ARRI Lighting Illuminates Sundance

For the second year in a row, ARRI is proud to be an Official Provider of Sundance Institute for lighting at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. L-Series and SkyPanel LED fixtures were provided for the Filmmakers Lodge and iconic Egyptian Theater locations. In addition, ARRI lighting kits were supplied for festival film crews. The partnership is not a new one, as ARRI has supplied lighting gear to the Sundance Institute Lab Program for over 20 years and our line of Professional Camera Accessories for a decade.  

This year's installation was overseen by Director of Photography and Lighting Designer Bill Holshevnikoff. For the Egyptian Theater, Holshevnikoff was tasked with illuminating the press conference which kicked off the Festival and featured founder Robert Redford and other industry luminaries. Hundreds of news outlets covered the announcements for international broadcast.

The Filmmaker's Lodge served as a backdrop for several panel discussions each day such as "The Future of Indie TV" and "Cinema Café." Holshevnikoff was tasked with creating a pleasing style for audiences in the studio which also needed to translate on camera for Sundance's streaming channel. The lighting system needed to be adaptable for different panel configurations and minimal changeover time between sessions. Panelists included Steven Soderbergh, Maggie Gyllenhaal, producer Stephanie Allain and more.

ARRI SkyPanel softlights are compact, fully tunable and deliver light of unsurpassed power and quality. ARRI L-Series fixtures are the first LED fixtures to truly incorporate the Fresnel characteristics of continuous focusability from spot to flood and a smooth, homogenous light field. 

Notes Holshevnikoff, "Working with ARRI lighting at the Sundance Film Festival this year was a great experience. The local crews were fantastic and utilizing the full array of ARRI's LED instruments allowed me to craft a natural look for the venues that made everyone look great on-camera." 

Says Holden Payne, Sundance's Technical Director of Exhibition and Production, "ARRI has been a wonderful supporter of Sundance Institute Labs for decades. It was thrilling to have them in their centennial year and this year, step up to support the Festival's live streams in such a substantive way with their generous support and the guidance of Lighting Director extraordinaire Bill Holshevnikoff. I must say our Day One press conference, and daily Cinema Cafe live streams at the Filmmakers Lodge never looked better. The stellar color balance and the eradication of nasty shadows were true feats of lighting magic. I am so proud to have ARRI's support as an Official Provider and look forward to working with them for years to come."

Cinema Cafe with Gus Van Sant & Danny Elfman