Let’s get a few things straight.  I don’t ski.  Memories of that “agony of defeat” film clip that ABC Sports used to run all the time are looped in my brain like the Zapruder film.  I don’t particularly want to sit around a lodge drinking rum-spiked eggnog. And I don’t care which starlet is pregnant by which Hollywood hunk.

Rather than follow the exploits of Angelina, Brad and Jennifer, my focus will be on Laura, Steve and Julia. Cleveland Heights’s Laura Paglin is here this year with her new short documentary “No Umbrella - Election Day in the City”, which documents the chaos that took place in Councilwoman Fannie Lewis’s ward on election day 2004.  Paglin’s 26-minute film was up against over 4000 competing entries.  Less than 50 were chosen.

Julia Reichert and Steve Bognar’s “A Lion in the House” is a feature-length documentary, and it made the final cut out of 760 American documentaries submitted.  Between the two of them, these Dayton filmmakers have had previous Sundance entries and even Academy Award nominations.  This year’s entry details the lives of children in a Cincinnati cancer ward.  Julia says that all of the families and all of the doctors portrayed in the film have made the trip out here for the premiere showing of the film which is nearly sold out.

Park City is a tiny mountain town frequented by the ski set for most of the year, except for a couple weeks in January, when it bulges with filmmakers, film company scouts, and film fans.  Actor Robert Redford founded the Sundance Institute 25 years ago as moviemaking workshop in the Utah mountains.  The Sundance festival has since become a major world venue for independent films and emerging directors. 

But, probably because of that reputation, it has also developed into a marketing magnet.  Visiting celebrities are showered with gifts - known here as “swag”.  Corporate tents have sprung up all over town, sponsored by car makers, clothing companies, and electronics manufacturers, who are hoping that some VIP will be captured by a photographer while sporting their product.

Laura Paglin reports that all she has scored so far is a free snowboarding lesson.  The closest thing to swag I got was a small cardboard box on my flight over here.  Inside was a bag of wheat snacks, a whole-grain fig bar, and a package of cheese crackers.  Not much, but it’s a start.  Maybe they’ll ask me to be a satisfied snacker in a magazine ad.  I’m ready for my close-up, Mr. Ritz.