Moviegoers play waiting game

Moviegoers play waiting game

Standby hopefuls endure elaborate process to grab extra seats at
Sundance films

By Colburn Tseng

On the fifth day of the Sundance Film Festival, the ski slopes
on the horizon opposite the Holiday Village Cinema are empty, but
inside the cinema lobby it is standing room only as festivalgoers
wait to gain entrance to one of three movies being screened. Crowds
and lines are common at movie theaters, but at Sundance they are an
inevitable, necessary part of the movie going experience.

At Sundance, movie tickets are pre-sold months before the start
of the festival. If one does not pre-purchase "hard" tickets – and
scores of festivalgoers do not – the only way to get into a movie
is to endure The Waiting List.

Waiting List Procedures:

1) Arrive at the Theater Box Office at least one hour prior to
screening time.

This afternoon, the Village Cinema is screening a program of
short films, "Rude," a feature in the World Cinema division of the
festival, and "Whole Wide World," an entry in the Dramatic
Competition. The 25 waiting-list tickets allotted for each show at
the Village cinema are sold out, but a long line of hopeful
moviegoers continue to standby.

2) Purchase waiting list ticket(s) – no more than 4 per
person.

Approximately 30 minutes before the screening begins, "hard"
ticket holders begin pouring into the theater. Meanwhile, the
waiting list ticket holders have also crowded into the cinema’s
tiny lobby as they anxiously wait for their numbers to be called.
The cramped quarters create a feeling of barely controlled
chaos.

3) Return to theater 15 minutes prior to screening time and line
up in waiting list number order (on back of ticket).

Across town at the Egyptian Theatre, the atmosphere is less
claustrophobic, but at a price. Here, waiting patrons must line up
on the sidewalk outside the theater and brave the elements. This
afternoon, the sun has broken through the clouds for only the
second time in five days. The snow has stopped, and though it is
still cold, those in line don’t seem to mind as they pass the time
discussing the films they have seen, learning which are good, which
are bad and which they will see next.

4) The waiting list will be admitted on a space available
basis.

Toward the end of the festival, screenings will become more
crowded as more people pour into Park City. In these last days,
waiting list lines for the most popular movies will begin forming
two, sometimes three hours in advance. Braving the lines becomes
something of an adventure – the big payoff: getting to see a movie
that everyone is talking about that may go on to win an award.

5) All those not admitted must return to the box office
immediately for refund of payment.

Back at the Holiday Village Cinema, a hard ticket holder is
arguing with the volunteers in charge of ticket sales. The woman is
very late and the screening has already been filled with waiting
list patrons. The woman has been given a full refund but is still
unsatisfied and attacks the waiting list policy, the festival
transportation services and the ticket sales volunteers who do not
have the power to change the rules. Though all that are turned away
from a screening are disappointed, irate customers are rare. Most
understand that the lines are simply a part of the festival
experience.

All three screenings at the Holiday Village Cinema are underway
and the crowd has thinned. Refunds have been made and the
volunteers can relax – but only for a moment. The lines for the
evening screenings have already begun to form, and the festival
will continue for six more days …Comments to
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