The independent film industry lost one of its biggest supporters on Tuesday, and the local contingent is mourning.
News of actor, producer, director and activist Robert Redford’s death at 89 spurred an outpouring of tributes from friends, colleagues, coworkers and apprentices.
The Sundance Institute, which Redford founded in 1981 to champion new voices in independent film, released a statement saying the organization is deeply saddened by the loss.
“Bob’s vision of a space and a platform for independent voices launched a movement that, over four decades later, has inspired generations of artists and redefined cinema in the U.S. and around the world,” the statement said. “Beyond his enormous contributions to culture at large, we will miss his generosity, clarity of purpose, curiosity, rebellious spirit and his love for the creative process. We are humbled to be among the stewards of his remarkable legacy, which will continue to guide the Institute in perpetuity.”
Marshall Moore, vice president of operations and marketing of the Utah Film Studios located in Quinn’s Junction, fondly remembered how personal Redford was during an interaction they shared 16 years ago.
At that time, Moore was the Utah Film Commission director, and he was asked to speak at the Sundance Institute Summer Lab program during a dinner for its participants.
“I had planned to talk about (Redford’s 1972 film) ‘Jeremiah Johnson’ and the influence it had on me as a young moviegoer growing up in Los Angeles,” Moore said. “ During its theatrical run, I would walk to the neighborhood theater and stay in the theater all day and watch it over and over, and then here I was at the resort owned by Robert Redford, where much of the movie was filmed. So, it seemed appropriate to talk about the film and the impact it had on me at 10 years old.”
What Moore didn’t anticipate was Redford’s reaction to his remarks.
“Afterwards he came up to me with tears in his eyes and (said) affectionately, ‘Sounds like I made that movie for you,’” Moore said. “He also went on to tell me that there was a time when he thought the film would never see a theater and how it sat for nearly a year before getting its proper distribution.”
Moore will never forget that moment and interaction.
“(It was) just the two of us, and he took the time to share his thoughts and emotions with me on that night,” he said.
Park City-based filmmaker Jill Orschel, whose award-winning documentary short premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, remembers Redford as being “authentic, down-to-earth, no-nonsense” and a “man on a mission.”
“He helped so many filmmakers find their voice and believe in themselves,” she said. “He has impacted me personally and professionally. I wouldn’t be making films the way I do if it weren’t for him. Bob encouraged so many of us to keep at it and know our stories matter.”
Orschel said the Sundance Film Festival has been a “true source of pride” for Park City.
“I remember (Redford) saying how bringing people together in the dead of winter in the mountains — making it a little hard for people — leveled the playing ground for everyone,” she said. “Our town has been so blessed with the culture and humanity that this has brought here.”
Oschel also has her own favorite Redford memory.
“During an assignment as a photographer with the Sundance Institute Directors Lab, I asked him a second time if I could take a photo. His reply, ‘I already said yes!’” she said. “When he would walk into a room, a great hush would encompass the space. (And) I’ll never forget those powerful moments of a person so impactful in our world. He was larger than life but also touched so many in a personal way.”
Redford and the Sundance Film Festival also inspired the Park City Arts Council — now the Arts Council of Park City & Summit County — and a group of independent film lovers to establish Park City Film in 1995.
Executive Director Katharine Wang, who has always said how much her arthouse nonprofit owes to Sundance, thanked the “Sundance Kid” for what he did for the town and independent film.
“It’s hard to overstate how much Robert Redford meant to Park City Film and our indie film-loving community,” she said. “His creation of the Sundance Film Festival and support for independent stories and storytellers profoundly changed the world of film and our little mountain town with it. We will forever be grateful for his commitment to the arts and the environment, and are proud to carry on his legacy.”
Larry Cesspooch, Sundance Institute’s Ute spiritual advisor for the past 35 years, said Redford was connected “to Mother Earth like our Ute People.”
“Redford’s Sundance Institute helped make possible landmark Native films like ‘Smoke Signals’ that changed Native Cinema forever,” he said.
Redford and Sundance’s influence also ran the other way.
The same year Park City Film came into its own, four independent filmmakers — Peter Baxter, Jon Fitzgerald, Shane Kuhn, Dan Mirvish and Paul Rachman — founded Slamdance after their films were not accepted into that iteration of the Sundance Film Festival.
Baxter, who has carried the Slamdance torch since, credited Redford for pushing him and his cohorts to create Slamdance, which launched the careers of filmmakers such as the Russo Brothers, Christopher Nolan and Oren Peli.
“Where would we all be without Robert Redford?” he said. “This noble man changed the way we see cinema. He was a pioneer both on and off the screen and sparked countless careers, including ours.”