Top 10 Things Which Happened (Or Didn't) at Sundance

I first attended Sundance in 2009. Over the course of the past few years, Shari Frilot, chief curator, New Frontier, Sundance Film Festival has over literally elevated this new platform to the same calibre of films you come to expect at Sundance.

Jacqui Bosnjak at Sundance 2018 

Every year directors move the needle on what is possible and this year was no different. The New Frontier program at this year’s festival showcased 27 works — with content featuring VR, artificial intelligence and augmented reality.

Here are my top 10 takeaways.

1. VR is maturing as an entertainment medium

Sundance 2018 ushered in the largest VR purchase ever with the Darren Aronofsky-backed VR series Spheres landing a seven-figure deal from Joel Newton’s CityLights. The three-part VR black hole series was written and directed by Eliza McNitt and produced by Darren Aronofsky's Protozoa Pictures. The Spheres deal will set the tone for Sundance and other VR festivals in the future. It is a much-welcomed signal that companies can make a serious profit in VR. Shout out to my friend Jess Engel of Crimes of Curiosity, who was one of the producers.

2. VR is a new art form 

While hardware and quality will continue to evolve at a rapid rate, the first standalone virtual reality systems (like Oculus Go) are coming to free people from wires, PCs, and phones. Get ready for VR 2.0 evolution that could help the technology fulfill predictions of it becoming a $38 billion industry by 2026. Futurist Ted Schilowitz of Paramount Pictures noted that this year the VR films all showcased a remarkable evolution in the craft of this new art form. From Felix and Paul’s Space Explorers, a 20-minute VR doc that was shown in a GoPositron chair, giving the directors a way to transport you exactly where they wanted you to be without you having to move, to Fable Studios' incredible Wolves in the Walls, a VR experience based on Neil Gaiman’s novel, which showcased stunning creative control of the medium - this year, the craft of telling stories in VR was at an all-time high.

3. Breakfast is the new dinner 

In 2008 I started a power ladies breakfast club called MadWomen. This year Q Department, Mach1 (our spatial audio technology company), Here Be Dragons and Technicolor hosted the third iteration of MadWomenVR at Sundance. At 10am, a powerhouse of ladies ascended the funicular at The St Regis to attend MadWomenVR. In attendance were Intel, 20TH Century Fox, Netflix, Amazon, Marvel Studios, Mattel, lawyers that specialize in VR, Baobab Studios, Atlas V, the godmother of VR Nonny De Le Pena, RSA VR, Google, Oculus and more. Patrick Millimg Smith of Here Be Dragons once said VR is a female medium, and I agree. It's exciting to see so many smart women shaping this next computing platform.

4. Power parties

Oculus' Cocktail Party was the who's who of VR: directors, producers, financiers and newly-formed studios were out in full force. But some of the best parties happen high up in Deer Valley at private houses. My favourite this year was hosted by Ted Gagliano, 20th Century Fox's president of post production [pictured above]. Special mention to CAA for having a secret hangout lounge where VR directors, actors and producers hashed out deals.

5. The future of VR is social 

Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin’s Within Sundance entry this year was a multi-person VR experience that turns you and your friends into female warriors. Chorus, directed by Tyler Hurd and set to the eponymous track by Justice, was a fun social exploration with crystals, lasers, monsters and heroines, enabling six people to band together in real-time to battle evil.

6. The rise of episodic VR

Dispatch is a four-episode VR miniseries from Here Be Dragons that follows a small-town police dispatcher as he faces one of the greatest challenges of his career during an all-night crime spree, taking audiences to a place few have ever been. The result is a gripping narrative.

7. Schrodinger's Butterfly flies again

VR_I, from a team in Switzerland, was an incredible VR experience that blended art with technology. VR_I connected five spectators and immersed them together and in real time performance with surprising effects of scale which work very well in VR.

8. The Creative Big Bang

Felix and Paul’s Space Explorers: A New Dawn lets you experience the journey of NASA astronauts as they navigate the trials and sacrifices of their training and missions. It'a an impressive, immersive VR experience that shines a light on mankind‘s most ambitious endeavour to understand our planet, our universe and our origins. Their Isle of Dogs: Behind the Scenes FoxNext VR film, promoting Wes Anderson's upcoming film, also deserves honourable mention.

9. All the powder to yourself

Ski, make deals hang out at Stein Eriksen and eat elk stew. While the Sundance Film Festival draws a massive crowd to Park City, it's also infamous for driving away the normal winter tourists. In the middle of some of the finest winter snow, Deer Valley is a paradise of untouched lines with no one on the slopes.

10. Harvey Weinstein was not at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

Enough said.