Sundance 2020 Special Part 1: Documentary

This year, Sundance Film Festival's Cinema Cafe featured an interview with Ron Howard, where he talked about shooting his first documentary, Rebuilding Paradise. We present some selected soundbites of the conversation. Howard had personal connections to the town of Paradise, California, so he decided to find out what the citizens there were doing to rebuild their community after the devastating fires destroyed the town.

Imagine Entertainment now produces its own content in documentary, children's entertainment, multicultural low-budget films, podcasts, branded entertainment and animation.

Rebuilding Paradise will be released in theaters later this year by National Geographic.

Find Ron Howard: Instagram @realronhoward

See the entire interview

Filmmakers Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw ventured deep in the forests near Alba, Italy for their documentary, The Truffle Hunters. This region is known for its rare white truffles, fetching thousands of dollars for the acclaimed delicacy. The methods of where and how to find truffles is a closely guarded secret. This small group of elderly men seek them in darkness, hiking for miles with their dogs and covering their tracks so no one knows where they go. The film is beautifully composed and uses mostly natural light. The filmmakers chose to keep the camera on a tripod and to observe the subjects at a distance, except for special leather harness rigs for POV doggy-cams that Dweck and Kershaw had specially made.

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights to The Truffle Hunters for $1.5 million.

Instagram: @thetrufflehuntersfilm

Find Michael Dweck  Twitter: @michaeldweck

Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story is both a story that will please fans of the beloved cartoon Ren & Stimpy, but it's also a critical look at the cartoon's volatile creator, John Kricfalusi. The self-financed documentary ended up being a long process and a huge undertaking by filmmakers Ron Cicero and Kimo Easterwood. After the film's completion, news broke of John K.'s inappropriate relationship with two teenage fans, so the entire movie had to be reworked.

Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story has yet to find distribution.

Facebook: @renandstimpydoc Instagram: #renandstimpydoc

Find Ron Cicero: Twitter @roncicero

Kimo Easterwood

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