Sundance Film Festival and me 2011
Well, the last two weeks have been a roller coast ride! I got to go to Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT from Jan 20-24th. It was AMAZING!!!!!! I got to go with one of my dearest friends and we just had a blast.
I actually have a really funny story from our first night in, Jan 20th! We landed safely and drove out to the condo we were staying in! In no time at all, it was already time for my radio show starting promptly at 6:15 p.m.
We left about 30 min to go 8 miles, just to make sure, but our directions were bad! So were driving around and it was about 6:02 and I was panicking! We were close to downtown, and knew we had to be close, but with closed streets because of the Festival and so many people, it was like “NOOOO I’m going to miss my radio spot!” So, we said, (We is Charlene, my good friend, as she is my friend, designer, tour manager, and just awesomeness!) “Let’s just call him!”
At the exact moment that she got through to the radio DJ (he was the only one answering the phone), I had pulled beside a cop and was talking across my friend (I was driving) out her window asking him for directions. So, he said it was just across the street and we’d make it! WHEW!
Well- while I was talking to the cop, Charlene had called the DJ and he had answered “Hello Caller, what’s your question?” And she’s like “I’m with the artist Tiana Star and we’re lost.” lol lol! So, she said “Ok, I think I might’ve been Live On-Air!” and I’m like ‘Ohhh no, really?!?!” and she’s like ‘Yeah!” Right at that moment she says that I get a text from my husband in CA that says “Hey, are you guys lost? Having trouble finding the place?” Because he had been listening live online!
So, thankfully, I still made it there about 3 minutes later- and 10 minutes early, but it was crazy hilarious! Thankfully the DJ was totally nice about it and I had a great 15 minute set! ha ha ha. What a way to start!
Friday was so exciting as that was my first TV set EVER! The crew at Park City TV was just amazing and so welcoming. I was nervous until I met everyone, and they just put me at ease! I performed 3 songs at different times during their nightly 1 hour long program, and then was interviewed before my last song! The whole thing was SO much fun! I’ll post pictures soon once Charlene sends them to me! You can watch one of the songs that I performed live on TV here:
Saturday, we stuck around the Kimball Junction area (8 miles from downtown) as I had my big showcase that night at the Library there and wanted to stay close by as I also had rehearsals with an awesome local cellist, Eric Samuels, before the show! So, before the day got away with us, though, Charlene and I headed a couple miles down to go Snow Tubing!!! That was AWESOME! Yes, you tube down the mountain- and you can go together and bump tubes down! We actually have a video of us going together, so I will post that link asap! ;)
My Saturday night showcase went amazing thanks to the wonderful people and friends of the Library, as well as Eric on Cello! It was an amazing performance, and we got to showcase the first draft of my new film video to my song “I Am My Own”. I hope that the people were touched and ECPAT, the charity I was inspired by to write that song, had sent materials to give out. It was an awesome night!
Sunday I got to drive down to Salt Lake to visit the saints and worship there. It was such an encouragement and the lesson was awesome! I then drove back up to pick up Charlene where she’d been snowboarding and we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around Park City, listening to street musicians, drinking awesome coffee, and meeting amazing people everywhere!
We finished out the night with a movie, Family Portrait: Black and White (my first and only Sundance Film I got to go to) which happened to be about a woman in Ukraine who adopts and fosters over 16 children. What’s special about this film, though, is that the children are all mixed babes- meaning half black and half white. Ukraine still has a lot of racism and none of these babies and children are almost ever adopted. It was a very very moving story, and since I also had spent time living in Ukraine, it truly touched me deeply. If you’re interested in learning more about the film you can at: http://www.familyportraitthefilm.com/ I highly recommend learning more, watching it, and also finding out ways how you can help foster children there, as well as in our country!
Charlene and I then went back home and were exhausted! We got up bright and early (3:30 a.m. PST) to get the first flight out to come back home on the 24th. We were anxious to see our babies! (We both have 2 year olds!).
So, it was an amazing trip. I had soooo much fun. It was beautiful in the snow, and all the amazing opportunities and people I met. Just indescribable! I’ll post pictures soon and hope that you’ll come back to see the pictures, as well as check out the links I posted.
Love,
Tiana
