New New Frontier
I started going to New Frontier on Main before it was called that, when it was just a warm, dark basement full of chilly festivalgoers and digital cameras and editing software. There were some classes, panel discussions, and no cell phone reception unless you went out the door and into the mall atrium (which now has signage announcing it as the “Cell Phone Atrium”).
Inside, it’s slicked up too—veering away from any trade show booth vibe and towards nightclub/art installation. One of the first big developments was to bring in the online shorts a few years ago; one of the most fun ways to warm up is to sit at one of the computers in the moody lighting and browse the shorts. From there you can move on to the video art installations, check out the irresistable “Artists and Scientists” segments, play with the “editing gloves”, and then choose from the Microcinema panels; some from Sony, Avid, and Panavision on technie stuff, plus issues-based panels with a timely focus on distribution. Oh, and you can see the entire Sony XDCAM lineup in one place.
Then hit the screening rooms where the New Frontiers programming pushes buttons and envelopes.
I’ve watched New Frontiers become one of the most vital and interesting elements of Sundance—but it remains somewhat undiscovered. As with World Cinema before it, Sundance is acknowledging an historic shift in media, storytelling and form and one that can’t be underestimated for its relevance and potential power to influence. Now is the time to start getting up to speed with it. Let’s start now…my next post will provide the details but don’t wait for me. It’s open 12-8 daily. Let yourself explore.
