[This article is part of an ongoing series profiling New York films and filmmakers at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Click here for other features in the series.]
While a lot of Sundance competition features will likely find distribution in one form or another, only a handful go into the festival every year assured of not only distribution, but probably a bidding war. And if you had to place wagers on which film might manage the most spirited negotiation in 2006, you may as well go with the one written and directed by one of fathers of modern independent film distribution itself.
But do not bet on Jeff Lipsky’s relationship drama Flannel Pajamas just because he is hyper-connected from the days he released indies with John Cassavetes, New Yorker Films and his own companies October Films and Lot 47 Films. Bet on Pajamas because Lipsky really loves it.
“It’s very funny,” he told The Reeler last week. “Our production has hired a publicist. Our production has engaged the services of a sales representative, and I have been instructed in no uncertain terms to attend the festival and have a good time. This is the first time I will be attending the festival in absense of inhuman pressures that I always felt as a distributor. If I was not proud of my film, that would be another story. But I’m confident, not even so much in the film, but this really was a collaborative effort. I’ve got actors in this movie that are revelations. And they’re going to be there with me, and at the very least and my greatest pride will come for the recognition these people get. That might sound a little altruistic, but it’s absolutely true.”
Of course, nobody has actually seen this movie yet (“I swear to you on a stack of bibles,” Lipsky told me after I claimed this disadvantage in writing about it. “I will be carrying the first 35mm print to Sundance under my arm. I thought I would never have to do that, but that’s the truth.”), but that hasn’t stopped the buzz citing the film as an American heir to Bergman’s Scenes From a Marriage. As 30-something lovers in New York, Stuart (Justin Kirk) and Nicole (Julianne Nicholson) fall hard for each other and supposedly fall harder in their ensuing relationship. A native New Yorker himself, Lipsky attributed parts of the story to autobiography; other parts he attributed to that old, nagging “human condition.”
Somewhat miraculously, despite being one of Sundance’s quintessential grizzled veterans, his first festival “filmmaker” badge seemed to infuse Lipsky with a reborn, almost giddy burst of enthusiasm. “I’m trying not to sound too Pollyanna-ish, but it’s a completely new experience,” he said. “I truly am in the best sense of the word dazed and astounded at the attentiveness and the organization from the newset volunteer at the festival to the top organizers. I mean, it gives you real insight that this festival really is not just about the discovery of new filmmakers, but the nurturing of new filmmakers. Trying to lend as much inspiration on every level at every step of the process that they can. And as I say, you feel that not just from (festival bosses) Geoff Gilmore and John Cooper–you get it from everybody.”
Oh, Jesus–brownnosing from the top down. I’ll see your $10 million distribution deal and raise you a Grand Jury Prize. This must be Lipsky’s year.

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