During the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah a collaborative effort Utah's talent ranging from dancers, actors, Makeup Artists, Photographers, Producers, to Film crews came together to perform a Flash Mob right in the epicenter of the festival.
The idea was born from Robinette Desrochers and Tina Thorup weeks before the mob took place. The reasons behind it were that large and small budget productions are being filmed here in Utah in which they bring in outside talent including everyone from the actors to the film crews that make the damn thing. They accept our state's tax breaks and use our diverse landscapes as backdrops in their films, yet refuse or scarcely hire local manpower and talent for their productions.
The Utah Flash Mob was a fun, safe, and public way for us to "show" these people that we mean business and have the drive and talent to succeed in the film world.
I was volunteered to be in charge of directing the video. I had 4 cameramen including myself so we could film the performance from multiple angles at the same time since it was a one-time thing. The day started off with blanket of snow. As we all conspicuously mingled around the performance area waiting for the cue for the mob to start, the snow ceased and the crowds of Sundance attendees poured out in to the streets and performance area. The music started and the Mob performed flawlessly.
It received the much anticipated attention it deserved and made headlines with the Sundance Channel, Salt Lake Tribune, and other local media groups. Within 8 hours of the performance, videos from cell phones were popping up all over YouTube.
Here is the Official Video I cut. The Utah Flash Mob YouTube Channel has more of the cell phone videos.
Please view in HD