From Georgia to Sundance
The Student Life section of Utah State Today highlights work written by the talented student journalists at Utah State University. Each week, the editor selects a story that has been published in The Utah Statesman or the Hard News Café or both for inclusion in Utah State Today.
From Georgia to Sundance
By Benjamin Woodin in The Utah Statesman, Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Kris Cali, a 42-year-old mother of three from Atlanta, Ga., came to Utah for the first time during this year's Sundance Film Festival. Cali won a three-day trip to the festival from the website luckychic.com, an online penny-auction site where items are timed and each incremental bid adds 10 cents to the price, and 20 seconds to the clock.
The Utah Statesman caught up with her during the festival and had a chance to chat with her about visiting Utah and mingling with Hollywood celebrities.
Utah Statesman: What made you bid for the trip?
Kris Cali: I have a son who is a senior this year, graduating from high school, and he's interested in drama and writing — like screenwriting and things like that.
So I thought that would be a perfect trip for him since he's graduating and will attend Georgia State in the fall. The auction went on, I was in front of the computer screen for 15 hours. Finally at 6 a.m., I won.
US: How many days was the trip?
KC: It was from Friday the 21st until Sunday the 23rd. And Lucky Chic provided round-trip airline and then a couple of nights at a lodge at Heber City. It was great. So we actually were able to get some tickets to a couple of movies that we saw and we had a terrific time.
US: Had you ever been to Utah before?
KC: No, never.
US: What did you think of the area?
KC: It was beautiful. It was absolutely beautiful. I was very impressed with the people from Utah because, you know, the South is known for having a lot of friendly people but I almost think that Utah almost has Atlanta beat. Everyone was so friendly I couldn't believe it.
US: What were some of the movies you guys were able to see?
KC: A couple of our favorites, we saw the shorts program, Shorts 3. I think there were a couple of comedies kind of thrown in there but it was mostly dramatic entries.
Or there was one called "Crazy Beats Strong Every Time" that was like a dramatic story about some kids from Brooklyn. They're trying to get an alcoholic father home and find a place for him to sleep at night.
It gets really intense and we ended up meeting the actors at the end and we had a long conversation about Atlanta and that was unforgettable. Another movie we saw was "The Redemption of General Butt Naked," which was a documentary, and that one was terrific.
US: You said that you wanted to buy this as a gift for your son. Did he have a good time?
KC: Yes, he said yesterday it was probably his most memorable vacation that we've ever had. He loved it.
The really neat thing is that he wants to get into either writing or script-writing or acting or something in that area. He's not exactly sure but we managed to do a lot of the Q&A sessions with the different directors and actors of some of the films. He asked questions and they called on him at every event so a lot of the people were able to give him really good advice and I think he came away with a lot of information that's good for a high schooler going into college.
US: Whenever you go to Sundance, the first thing people ask is "Who did you see?" Did you see anyone famous or did you have any interaction with some people that surprised you?
KC: We did. We saw several famous people. The first that we saw was actually at the airport, it was Patrick Wilson from "The Watchmen." Then kind of through a glass window we saw Terrence Howard and Liv Tyler and they were being interviewed. But kind of the most memorable for my son, he had gone off on his own and he saw James Franco. He wasn't really close by, there was a crowd around him but he saw him and my son yells out "You're brilliant," and then James Franco goes "You're brilliant too." I don't think he'll ever forget that.
He also met Peter Dinklage, he actually met him and shook his hand and was able to speak with him for a little bit. We spoke with some up and comers from the "Crazy Beats Strong Every Time" movie and there was a movie called "Benevidas Born," we haven't seen it but the actress is Carina Calderon and we met her and were able to get some pictures with her.
Kris Cali (center) won a three day trip to the Sundance Film Festival after bidding on a website. She bid on the trip as a present to her son, who is interested in the filming industry. (photo courtesy Kris Cali in the Utah Statesman Online)
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