‘I got a taste of the glamorous life’ at Sundance Film Festival 2026
Olivia Wilde speaks at the premiere of ‘The Invite’ at the Sundance Film Festival | photo courtesy of Hailey Edmonds
Mid-January in Salt Lake City, Utah, a young aspiring journalist grabbed her press pass, scarf, and reporter’s notebook and headed to the Sundance Film Festival for its last run in Park City. From celebrity sightings, press lines, and global film premieres, this journalist experienced Hollywood brought to her.
This journalist is me, Hailey Edmonds, arts writer for student media and social media intern at the College of Humanities. This was my second year covering the festival with The Daily Utah Chronicle, and I loved it even more this year. Despite combating the Park City traffic and parking congestion, I somehow managed to interview some cool creatives and write articles along the way. Here are two of my highlights of the festival:
‘The Invite’ premiere night
Getting into a Sundance Film Festival movie is not an easy task, even with a press pass. Thankfully, an unexpected stroke of luck made it so that I could attend the world premiere of ‘The Invite.’ The premiere was at Park City High School in a theatre of over 1000 movie executives and press attendees. As I sat through the pre-movie credits, I looked at the packed theater and thought that the lyrics from Addison Rae’s song, ‘Fame is a Gun’ perfectly described this moment, “I got a taste of the glamorous life.” The movie began and for the next hour and 47 minutes, I was laughing like a hyena.
After the movie, some of the cast and crew came out for a Q&A section, including Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, and Edward Norton. I quickly pulled up my voice memos app on my phone, so that I could get quotes for my article. My friend leaned over to me and whispered that I should ask them a question. I immediately thought of the 1000 people sitting behind me, and the celebrities in front of me that I could potentially stutter my question out to. I gave my friend a laugh and a smile, as if to say, ‘yeah right, like I could do that.’ Then, for the next 10 minutes while person after person asked their questions, I brainstormed a good question I could ask. The second I came up with my brave, good question, the moderator says, “That’s the end of our Q&A section, thank you for your participation.” So, I didn’t get to ask Olivia Wilde my ingenious question, I can’t remember what it was now, but I got to see one of the best movies of the festival (in my opinion).
“The great thing about this script was it allowed us to take people on that journey, to let them laugh, let them relax and then just gut punch them with divorce.”
-Olivia Wilde, Director of 'The Invite'
‘Half Nelson’ Press Line
The last weekend of the festival included a series of legacy movies that once premiered at the festival, and I ended up in the press line for one of those movies, ‘Half Nelson.’ A press line is what everyone imagines when they think of red carpets and Hollywood, flashing lights and journalists with microphones. This was my first press line experience, and I was nervous; I left 30 minutes earlier than I needed to and brought deodorant in case of a sweaty emergency.
“'Half Nelson' really made an impact on people’s lives, and when they tell me that I feel like I've done something amazing. You don’t get many projects like that.”
-Shareeka Epps
Anthony Mackie poses at ‘Half Nelson’ press line at the Sundance Film Festival | photo courtesy of Hailey Edmonds
My friend and I checked into the press line and set up our humble tripod next to the Getty images guy with a camera that looked like it was worth more money than everything I owned. The press line started a little later than planned, which didn’t help the nervousness I was feeling, but once it started our first interview was underway. We got to speak with a member of the cast and a few people from the crew. I was sweaty (as I predicted) and my stomach turned once it was my turn to ask a question, but just like most things in life, everything ended up being ok.
The last celebrity to enter the carpet was Anthony Mackie, and naturally we really wanted to talk to him. We waited for him to make it down the line to us, but unfortunately were told that there wasn’t enough time, so we packed up our things. I guess the world will never know what Anthony Mackie’s favorite album is.
Although the Sundance Film Festival is leaving Utah, I am grateful for the opportunity I had to attend the festival with student media two years in a row. This once-in-a-lifetime experience motivates and inspires me to continue in journalism, especially in the arts.
Check out my coverage of the festival by clicking here.