Sundance

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How does the king of B and C movies come to dominate the most prestigious film festival for Independent Filmmakers on the planet?  This year, a documentary about the life and times of one of the longest running, successful filmmakers in Hollywood made its debut.  The documentary centers around Roger Corman, the god of B-rate home cinema who launched the careers of filmmakers such as James Cameron, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese. 

Alex Stapleton's CORMAN'S WORLD: EXPLOITS OF A HOLLYWOOD REBEL premiered in the Park City Midnight section of The 2011 Sundance Film Festival.  "The documentary tracks the triumphant rise of the true "godfather" of independent filmmaking, Roger Corman. The single most prolific writer-director-producer, Corman financed hundreds of profitable low-budget films and helped launch the careers of Jack Nicholson, Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Martin Scorcese, Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron, and many more. With archival footage of American culture and countercultures from the 1950's to present day, and dynamic interviews with alumni of Corman's cutthroat school of filmmaking, Corman's World takes us back to the days when Corman was King. The film also shows the rise of the recent Corman renaissance featuring Indiewood's new school of filmmakers - including Quentin Tarantino, Paul W.S. Anderson and Eli Roth. And of course it follows Roger himself as he successfully continues to produce and distribute films outside the studio system the Corman way: fast, cheap and out-of-this-world!"

Corman's World celebrated its Sundance screening with a thriving after party at the House of Hype LIVEStyle lounge at Cisero's on Main.  I had the pleasure of meeting Roger Corman and his lovely wife when they spoke on a panel at my alma mater, USC.  The man is as innovative and forward thinking today as he was when VHS beat out Beta for home video dominance.

TV rights to Corman's World was picked up by A&E IndieFilms before the film got a chance to premiere at Sundance.

-Dianna Renée