"Land Ho!" At Sundance Was Quite The Trip!

Colby D Crossland / Getty Images for Sundance Film Festival

Last month, the latest feature I produced, "Land Ho!" premiered at Sundance. This was my third feature to premiere there (after "Children of Invention" and "California Solo"), and it has been a different but always rewarding experience each time. 

This time, I felt sort of like I was in bizarro world because I was part of one of those storied, infamous "all-night" negotiations that you always hear about but can't actually imagine being real. I put "all-night" in quotes, but it actually was all night--from 6pm Tuesday till 4:30am Wednesday. At the end of that night, or morning really, Sony Pictures Classics had acquired the film. It was a dream come true for all of use since we've always wanted to work with them.

But even more important than the deal was the audience and critical reaction to the film. I can't remember the last time I went to a movie and the audience laughed that much (and also cry!). It made me so proud to have been a part of making this film, along with writer-directors Martha Stephens & Aaron Katz, producers Sara Murphy & Christina Jennings, and our wild and crazy boys Paul Eenhoorn & Earl Lynn Nelson. I was extra proud that this was the first film financed by Gamechanger Films, the women directors film fund that I run.

We cannot wait to share "Land Ho!" with everyone this year! Until then, check out some of these great articles about the film and our Sundance experience. For more, see our Facebook page.

• A Week With The Unlikely Breakout Stars Of This Year’s Sundance | BuzzFeed (Feb. 2, 2014)
• “Sundance: The Plastic Surgeon and the Actor, a new Comedy Team” | The New York Times (Jan. 24, 2014)
• “Mirror, Mirror: Sundance Hits 30″ | The New York Times (Jan. 23, 2014)
• “Sundance Film Review: Land Ho!” | Variety (Jan. 21, 2014)
• “Women of Sundance: Land Ho!” | Filmmaker Magazine (Jan. 21, 2014)
• “A First Look At What May Be The Surprise Hit Of This Year’s Sundance Film Festival” | BuzzFeed (Jan. 15, 2014)
• “Meet the 2014 Sundance Filmmakers #20: Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens Team Up for Iceland-Based Comedy ‘Land Ho!’” | IndieWire (Jan. 14, 2014)
• “Exclusive: Meet the Artists ‘Land Ho!’” | Film.com (Jan. 14, 2014)