Bing Afterhours at the House of Hype - January 23, 2010, Onitsuka Tiger Presents John Legend and The Roots

Historically Paul Allen has been the one to party with musicians and dance on tables at to lavish parties at his Beverly Hills home and take girls on his submarine The Octopus”  in Europe. I’ve been to one of Paul’s parties in Beverly Hills – there was lots of food, security, and valet. The best part about the party was seeing that Paul had my uber favorite home accessory:  a funicular!! It connects his recording studio/party pad to the rest of his home off Coldwatrer Canyon. A friend of a friend once made frantic calls to friends to come pick her up when she  got stuck in the funicular that broke down, on her way back up the mountain to head to her walk of shame home at 5am.

But now Bill Gates is giving his former Microsoft partner a run for his money! Microsofts’ new search engine Bing.com (oh excuse me, a “decision engine”) sponsored several events at Sundance including their own after hours party at our friends Sam and Ben Keywanfar’s Sundance House Of Hype.

Bill Gates was in Sundance to attend the screening of his friend, Davis Guggenheim’ documentary on the U.S. school system, called “WAITING FOR SUPERMAN”. The failing school system is a pet interest of Bill’s. While bill was in Sundance, he took the opportunity to also meet with his “favorite” actor, Sundance film festival founder, Robert Redford (more below, scroll down).

Bill Gates also has recently joined Twitter and started a blog called The Gates Notes, where he shares ideas and hopesd for feedback on how he is spending his funds through The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (more below, scroll down).

House of Hype founders Ben & Sam Keywanfar with Bill Gates at House of Hype

Singer John Legend performs during Onitsuka Tiger Presents John Legend and The Roots at Bing Afterhours on January 23, 2010 in Park City, Utah

Jeff Skoll, Bill Gates, and director Davis Guggenheim attend the "Waiting for A Superman" premiere during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Davis Guggenheim and wife Elizabeth Shue

WAITING FOR SUPERMAN | Davis Guggenheim 2009 | U.S. Documentary Competition, World Premiere, Political | 102 min.

Despite increased spending and politicians’ promises, our buckling public-education system, once the best in the world, routinely forsakes the education of millions of children.

As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying “drop-out factories” and “academic sinkholes,” methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems.

Producer Jeffrey Skoll was the second employee and first president of internet auction firm eBay, and used the wealth this gave him to become a philanthropist and to found the independent movie production company Participant Media.

Bill Gates recently started a blog called The Gates Notes. Here he tells about all his philanthropic journeys, recommends books and shares his thoughts on domestic issues such as the U.S. helping Haiti and the U.S. Education system. This weekend Bill Gates makes his first trip to Sundance to attend the premiere of Davis Guggenhiem’s new film about the U.S. School System entitled “Waiting for Superman.” Gates also says he hopes his blog will welcome feedback on how he is spending the billions he and Warren Buffet have given to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

From Bill’s blog …

“This year, Bill is attending the Sundance Film Festival for the first time. While he’s there he’ll see an important new movie about the U.S. education system and meet with Robert Redford, one of his favorite actors and directors.

I’m going to the Sundance Film Festival to attend the showing of Waiting for Superman, which is a great film by Davis Guggenheim about the U.S. education system that is coming out later this year. This will be the first time I’ve attended Sundance.

Although I watch very few TV shows, Melinda and I see a lot of movies – at least one per week. I have never really met with movie stars but since I’m going to Sundance, I asked to see if I could meet Robert Redford, whose work I admire.

It looks like I will get to meet him, which will be great. He directed my all time favorite movie – Ordinary People. I also love A River Runs Through It, Quiz Show, and The Horse Whisperer. I really like every movie he directed.

I also like almost every movie he starred in. Some of my favorites include Spy Game, Three Days of the Condor, The Sting, and The Great Gatsby. If you haven’t seen these I highly recommend them! I have watched all of them at least three times.

I’m not sure what we will discuss but between movies, politics, and philanthropy I am sure it will be a fun conversation.

I’ll be doing more on Twitter from the festival as well.” – Bill Gates’ blog

2010 Sundance Film Festival – Director’s Brunch

Actresses Dakota Fanning and Kristen Stewart attend the Welcome To The Rileys premiere during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival at Racquet Club on January 23, 2010 in Park City, Utah.

The weekend has opened up well with some interesting documentarians bring shorts to Sundance Day 1 (Thursday) such as Senator Edward Kennedy’s acclaimed documantary-making daughter Rory who takes a look at our fence building project on the Mexican border, Pablo Escobar’s own son comes clean in a documentary about the crazy mo fo in Sins of My Father”, Spike Jonzes shows his dark and wierd side with a freaky semi-animated short about robots plugged into the system, blah, blah, blah and DRUM ROLL PLEASE … Adrian Grenier is a stand out in this category with his film about a pre-maturing star struck teen he took pity on and indulged in this documentary featuring tons of A-listers about the world’s obsession with celebrity – why this is such a mystery to Adrian is beyond me – everybody loves a good story and beautiful things. Simple as that.

In the category of MAJOR A LIST stars at Sundance, Ben Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones showed up to the premiere of The Company Men, a story about corporate downsizing. I use to looooove Tommy, but I feel like he’s just done too many movies. Is that wrong? Nothing wrong with working and making money I suppose … Ben Affleck sans Jennifer and getting testy with the cameras (see pics below). I love Ben because he looks like my ex-boyfriend. The most interesting thing to me here is little Sasha Speilberg making her way down the red carpet looking like an exact brunette version of her mom, Kate Capshaw. When Kate and Steven were first dating, he lived up the street from me off Coldwater Canyon and Jessica Capshaw was a friend (Harvard-Westlake). I remember when they wed, bought their house together in the Palisades, had Sasha, adopted Theo and we graduated and went to college … but I hear life went on for the Speilbergs after I left L.A. and they continued to adopt and have children. They are also at my neighbor’s house (Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson) in Malibu Colony all the time – though not recently since they been renovating.

Another interesting film from an actor – Josh Radnor of How I met Your Mother – which co-stars the most genius actor of all time NPH! (read: Neil Patrick Harris for the non-believers) – has directed a film good enough to make it to Sundance and sounds like The Pursuit of Happyness meets Swingers, and stars my favorite actress with a ritzy profile – Kate Mara (Transsiberian (2008), Entourage (season 6), Iron Man 2 (2010) – stand back Paltrow – Mara’s family owns the New York Giants and the Pittsburgh Steelers; she is the great-granddaughter of Giants founder Tim Mara, the granddaughter of late Giants owner Wellington Mara on her father’s side, as well as the great-granddaughter of Steelers founder Art Rooney on her mother’s side. Mara’s uncle is John Mara, the president and CEO of the Giants, and her father is the vice president of player evaluation. Mara missed the Steelers’ winning Super Bowl XL in 2006 because she was working in Los Angeles. Mara was so disappointed, she added to her contract that if the Giants or Steelers go to the Super Bowl, she can attend. Mara’s favorite Giants game was when she was asked to sing the national anthem in honor of her grandfather, Wellington Mara, who died in October 2005. Mara has regularly sung at home games and season openers of the Giants since about the age of 15 or 16 when her uncle asked her to fill in when they couldn’t find a singer. She has also sung at a couple of Steelers games. She sang the national anthem at the 2006 NFL season opener, dubbed the “Manning Bowl,” where the Giants played the Indianapolis Colts.

Sympathy for Delicious (2010) directed by Mark Ruffalo, starring Orlando Bloom, Juliette Lewis and Mark Ruffalo.

PLOT: A newly paralyzed DJ gets more than he bargained for when he seeks out the world of faith healing.

“Cyrus” premiere, starring: Actors Jonah Hill, Matt Walsh, Katie Aselton, Catherine Keener, Marisa Tomei, John C. Reilly, directors Jay Duplass and director Mark Duplass attend the Cyrus premiere. PLOT: A recently divorced guy meets the woman of his dreams. Then he meets her son.

Actors Jonah Hill, Matt Walsh, Katie Aselton, Catherine Keener, Marisa Tomei, John C. Reilly, directors Jay Duplass and director Mark Duplass attend the Cyrus premiere

“The Dry Land” premiere, PLOT: A U.S. soldier returning home from war struggles to reconcile his experiences abroad with the life and family he left in Texas.

Ethan Suplee, Wilmer Valderrama, America Ferrera, Ryan O'Nan, director Ryan Piers Williams, Ana Claudia Talancon, Jason Ritter, June Diane Raphael and Diego Klattenhoff attend "The Dry Land" premiere during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 24, 2010 in Park City, Utah.

Actor Jason Ritter attends "The Dry Land" premiere during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival at Eccles Center Theatre on January 24, 2010 in Park City, Utah.

2010 Sundance Film Festival – “Welcome To The Rileys” Premiere

On a business trip to New Orleans, a damaged man seeks salvation by caring for a wayward young woman. Kristen Stewart and James Gandolfini star, Jake Scott directs.

2010 Sundance Film Festival – “Splice” Premiere stars Adrien Brod- PLOT: Elsa and Clive, two young rebellious scientists, defy legal and ethical boundaries and forge ahead with a dangerous experiment: splicing together human and animal DNA to create a new organism. Named “Dren”, the creature rapidly develops from a deformed female infant into a beautiful but dangerous winged human-chimera, who forges a bond with both of her creators – only to have that bond turn deadly.

Actor Adrien Brody attends the "Splice" premiere at Egyptian Theatre during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival on January 22, 2010 in Park City, Utah.

Paris Hilton and Doug Reinhardt attend premiere of Teenage Paparazzo

Teenage Paparazzo | Adrian Grenier 2009 | Spotlight, World Premiere | 91 min.

PLOT: Documentary written and directed by Adrian Grenier that examines the relationship between celebrity and society with cameos from Alec Baldwin, Drew Barrymore, Noam Chomsky, fKevin Connolly, Whoopi Goldberg, Paris Hilton, Perez Hilton, Martin Landau, Lindsay Lohan, Eva Longoria Parker, Mario López, Rosie O’Donnell.
MORE: When precocious 13-year-old paparazzo Austin Visschedyk snapped a photo of celebrity Adrian Grenier (HBO’s Entourage), little did he know his life was about to change. Turning the tables on the juvenile paparazzo, Grenier stepped on the other side of the lens in an attempt to mentor a teenager obsessed with the lure of the Hollywood lifestyle. Grenier develops a meaningful relationship with his camera-clicking young friend as he attempts to reconcile their mutual exploitation. Indeed, Grenier puts himself on the line here, trying to make sense of his own recently acquired fame.

Actor/Director Adrian Grenier arrives at the "Teenage Paparazzo" premiere during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival at Racquet Club Theatre on January 22, 2010 in Park City, Utah.

Austin ‘the pint size paparazzi’ Visschedyk attends the Teenage Paparazzo premiere during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival at Racquet Club Theatre on January 22, 2010 in Park City, Utah.

Davis Guggenheim and wife Elizabeth Shue

WAITING FOR SUPERMAN | Davis Guggenheim 2009 | U.S. Documentary Competition, World Premiere, Political | 102 min.

Despite increased spending and politicians’ promises, our buckling public-education system, once the best in the world, routinely forsakes the education of millions of children.

As he follows a handful of promising kids through a system that inhibits, rather than encourages, academic growth, Guggenheim undertakes an exhaustive review of public education, surveying “drop-out factories” and “academic sinkholes,” methodically dissecting the system and its seemingly intractable problems.

Producer Jeffrey Skoll was the second employee and first president of internet auction firm eBay, and used the wealth this gave him to become a philanthropist and to found the independent movie production company Participant Media.

Jeff Skoll, Bill Gates, and director Davis Guggenheim attend the “Waiting for A Superman” premiere during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival

Hesher| Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman 2010 | U.S. Dramatic Competition, First Feature, World Premiere | 100 min.

PLOT: He hates the world and everyone in it. He has long greasy hair and homemade tattoos.

”

HOWL | James Franco | 2009 | U.S. Dramatic Competition, World Premiere | 90 min.

PLOT: James Franco plays Allen Ginsberg in “Howl”, a drama centered on the obscenity trial Allen Ginsberg (Franco) faced after the publication of his poem, Howl.

(L-R) Sundance Film Festival Director John Cooper, David Strathairn, Elizabeth Redleaf, Jon Hamm, Jeffrey Friedman, James Franco, Rob Epstein, Christine Walker, Bob Balaban and Treat Williams attends Village at the Yard

The Company Men 2009 | Premieres, First Feature, World Premiere | 113 min.

Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Kevin Costner, Maria Bello

PLOT: The story centers on a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing at a major company.

Little Sasha Speilberg, all grown up, attends the premiere of The Company Men with her mother Kate Capshaw.

Shorts Program I I’m Here | Spike Jonze 2010

Spike Jonze (director of “Where the Wild Things Are”) and son of, Arthur Spiegel III, a relation of the Spiegel catalog family and brother Sam Spiegel (aka DJ Squeak E. Clean). Jonze attended The Field School in Washington, D.C.
Absolut vodka funded this 35-minute short about a robot in a captivating world. Trailer:

Sins of My Father | Nicolas Entel 2009 | Categories: World Cinema Documentary Competition

Pablo Escobar, the most notorious and brutal drug lord in Colombia’s history, was gunned down in Medellín in 1993. After his father’s death, Juan Escobar fled to Buenos Aires, changed his name to Sebastián Marroquín, assuming a new identity to escape his father’s dubious legacy. For the first time since Escobar’s death, Marroquín comes forward to tell his father’s story. With heartfelt honesty, he recounts what it was like to grow up loving a father that he knew was his country’s number-one enemy. Unsatisfied with simply relating history, Marroquín requests a meeting with the sons of two celebrated Colombian political leaders who were among hundreds of victims that his father had killed in the 1980s.

Filmmaker Nicolas Entel captures the powerful and historic moment when the son of Pablo Escobar and the sons of his victims come together to heal wounds that have haunted them all for decades.

Director Nicolas Entell attends the "Sins of My Father" premiere during the 2010 Sundance Film Festival at Holiday Village IV on January 22, 2010 in Park City, Utah.

Shorts Program I | The Fence | Rory Kennedy 2009

Rory Elizabeth Katherine Kennedy (born December 12, 1968) is a documentary filmmaker and producer. She is the youngest of the eleven children of U.S. Senator Robert F. Kennedy. In October 2006, the United States government decided to build a 700-mile fence along its Mexican border. Three years and 3.1 billion dollars later, its stated goals—containing illegal immigration, cracking down on drug trafficking, and protecting America from terrorists—have unforeseen consequences.

happythankyoumoreplease | Josh Radnor | Categories: U.S. Dramatic Competition, First Feature, World Premiere

Josh Radnor (CBS’s How I Met Your Mother) makes his directorial debut at Sundance. Film stars himself,
Malin Akerman, and Kate Mara.

PLOT: Six New Yorkers juggle love, friendship, and the keenly challenging specter of adulthood. Sam Wexler is a struggling writer who’s having a particularly bad day. When a young boy gets separated from his family on the subway, Sam makes the questionable decision to bring the child back to his apartment and thus begins a rewarding, yet complicated, friendship. Sam’s life revolves around his friends—Annie, whose self-image keeps her from commitment; Charlie and Mary Catherine, a couple whose possible move to Los Angeles tests their relationship; and Mississippi, a cabaret singer who catches Sam’s eye.

Malin Akerman, writer director Josh Radnor and actress Kate Mara attend the Myspace Cafe at The Lift Day

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Nicole Holofcener , Morgan Spurlock