Fifty years ago this week in my acting career...

During the spring of 1964 my sister got our entire family involved in a pageant being presented in the Tabernacle as a part of the “Days of ‘47” celebration.   The night of the last dress rehearsal the Tabernacle was filled to capacity with over 6,000 members of the cast, crew and audience.  When we’d finished the director asked if there was a little girl or boy in the cast who’d like to offer the closing prayer.  (Please note: my parents were in another group of actors on the other side of the stage.  I had my own blocking which was totally different from theirs.)  Anyway, I raised my hand, actually I was waving it wildly with a near verbal, “Oh, Oh, Pick Me, Pick Me!” when the director picked someone else.  When that little girl turned to the audience, she froze and burst into tears.  Well, there were a whole lot fewer hands when the director asked for another volunteer and I was selected. 

My grandma was in the audience and later said that I gave a very “sweet prayer”.  My parents on the other side of the stage were very surprised when they heard me since they couldn’t see me from their vantage point. 

At the time, guest stars from Hollywood would be brought in for the pageants ever year.  This particular year the two guest stars were Keith Larsen and his wife Vera Miles.  Both of them were impressed with me too and they had the director contact my mother for an audition the next day.

I had horrible Hay-fever when I was little and July 1964 was pretty bad.  I’d been sneezing my brains out that day so my mother decided to give me a Benadryl.  As the phone started to ring with the director on the other end, I was swallowing that pill. 

Hmm, change out of “play clothes” (do kids have play clothes anymore?) into “good clothes” and a 30 minute ride from Midvale to downtown (I-15 was still being built) and the old Hotel Utah in July in a car without air conditioning and you may be able to imagine how groggy I was.  Needless to say, I was a whole lot less impressive the next day than I was the previous night.  The effects had worn off by curtain time for opening night, but I didn’t get a second chance and thus, temporarily at least, ended the acting career. 

The "Utah Film Festival Info Hub" on facebook

There are three annual events that Gretchen and I rarely miss; Living Traditions, the Salt Lake City Jazz Festival and the Utah Arts Festival.  But over the last three or four years, it’s been so hot during the Arts Festival, we started to take refuge from the heat in the library auditorium and discovered, “The Fear No Film” film festival.  Last year none of the festival’s stage acts were either, “have to see” or even, “want to see”; so we reasoned why pay however many dollars for admission when all we’d be doing would be eating at the food court?

So last year we went downtown late Saturday afternoon, had a nice early dinner, walked to the library and settled in for what turned out to be nineteen short films from around the world. 

The “Fear No Film” film festival is a juried show that receives hundreds of entries from across the United States as well as Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa, Canada, Mexico and South America.  A number of films are selected and formed into six or seven programs that are sub categories of a yearly theme.  And, as I stated in a facebook post either late Saturday night or early Sunday morning after we got home, there is no reason for Utah filmmakers to feel insecure or that their work is inferior, it quite simply isn’t!

The vast majority of the Utah entries that we saw were superior to ANYTHING coming out of Europe or anywhere in the United States.  (Side note: The animated work coming out of BYU continues to be absolutely AMAZING; as good, or better than anything you’ll see before Pixar’s latest feature length offering.)

The Utah independent film community has a lot to offer; Sundance quite obviously comes to mind when you think independent film in Utah, but did you know the Salt Lake Film Society is one of the most successful and viable art house theatres in the country?

The day after our “Fear No Film” experience, I singled out two or three facebook filmmaker friends and asked if they’d submitted any of their recent works and one of their replies has lead me to today.  Many of you know this guy’s work, it’s good, probably better than anything I saw that night, but he didn’t know where or when to submit.

The primary purpose of this facebook page is to bring the whens, who’s, what genre, wheres and costs associated with Utah film festivals to as many filmmakers as the page can reach.  It’s secondary purpose is to act as a venue for promoting premiers, special screenings and college or university showcases.  I have some favorite film venues e.g., Ft. Douglas Post Theatre, Brewvies, The Tower and of course the Broadway; as we turn out in greater numbers for events held at these venues, their status in the community will only become more secure.

No selling shoes or purses, if you are looking for an actress over seven feet tall with tattoos who will double as a grip and makeup artist, go somewhere else; this page is just for information on festivals, special public screenings and university and college showcases around the state.

This page will only work if first, everyone who joins is willing to post accurate information on every Utah film festival they come across; and second, if you invite every director, writer, producer, makeup and hair artist, lighting guy, sound guy, actor and indy film lover on your friends list.  I’ve sent out invitations to everyone on my list, will you do the same and together we can create an invaluable resource for the Utah independent film community.