Wong (cell phones rock), who has been covering Sundance for us this year. Stephen has been having a good time as you know. He tells me that he just finished a screening of The Singing Detective, details later. A few pieces of pizza and a pitcher of coke later, Stephen and I get in line to see Robot Stories and Amna takes off to catch a Sundance screening of Deadend.com.

The line for Robot Stories is impressive and Stephen and I manage to get good seats in the banquet room converted well into a movie theater. Stephen observes in the years that he and I have been running the website, we have never watched a film together. Such is the reality of digital relationships and geographic limitations. Stephen is now based in San Francisco and I'm still hopelessly shackled to Atlanta.

Robot Stories looks great on a bigger screen. Stephen told me that when you watch a digital video film at home the viewer may be deceived because the differences with film are less noticeable. In other screenings at Sundance, Stephen said that it can be easy to spot the digital productions. After the screening Greg Pak told the audience that the reason why Robot Stories may look so good related to shooting the film with the Sony DSR 500 camera in PAL format that uses 25 more lines of resolution that the US format. This cuts down on digital artifacts and other problems. Also, the film was later transferred to 35 mm. He recommended avoiding extreme wide shots and complex costume and set patterns.

The screening started with a short film called Second Place from director John Hime. Second Place is the story of two roomates, Paul and Glenn, who compete against one another in simple and often stupid funny contests. For example, in one scene, the two balance tea cups on their heads trying to outlast the other. Paul consistently comes up short. In time, the two are facing eviction and must find some way to keep from losing their apartment. This was a funny short perfectly suited for video.

David Alan Grier (of In Living Color fame) is a juror at this year's Slamdance festival and attended the screening. The little room was packed with people sacked out on the floor, and others, drinking beer (at least, right in front of us) and wandering in and out. The atmosphere here is fun and light. Look for more coverage and Amna's review of Deadend.com sometime today or tomorrow.

Jonathan W. Hickman