Christopher Nolan Receives Inaugural Slamdance Founder's Award

On behalf of ScreenCraft I had the opportunity to attend the Slamdance Founder's Award which honored filmmaker Christopher Nolan yesterday in Park City, Utah.  Nolan's first film "Following" was at the Slamdance Film Festival back in 1999.  Since then Nolan has gone on to direct such celebrated movies as Memento, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight and Inception.  Here's the Slamdance press release:

(LOS ANGELES, CA - January 9, 2014) – Today, the Slamdance Film Festival announced the introduction of the Slamdance Founder's Award.  The award, in its inaugural year, will be presented to acclaimed filmmaker, Slamdance alumnus, and long-time supporter of indie film, Christopher Nolan.  His first film, "Following", screened at Slamdance.  This film introduced his artistic vision to the film community long before audiences worldwide would discover his later films “Memento”, “Insomnia”, his re-imagining of the "Batman" saga, "The Prestige", and “Inception”.  As Slamdance celebrates its 20th festival season and renegade DIY spirit, Nolan serves as the ideal honoree as both an innovative filmmaker and a generous supporter of his fellow indie filmmakers. Nolan will be honored at the Slamdance Film Festival headquarters, in the Treasure Mountain Inn in Park City, UT on Saturday, January 18th, during the festival.

"Throughout his incredible successes, Christopher Nolan has stood firmly behind the Slamdance filmmaking community.  We are honored to present him with Slamdance's inaugural Founder's Award," stated Peter Baxter, Slamdance President and Co-Founder.

Nolan states, "I'm honored to be recognized by a Festival that gave me some of my first opportunities to connect with an audience. Slamdance continues to provide an important forum for emerging filmmakers and I'm proud to be part of their history.”

This year's anniversary slate consists of 93 films, including the premiere of the DIY documentary, which follows the historical development of the Do-It-Yourself indie film movement, as well as a number of thought-provoking films by a variety of acclaimed and visionary filmmakers from all over the world.

Photo Credit: Slamdance

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival will run concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival, January 17-23, 2014 in Park City, Utah. Slamdance continues to serve as a showcase for the discovery and development of emerging independent talent and unique cinematic visions. Slamdance is the only festival programmed entirely by filmmakers. With over half of 2013's feature films having found distribution after premiering in Park City, Slamdance continues to be a fertile ground for new filmmakers to begin their careers.

Notable Slamdance alumni who first gained notice at the festival include: Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight Rises), Oren Peli (Paranormal Activity), Marc Forster (World War Z), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Lena Dunham (Girls), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Anthony & Joe Russo (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), Seth Gordon (Horrible Bosses) and Lynn Shelton (Humpday).

The organization supports its alumni beyond the festival, by increasing exhibition opportunities through international and domestic On The Road events and developing commercial distribution through Slamdance Studios. 2013 VOD releases include Daniel Martinico's OK, Good, Rudd Simmons' The First Season, Monteith McCollum's Hybrid, and Eleanor Burke and Ron Eyal's Stranger Things. Slamdance's 2013 On The Road program has traveled to Austin, Detroit, Los Angeles and New York, further supporting award-winning feature films such as Nicole Teeny's Bible Quiz, Matt Johnson's The Dirties and James E. Duff's Hank and Asha, as well as a selection of local short filmmakers.

The 2014 Slamdance Film Festival Sponsors include MixBit, Blackmagic Design, Vimeo, and The Directors Guild of America. Further support is given by Different By Design, Pierce Law Group, InkHead Promotional Products, and Variety. Celebrating our 20th festival season, multimedia platform Gawk, will be the exclusive presenting sponsor of Slamdance TV for the 2014 Festival. Slamdance is once again proud to partner with sponsors who share our unique vision, and support emerging artists who are pushing the boundaries of independent filmmaking.

Slamdance is proud to introduce MixBit and Blackmagic Design as festival award sponsors. The Slamdance

Trailer Competition, presented by MixBit, offers all filmmakers accepted into the 2014 festival an opportunity to create their best trailer. Entrants' work will be presented on MixBit.com and the finalists will have their trailers shown during the festival. The winner will be announced during the Awards Ceremony on January 23, 2014. Blackmagic Design will be joining the presentation with their sponsorship of the 2014 Blackmagic Design Cinematography Award.

Additional information about the Slamdance Film Festival is available at www.slamdance.com