Kodak's Support of Independent Filmmakers Widespread at Slamdance and Sundance Festivals

Highlights include Coffee with Oscar®-winner Vilmos Zsigmond; and a Panel on Shooting Low-Budget Features on Film

Kodak will once again give its full support to the independent filmmaking community at the Slamdance and Sundance Film Festivals, which will run concurrently in Park City, Utah, beginning January 20.

Kodak will present an extended Q&A with Oscar®-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond, ASC and producer Jack Robinette following the screening of their 1965 film Summer Children on January 24 at 7:30 p.m. here at the Treasure Mountain main screening room. Lost since 1965, 35 mm black-and-white elements of Summer Children were discovered in Canada, France, New York, and Los Angeles. The film is part of the Slamdance Special Screenings program.
 
Kodak will also host "Coffee with Vilmos" on January 25 from 9 -10 a.m. in the main screening room at the Treasure Mountain Inn. Zsigmond, who earned an Oscar® for his cinematography on Close Encounters of the Third Kind and nominations for The Deer Hunter, The River and The Black Dahlia, will discuss his creative process. Zsigmond will offer insights on his collaborations with Steven Spielberg, Woody Allen, Brian De Palma, Michael Cimino and Robert Altman, among others. From independent features to studio pictures, Zsigmond's career tracks the evolution of cinema over the past four decades. His recent endeavor, Louis, has attracted critical acclaim once again for contributing the black-and-white visuals to the silent film that tells the story of a Louis Armstrong as a young boy and how he acquired his first clarinet. 
 
Over at Sundance, Kodak will present the panel "Shooting Low-Budget Features on Film!" on January 25 from 10:30 a.m. -12:30 p.m. at Microcinema at New Frontier on Main. One of the most important decisions a filmmaker faces is choosing the right visual tool to best tell a story. With budgets as low as $50K, these panelists used a variety of format options, including 16mm, two-perf, three-perf, and four-perf 35mm. The panel includes 2011 Sundance Filmmakers Nekisa Cooper (producer-Pariah), Sophia Lin (producer -Take Shelter), Reed Morano (cinematographer-Little Birds), and Michael Tully (writer/director -Septien).
 
"Contrary to the hype, film is a very affordable medium for a wide range of productions, and these panelists can speak to that first-hand," says Lauren Lung, general manager of the Americas for Kodak's Entertainment Imaging Division. "So many filmmakers aspire to shoot film because nothing compares to its latitude, flexibility and resolution. As we continue to advance film technology, these innovative filmmakers don't have to make compromises to realize their vision."

Kodak will also present a product grant to the winner of the Slamdance Cinematography Award. The winner, chosen by a Slamdance jury and announced January 27, will receive 5,000 feet of Kodak motion picture film.

On Main Street at the Sundance Film Festival, Women in Film will present a Kodak product grant as part of their Women in Film/The Incentives Office Grant on January 23. This award - chosen by a jury of educators, filmmakers and artists from WIF - is presented to a female director in the Sundance Film Festival Shorts Program.

These are just a few of the many ways Kodak helps filmmakers get their vision from script to screen. For example, Kodak recently announced it is offering a 50-percent discount to Sundance Institute Fellows on any Kodak camera negative or reversal stock as part of their ongoing efforts to support the next generation of filmmakers. All Sundance Lab Screenwriting, Directing or Producing Fellow alumni who are beginning principal photography in 2011 on their Lab project are eligible.

Kodak's Entertainment Imaging Division is the world-class leader in providing film, digital and hybrid motion imaging products, services, and technology for the professional motion picture and exhibition industries. For more information, visit www.kodak.com/go/motion.

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