A commercial directed by a BYU advertising and marketing communications professor will be part of this year's Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, Jan. 15-25.
Christopher Cutri's 30-second commercial, "Going to Utah," was one of four winners out of 41 entries in the Utah Film Commission's Commercial Competition. The competition was peer-reviewed by industry professionals.
The commercial was shot in 35mm black-and-white film. Set in the 1940s, it shows a young actor who wants more than what he has and decides to go to Utah to find it. The commercial highlights the Utah Film Commission's campaign to promote Utah as "The New Film Frontier."
Reed Smoot, a prominent cinematographer who has worked on several IMAX films as well as "Legacy" for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was Cutri's cinematographer for the commercial. Cutri also had the help of 18-20 BYU students who worked to complete the project.
"I feel fortunate," Cutri said. "It was a really good experience for me to do the project in terms of working with Reed and also working with my own students."
Cutri's commercial will be shown during the production of "In The Can," a television show that interviews directors and actors featured at the festival.
"The show is a way for producers and others interested in purchasing films to familiarize themselves with what is happening at Sundance," Cutri said.
The College of Fine Arts and Communications provided a $2,300 research and creative works grant to complete the project.
Writer: Thomas Grover
