Every January, Utah gets to rub elbows with the Hollywood community with the annual Sundance Film Festival. Though Robert Redford would be visibly absent from this year’s festivities, many up and coming actors and actresses (as well as some notable musicians) would be in attendance. I set aside a few days to attend the happenings.

I had a few hours to kill Friday morning and took in my first day of the Sundance Film Festival. The first movie premiere of the day was “The Business of Strangers” which stars Stockard Channing and Julia Stiles. Julia has become a hot commodity these days catering to the MTV crowd. I arrived at the premiere about 20 minutes before it started and got Ms. Channing on an index card (she signed it “Best wishes" ). Julia was granting interviews and as she completed an interview, I asked if she would sign a few photos for me. She signed the first one and wanted to personalize the second. I had her personalize the second photo to my 12 year old niece who undoubtedly will be pleased to have the autograph.

Stephen Baldwin was also in attendance but he was talking in his cell phone as he walked up the red carpet so I didn’t bother to ask for an autograph.

Next, I drove around Park City in the hopes of seeing more stars. The only interesting thing I saw was a PETA demonstration with half of the demonstrators wearing nothing but “pasties” and flesh colored underwear. PETA is the group that advocates not wearing fur and leather and, since half of Hollywood wears leather and fur, I guess they thought Sundance would be the perfect place to demonstrate. I admire their courage for standing out in the cold weather. I guess I don’t believe in a cause strongly enough to stand out in 15 degree weather wearing next to nothing.

The next premiere was at 2 p.m. for a showing of “Donnie Darko.” The movie stars Drew Barrymore (she also co-produced it), Noah Wyle, Jena Malone, Patrick Swayze, and Jake Gyllenhaal of “October Sky.” Sadly, none of the stars made it to the premiere. I waited in the cold for nothing! But, the one good that came out of waiting was hearing that Mick Jagger was confirmed to attend the premiere for the movie he co-produced with Lorne Michaels of "SNL" fame.

Samuel L. Jackson also didn’t make it to his premier of “Caveman’s Valentine.” The only gripe that I have with the festival is that it typically coincides with the Golden Globes so many of the “big” names don’t attend Sundance because of this scheduling conflict.

My second day up at the Sundance Film Festival was a half-day of autographing and film watching on the 20th. I showed up at the premiere of “My Sleepy Time Gal” about 10 minutes before it started with the hopes of seeing the movie’s co-producer, Michael Stipe of REM. Sadly, like many other producers and stars with movies at Sundance, Michael was not in attendance. I was about to leave to wander the streets of Park City when I overheard a volunteer say that he had an extra ticket. I asked if I could have it and went in to watch the movie. The movie was extremely depressing but Jacqueline Bisset, in the title role, was really magnificient. Other stars of the movie included Martha Plimpton, Nick Stahl, Amy Madigan, and Frankie Faison.

After a premiere at Sundance, the movie’s director and any stars have a question and answer session after the screening. So, I waited around and got both Nick Stahl (he’s the boy in Mel Gibson’s “Man Without a Face”) and Jacqueline Bisset. Jacqueline was super nice and took many pictures with adoring fans. Nick tried to sneak out a back door and I followed him outside. He seemed really shy but he was very kind about signing. Only strange thing about Nick was that he was at the premiere dressed up in a Dallas Cowboys starter jacket and a pair of khaki pants that had noticeable orange paint stains all over them. I would have thought that an actor would have been better dressed for the premiere.

It was then off to wander Park City for about an hour. I parked my car and walked up and down Main Street. I saw Wallace Shawn drive past in an “executive limousine” (actually, it’s an Ford Explorer) but couldn’t catch up with the Explorer before Wallace got out and went into the hotel he was staying out.

I was wondering where all the stars were and then I saw Patrick Swayze outside smoking and asked him for his autograph. As I asked for his autograph, his press agent said they were ready for an interview. He then asked me, “Can I do this after the interview…wait, I have time right now.” He asked for my magazine and signed it. I had heard from other autographers in California that he was not great about signing but I found him very gracious.

I then walked back up to Harry O’s, the happening bar/restaurant in Park City. Sam Neill was giving an interview outside to hype his new movie “The Dish.” After the interview, another press agent told Sam that another interview was waiting and that he didn’t have time to sign for me. Sam ignored her and signed my index card.

Instead of walking aimlessly around Park City, I decided to stay outside of Harry O’s. It paid off as Sissy Spacek arrived for interviews (and kindly signed an index card for me) and Teck from MTV’s “The Real World” also came out to Harry O’s to hang out. Joe Pantaliano, best known for his work in “The Fugitive,” “U.S. Marshalls” and “The Matrix” also arrived at the club but I couldn’t get over to him in time for his autograph. I waited around for about twenty minutes for him to finish his lunch but I had to leave before Joe finished eating.

I found out that I walked by some other celebrities during my walks up and down Main Street but just didn’t recognize them. Shannon Elizabeth, Piper Perabo and Andrew Keegan were all people that I thought I recognized but didn’t know their names to ask for an autograph. I’m sure there were others that I walked right by that in coming years will become stars. For instance, last year Kate Hudson walked past me at a premiere party. And now, she won a Golden Globe for her performance in “Almost Famous.”

Tuesday night I would also have my former college roommate enjoy the festivities with me. I was looking forward to reliving the "good ol' days." It is always nice to have an autographing buddy.

But, we never made it to Sundance. As I exited highway 80 to Park City, I looked to my left momentarily and the next thing I know my Saturn is crashing into the Jeep Wrangler in front of me. The Jeep was largely untouched by the collision but my Saturn incurred about three grand worth of damage.

So, instead of rubbing elbows with the stars, I was rubbing elbows with my tow truck driver and having to listen to him talk about how his nine year old daughter hurt herself that day when a jar of salsa landed on her foot.

That was not how I wanted to end Sundance. It makes me want to send out more requests through the mail.

‘Til next time!
The Autographer