sundance film festival take 2: addicted to pain

From sundance film festival 2009 | ut

i submitted my alumni application to the sundance film festival today, and in doing so, i got all nostalgic and excited. i had promised myself i would do a proper "recruitment" post (or several), to motivate my good readers to apply for volunteer positions. this is that.

as most of you probably remember, i applied to work at sundance in park city utah last year completely on a whim. in fact, i had all-but-forgotten about the application when the call came in. i said yes, made the proper arrangements, and ended up having an incredibly surreal, dizzying, and amazing time (and in utah, no less!).

let me make things easy for you.

so you want to be a volunteer at the sundance film festival?

• start here. this is the volunteer overview, and i couldn't say it any better.
  
• sundance 2010 is 21-31 january. many full-time volunteer positions span a longer time than the 10-days of the festival (i worked every day for the 17 days i was there, totaling over 130 hours; "full time" only means 80+ hours, so obviously i have something wrong with me--not all f/t positions are that intense, but many are). for part-time, you just have to work 24+ hours during the festival (but obviously, the perks aren't as good).
  
• the list of departments (positions), requirements, and volunteer benefits are here. i worked in logistics last year (and you can read all about that here); this year i applied for music cafe, filmmaker lodge, and/or press.
  
• alumni volunteers (read: me!) can pull rank...and get first-timers some priority. so if you're thinking about applying, message me here or via email, and i can help you with your application, answer questions, etc.
  
• FAQ.
  
• new volunteer application. deadline is november 15th, but you have a better chance the sooner you apply (they start reviewing alumni applications in september, and first-time volunteers in october).
  

reasons why you should volunteer:

• the films. they're free, they're independent, and they're not released yet. some of the movies that got the most hype last year, you guys are just now starting to hear about or see (e.g. the cove, paper heart, dead snow). there's Q&A, with filmmakers/actors. did i mention they're free?
  
• the city. first off, SNOW. secondly, park city is fantastic and adorable, full of charming places to eat/drink, surrounded by ski resorts and parks and mountains. and the city has two modes: sundance, and non-sundance. full-time volunteers get to see them both, and it's an impressive transformation to watch.
  
• the people. the 1500 volunteers, the hundreds of (year-round) staff, the locals, the press & industry, the musicians, filmmakers, and actors.
  

reasons why you should NOT volunteer:

• you are lazy, complain incessantly, dislike authority, or in any way are "burdened" by your job duties that are, unsurprisingly, unpaid. don't bother applying: we all hate working with people like you.
  
• you're in it for the schwag and/or celebrities. you'll have your chance at both, but you'll be pretty annoying if those are your prime motivators. (even SFF says "those interested in star-sightings and free stuff need not apply.") least favorite moment from last year was finding out a volunteer was stealing filmmaker schwag nightly (timberland shoes, jackets and more) to sell and/or give to family: he would've gotten the stuff anyway at the end of the festival, and i was the one who got to tell filmmakers who Earned The Stuff that we "didn't have their size."
  
• you are old and want to hit on young pretty women. nevermind, you'll fit right in, just try to avoid talking to me this year, won't ya?
  
• you hate snow/the cold.
  
• you don't like film.

overall i have to say, even though it was hard (it was also post-surgery for me, and i may not have been as ready for the physical ramifications as i thought), it was a rollercoaster of amazing experiences. in some ways, i imagine my experience is similar to those who have had amazing "summer camp" memories--throwing themselves into something not at all tethered to their "real life," having moments of buoyancy and and discovery. i knew pretty much upon leaving utah last january that i would be back for seconds.