(New York, NY- January 18, 2009) On the road to the 15th Anniversary of the Gen Art Film Festival taking place this April, Gen Art is excited to announce its largest presence to date during the Sundance Film Festival where it will produce the Gen Art Lounge @ Sky Lodge located at 201 Heber Street (@ Main St), Park City, Utah. The Gen Art Lounge @ Sky Lodge will include a Daytime VIP Lounge, as well as play host to four high profile events: “7 Fresh Faces in Film” with 7 For All Mankind on January 22, The Kenneth Cole Vintage Black Party on January 23, and both the K●Swiss Ping Pong Classic and Entertainment Weekly Documentary Filmmaker Reception on January 24.
On Friday, January 22, from 10pm-1am, 7 For All Mankind and Gen Art will honor seven talented up and coming actors at the 3rd annual “7 Fresh Faces in Film” celebration hosted by actress Malin Akerman (“The Watchmen”, “Couple’s Retreat”) who has two films premiering at Sundance Film Festival: (“happythankyoumoreplease” & “The Romantics”)
The 7 Fresh Face honorees all have a film premiering at the festival. Shawn Ashmore (“Frozen”), Amy Ferguson (“Douchebag”), Shiloh Fernandez (“Skateland”), Zoe Lister-Jones (“Armless”), Zoe Kazan, (“happythankyoumoreplease”), Jennifer Lawrence (“Winter’s Bone”) & Kevin Zegers (“Frozen”).
The group was carefully chosen by members of Gen Art and 7 For All Mankind based on their past and current projects. “These talented actors are poised to become the breakout stars of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and we expect them to make tremendous contributions to the entertainment community” said Leilani Augustine, VP of Marketing at 7 For All Mankind. The program in its third year launched at the 2008 Festival, and has selected several actors who have truly since broken out including Olivia Thirby, Kate Mara, Charlyne Yi and Jason Ritter.
On Saturday, January 23, from 10pm-1am, Vintage Black – Kenneth Cole Fragrance and Gen Art will salute several actors for their dedication to the art of independent film at the “Kenneth Cole Vintage Black Party” hosted by Kenneth Cole himself with celebrity guest DJ Joel Madden spinning. The Honorees include Melissa Leo, Juliette Lewis, Diego Luna, and Michael Shannon. The nominees all have an impressive resumes of credits and three of the Honorees have been nominated for Academy Awards (Melissa Leo and Michael Shannon for performances just last year) and three for Independent Spirit Awards.
Both Vintage Black – Kenneth Cole Fragrance and Gen Art believe in the ongoing support and promotion of independent filmmaking and the arts. To commemorate this evening, Vintage Black – Kenneth Cole Fragrance will be making a $10,000 donation to the Sundance Institute on behalf of the evening’s honorees.
On Sunday, from 2-4pm Gen Art will co-host the K●Swiss Ping Pong Classic where cast members and filmmakers from four festival films will battle it out on the ping pong court. The competing teams will be announced shortly. The winning film from the K●Swiss Ping Pong Challenge, created by Gabriel Sunday called “Chinese Penhold,” will also have its world premiere screening at the event. Gabriel is the lead actor and screenwriter of the film “My Suicide” which will be released this February.
During the daytime hours of Friday, January 22 and Saturday, January 23, from 10am-5pm, and Sunday, January 24, from 10am – 1pm, the Gen Art VIP Daytime Lounge will be open to invited guests. The daytime space will be a place for select talent, industry members, press and tastemaker consumers to be able to take a break from the madness of Main Street. The lounge will feature complimentary beverages provided by Lounge partners Patron Tequila, Stella Artois and Fiji water. In addition, there will be gifting / sampling from various lounge partners including General Snus and LifeStyles Condoms, and travel package gifting for approved talent by The Escapes Group.
Also Anastasia Soare, the Definitive Eye and Brow Expert, brings her famed Anastasia Beverly Hills salon to Sundance for the first year ever! Anastasia has been shaping the brows of Hollywood’s hottest stars including Madonna, Jennifer Lopez, Penelope Cruz and Reese Witherspoon. Anastasia will launch her most innovative product to date, the Illumin8 with Youthful Synergy Complex Eye Shadow Palette, and guests at the suite will be the first to experience it.
In addition, entertainment industry figures Robin Ruzan and Michael Davis will bring their interactive studio, The Room Live, to The Gen Art Lounge @ Sky Lodge. A innovative concept in content production; The Room Live offers filmmakers and producers the opportunity to get themselves, cast and crew’s promotional message about their films in front of cameras for massive web distribution.
Overall, Gen Art’s program in Park City is a part of Gen Art’s long term commitment to promoting, showcasing, and building awareness for emerging independent artists through over a hundred annual events and dozens of grants. Gen Art Film SVP, Jeffrey Abramson, stated “We are very excited to be again be both hosting one event which spotlights rising talent (“7 Fresh Faces”) and another which honors their role models (“Kenneth Cole Vintage Black”). We are so excited to be kicking off 2010 with our most impactful presence to date in Park City. It is also an appropriate kick-off to the road to the 15th Anniversary Gen Art Film Festival presented by Acura that will be taking place April 7-13 in New York City.”
Gen Art co-Founder and CEO Ian Gerard stated “I couldn’t be more proud of our film program and the partners we have brought to the table for our 2010 Sundance experience. And with the addition of the daytime lounge – which will serve as an informal environment where members of the industry can socialize and network – we are doing our best to provide value to those out in Park City.”
