By Ray Pride Pride@moviecitynews.com
Park City: it's hard out there for a party
Park City’s pulled a big ol’ crackdown on big parties, and rental agencies have followed suit, writes Dana Harris in Variety. “There are perhaps 100 top-flight private homesfive-, six- or seven-bedroom places that include hot tubs, wi-fi, granite countertops and daily maid service—available for rental during the Sundance Film Festival. But if you want to throw a party, the available number drops to just about zero… [M]ajor property rental companies in Park City like Deer Valley Lodging and Alpine Ski Properties say they have a clear-cut policy on renting to Sundance’s would-be party monsters: They don’t do it.” Two night’s cash damage deposit is required, as well as a no-party contract. Past damage “included wine-stained and cigarette-burned carpet and furniture, broken glasses, impassable neighborhoods and a general disregard for the fact that renters were, in fact, using someone’s home.” Harris does find one person skirting the rule, the owner of PM, a New York nightclub, who calls himself “Unik.” “It’s noon on Sunday, and Unik (say “unique,” no last name) is in a T-shirt and slippers, eating scrambled eggs and cilantro sausage as his staff clears away the last bits of detritus from the house party for 300 that ended just seven hours before. Laminated printouts are still pasted to the staircase, warning that your presence constitutes permission to use your name and likeness. .. “What a party last night,” said Unik. “We mobilized the whole Park City: Josh Hartnett, Sienna, Diddy, Nick Cannon, Harvey, Damon Dash, Jamie Lynn, Pharrell…” Unik and his right hand man “spent most of the night standing guard at the foot of their driveway, personally approving every would-be guest. Sometimes they wouldn’t let passengers get out of a cab. “If it’s three girls and one guy, fine,” said Unik. “Three guys and one girl? No way.”