Watch: 'Escape From Park City' Shows the Dark Underbelly of Sundance

This short documentary from John Wilson takes a look at the dark side of the Sundance Film Festival. 

Everyone is familiar with the glitz and glamor that is the Sundance Film Festival: parties, exclusive screenings, swag bags, and celebrities. But filmmaker John Wilson (AKA John's Movies) has taken it upon himself to shine a light on the darker, seamier side of Park City in his short documentary, Escape from Park City

Warning: it's about to get real. 

Wilson is a self-described "struggling" documentarian who's never been able to make it into Sundance. Obviously, he was the perfect choice for Vimeo when the company sought a Staff-Picked filmmaker to brave the cold and crowds of Park City to document the 2017 schmooze and movie-fest that is Sundance. Vimeo sent the filmmaker, known for his tongue-in-cheek "how to" videos, to the internationally renowned festival with little more than a hat and a $100 camera to shoot SD footage "that doesn’t even look very good on our media player."

The results are a welcome contrast to the glitzy coverage of the festival, with the filmmaker "sardonically document[ing] the ins and outs of Sundance in his signature lo-fi style with biting and wickedly dry commentary." 

Check it out, and prepare to be simultaneously horrified (and edified, and also entertained) by what the intrepid documentarian/muckraker/satirist uncovers at the world-famous Utah film festival, where the streets are paved with snow, broken dreams, and, yes, movies.      

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4 Comments

This. Is. FANTASTIC.

May 11, 2017 at 8:54AM

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Jordan Mederich
Documentarian / Filmmaker
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So bad it's good. And a bit funny. Good tip about washing the free apples.

May 11, 2017 at 1:54PM, Edited May 11, 1:54PM

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Ha, ha, ha... so good!

May 11, 2017 at 2:01PM, Edited May 11, 2:01PM

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The "other" Sundance is actually a nice place to stay in Utah where they teach classes on film / acting, outdoor amphitheater, a beautiful restaurant and cozy cabins to hunker-down in during your stay. Park City / Sundance Festival in the early 90s for me was a LA Friday night logjam on highway 101, 24 / 7. Seems as though nothing has changed, off to watch the doc.

May 11, 2017 at 3:51PM

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