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John Horn

Universal Studios will celebrate its 100th anniversary.

Universal Studios turns 100 with big plans to celebrate

Last updated Wednesday, January 11, 2012 - 11:01am

LOS ANGELES -- Universal Studios will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year in large part by restoring and reissuing some of the studio's classic films, including "To Kill a Mockingbird," "Jaws," "All Quiet on the Western Front" and "The Birds."

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Film buyers have many choices at Sundance Festival

John Horn Los Angeles Times

Last updated Wednesday, December 7, 2011 - 12:40pm

LOS ANGELES -- By the time the first weekend of the Sundance Film Festival wraps up each January, most film buyers already have started packing their bags. But they'll need to bring extra underwear and socks to Park City in 2012 -- the festival's premiere categories, where the most potentially commercial films are placed, are overflowing with new works, and none of the 15 narrative films has a distribution deal in place, while most of the eight documentaries are looking for a home too.

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In this film image released by Sundance Film Festival, Gina Rodriquez is shown in a scene from "Filly Brown." The film will be competing at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. (AP Photo/Sundance Film Festival, John Castillo)

Sundance Film Festival promises an eclectic slate

John Horn Los Angeles Times

Last updated Thursday, December 1, 2011 - 11:24am

Actor Mark Webber has visited the Sundance Film Festival several times -- his movies "Good Dick," "The Good Life" and "Weapons" traveled there previously -- but the 31-year-old indie film veteran had never been to Park City, Utah, as a director. Until now.

In selecting the 32 films for their 2012 narrative and documentary competitions, Sundance programmers cast a wide net, but some of the picks announced Wednesday by festival director John Cooper and programming head Trevor Groth inevitably featured familiar faces, albeit some in new jobs -- like Webber.

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Sundance can make and remake the careers of stars and directors

Chris Lee, John Horn, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Friday, January 21, 2011 - 11:26am

LOS ANGELES -- Most actors would kill for Patrick Dempsey's credits. The 45-year-old performer not only stars in the highly rated television series "Grey's Anatomy" but also boasts the movie hits "Valentine's Day" and "Enchanted."

Yet when Dempsey -- Dr. McDreamy to his TV admirers -- looks at the trajectory of his career, he fears being pigeonholed as the likable, romantic comedy hunk who can't play anything else. "If you're typecast, you really have to take the initiative and change people's opinions about you," Dempsey said. "You have to be very proactive."

So this weekend Dempsey will fly to Park City, Utah, for the Sundance Film Festival, where his movie "Flypaper" will have its world premiere. While Hollywood movers and shakers go to Sundance for any number of reasons -- the parties, the swag, the skiing, the deals -- any number of actors and filmmakers now head to the nation's top showcase for independent movies with a distinct professional goal: to reinvent their image.

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Moore, Roberts, Farmiga join Sundance fest lineup

John Horn, Los Angeles Times

Last updated Wednesday, December 1, 2010 - 6:27pm

LOS ANGELES — Actors Michael Rapaport and Vera Farmiga say they owe their acting careers to the Sundance Film Festival. In January, the nation’s most prominent movie gathering could establish them in a new light — as directors.

Farmiga’s "Higher Ground," a drama about a woman’s struggles with fundamentalist Christianity, and Rapaport’s "Beats, Rhymes and Life," a documentary about the seminal hip-hop group A Tribe Called Quest, were among the select few independently financed movies selected for Sundance’s 2011 dramatic and documentary competitions.

While there are a smattering of recognizable actors among the narrative films in the dramatic slate announced Wednesday — including Demi Moore, Liv Tyler and John C. Reilly — the lineup tilted heavily toward largely unknown filmmakers working with mostly unrecognizable performers. The documentary slate was equally focused on new directors, with the festival creating a new, non-competitive, documentary premiere section to accommodate and showcase better-known nonfiction storytellers.

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