Second term Film student, Laura Holliday (right) poses at Sundance with her high school mentor, Betty Bailey

I always assumed I had no business attending large prestigious film festivals until I had a movie showing there. So, as an undergraduate film student in only my second term at Art Center, I figured it would be a long time before I ended up at one of them. However, after getting the opportunity to attend the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, I can say confidently that any film student or movie lover has a place there, and can benefit boundlessly from being immersed in a scene ripe with creative energy and opportunities to connect.

I was selected to go on the trip as one of three female alumni from the film program of my high school (Idyllwild Arts Academy) to attend screenings and panels and Women in Film events. In exchange for our alma mater footing the bill, we produced a short video of our experience for the school’s marketing department. Our faculty chaperone, Betty Bailey, is both an active member of Women in Film and a writer for the Malibu Times. So, Women in Film kindly welcomed us to its festival events; and I was lucky enough to attend a few press conferences as a photographer for Betty’s articles, paving the way for an up-close-and-personal experience with a few of the premieres’ stars and directors.

The trip was a busy and exhilarating five days, which began with all of us arriving at a house in downtown Park City, where we would be staying along with other filmmakers. Our schedule at Sundance was typical: Wake up around six am, get out our computers and try to get on the notorious “e-­waitlist” for a film. If we were lucky enough to score a coveted wait-list number, we would bundle up and hop on a free shuttle to one of the many theaters around Park City to attend an 8:30 am movie. It was surprising to me how easy everyone at the festival was to talk too. I made friends and contacts while waiting in screening lines and sitting on the shuttle because everyone was so eager to talk about films.

After early screenings, I tried to attend as many panels as possible. I was lucky enough to make it to several Women in Film panels and a brunch where female producers and directors such as Effie Brown and Rory Kennedy spoke about their experiences in financing, making and finishing their films, and also shared their thoughts on being a woman in a male-­dominated industry. I met some really inspirational and talented women. I did note that the number of female directors making documentaries there was much higher than those making narratives. I am curious to see how that changes in the next five to ten years as an aspiring narrative director.

One of my favorite aspects of the Sundance experience was an event called “Fail Day,” dedicated to embracing artistic failure. I attended panels featuring the likes of Robert Redford, Mark Duplass, and William H. Macy recounting their failures, what they had gained from them and how they overcame them. I loved this because as we all know, failure is an inevitable part of being an artist and this served as a good reminder that setbacks can only make your work stronger.

It was definitely difficult to leave the festival when the time came. But I departed feeling newly excited about the state of independent filmmaking and the possibilities for my own work within it. Additionally, it was a validating to be flying back into LAX, to Los Angeles, where so many of the inspirational people I had just met or witnessed also resided. I felt like I could find my way into their sphere, and onto their sets here in LA without getting tossed aside for being a young filmmaker still in school.