Raff's Brain #77: Walk & Talk - Sundance 2025 Recap - TL;DR MPI ROCKS!!

🎙️ My First Sundance Film Festival Experience | Walk & Talk

Welcome to Raff’s Brain! I’m Rob Raffety, and today I’m taking you behind the scenes of my first-ever Sundance Film Festival experience. From high-altitude struggles to groundbreaking indie films, this episode has it all!

🎧 What’s in This Episode?

• ✈️ The Journey Begins: My flight to Utah, seat strategies, and the rare joy of an empty middle seat.
• ⛰️ Altitude Adjustment: Struggling with the thin air of Park City—seriously, why didn’t I drink more water?
• 🏨 Lodging Luxury: Staying at what might be the best Best Western in America!
• 🎬 Windrider Conference: Thought-provoking films like Ebb and Flow, Tiger, and Gruff.
• 🎥 Meeting Inspiring Creators: MPI’s incredible network of freedom-oriented filmmakers.
• 🏆 Freedom Hair & the Amplify Award: Melanie Armstrong’s inspiring legal battle for occupational freedom.
• 🎭 First Feature Screening: Serious People—a dramedy about balancing life, work, and doppelgangers.
• 🥃 The Art of Whiskey Tasting: Learning the right way to appreciate whiskey at Nelson Cottage.
• 🪑 Cinematic Surprises: Juliet Lewis as a literal chair in By Design.
• 🤝 Networking & Industry Insights: A sneak peek into an upcoming Reagan-Gorbachev film project.
• 🛍️ Festival Swag: Picking up Sundance merch for friends and neighbors.
• 🚨 Unfortunate Twists: Losing my ID, time zone struggles, and a tragedy at DCA.
• 🎮 Final Film & Reflections: OBEX by Albert Birney—an 80s video game-inspired cinematic trip.
• 🚀 Biggest Takeaway: The difference between dreamers and filmmakers? Taking action! It’s time to stop talking and start creating.

LINKS TO REFERENCES IN THE SHOW:
2025 Sundance Film Festival
The Moving Picture Institute
MPI Filmmakers Summit at Sundance
Best Western Plus Landmark Inn - Park City, Utah
Windrider Summit
Kristi Kendall
Undivide Us (feature doc)
Ebb and Flow
Tiger
Gruff
Freedom Hair
Serious People
By Design
OBEX

📌 Key Topics: Sundance Film Festival, Park City Utah, Windrider Conference, Moving Picture Institute (MPI), filmmaking, storytelling, independent film, Serious People, Freedom Hair, By Design, Gruff, OBEX, indie films, networking, film festivals, travel mishaps, creative inspiration.

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