Haute Living: As director of Sundance, what are your main responsibilities?
John Cooper: I’m the director of the film festival; the festival is part of the not-for-profit Sundance Institute. My responsibilities are everything dealing with the festival—overseeing the whole event, stemming from an artistic approach, from the picking of the films to deciding the overall tone, right on down to the design aspects.
HL: This was your first year as the director. What were the biggest changes made under your direction?
JC: I was director of programming for the festival for eight years, and I have been with the festival for 20, so it isn’t new to me in any way. But as the director, I found I had to be a different kind of listener. When you are the director of programming, when you have final say, you have to read the passion of the staff. I have a staff that watches a lot of movies, and I was the most seasoned and loudest voice in the room for a good number of years. When I became director, I had to switch over and become sort of the best listener in the room. Because what I really want to do is read their passion. I made a rule for myself to put together the best program. Somebody had to love every single film that was in the festival. No matter how much we talked about a film, no matter how much we argued about a film, in the end, I asked, “Does anybody love this film?” If nobody did, it didn’t make the cut.
HL: Even if a film creates a controversy and gets everyone talking, if someone doesn’t love it, you won’t add it to the festival lineup?
JC: Right, because we are pretty controversial already. But last year, they used words like important. “This is an important film.” Instead I asked, “Do you love it? Does it work? Does it work for you both intellectually and emotionally?” I think that is what you need to make a really good festival.
Check back tomorrow for more of John’s interview, including his reflection on the success of his goal to take the 2010 festival back to its artistic roots.
