As the founding director of the feature film program of the Sundance Institute, Michelle Satter is used to seeing filmmakers and screenwriters honored at Sundance’s film festival. But next week, it will be Satter, a longtime Pacific Palisades resident, who will be honored. The American Civil Liberties Union will honor Satter, along with her colleagues, Cara Mertes and Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford, at its annual Bill of Rights Dinner on Monday, December 7 at 6 p.m. at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. (Redford will not be appearing in person.) ‘Michelle has influenced many of the Institute’s programs, including its international initiatives supporting next-generation filmmakers and cultural exchange throughout the world,’ said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California. ‘Her efforts have helped foster an exchange of ideas that has raised public consciousness and shed light on the restriction of civil liberties.’ This decade has been rough waters for independent fare, but Satter told the Palisadian-Post, ‘It’s always been tough and it’s always been cyclical. I’m actually excited by the opportunity. It’s in a transitional state.’ Even though these movies have had a difficult time of late, with studios shutting down their boutique film divisions, Satter felt that ‘there have always been exciting filmmakers.’ She pointed out the high-grossing, shoestring-budget horror flick ‘Paranormal Activity’ (‘this generation’s ‘Blair Witch Project”) and ‘Precious,’ which premiered at Sundance’s prestigious film festival in Park City, Utah, and is currently enjoying the support of Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry. ‘There are movies out there with a range of budgets which are independent in spirit,’ Satter noted. This year’s Oscar-worthy films which came through Sundance under Satter’s auspices include ‘Sin Nombre’ and ‘Amreeka.’ Both were announced on Tuesday as Best Picture contenders at the Independent Spirit Awards, to be held in Santa Monica on March 5. In hindsight, independent film exploded 20 years ago following Steven Soderbergh’s triumphant Sundance Film Festival moment with his groundbreaking debut, ‘Sex, Lies and Videotape.’ ‘The ’90s were an exciting time,’ Satter said of the days when David O’ Russell, Paul Thomas Anderson and Wes Anderson went through Sundance’s programs. Tarantino polished his first film, ‘Reservoir Dogs,’ there, while Kimberly Pierce developed ‘Boys Don’t Cry.’ Other notables crafted in Park City include Darren Aronofsky’s ‘Requiem for a Dream’ and recent critical darlings ‘Maria Full of Grace’ and ‘Half-Nelson.’ Prominent female filmmakers who have benefited from Sundance include Allison Anders, who worked on ‘La Vida Loca’ there, and actress/filmmaker Miranda July, whose well-received ‘You and Me and Everyone We Know’ was produced by Palisades native Gina Kwon. Satter noted the Institute’s extensive, intensive documentary program, its relatively recent marketing and distribution program, and its embrace of international talent. ‘American filmmakers can learn from their counterparts from all over the world,’ she said. ‘We also have a robust documentary program as well as an American theater program.’ She listed ‘Spring Awakening’ and ‘Passing Strange’ as examples of Sundance-developed stage works. Writer-director Tamara Jenkins, who workshopped ‘The Savages’ (starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney ) at Sundance, said in a 2007 speech before Satter received her Women in Film Award, ‘When Michelle called me, I was stuck and self-loathing and I was scared to call her back. But she was persistent. In her impossibly gentle way she managed to coax me out of my postgraduate stupor. She made me feel that my stupid ideas weren’t stupid.’ For 20 years, Satter has divided her time between Utah and Upper Bienveneda. ‘My husband [producer David Latt] owned a home in the Palisades,’ she said. ‘When we got married, I moved here. It’s one of the most beautiful places in the world to live.’ Latt has won an Emmy for ‘Hill St. Blues’ and was also nominated for ‘Twin Peaks.’ He produced ‘EZ Streets’ with Paul Haggis and ‘Citizen Baines’ with John Wells. Satter and Latt have two children, both graduates of Paul Revere and Palisades High: Michael, a sophomore at UC Davis (and former PaliHi football player), and Satter’s stepson, Franklin, an assistant agent at Creative Artists Agency, in the motion picture talent department. There are times each year when Satter travels to Utah, such as in January for the screenwriters’ lab and the film festival; in June, when directors’ and screenwriters’ labs happen, and in August, for the film music program, run by a fellow Palisadian, composer Peter Golub (‘Frozen River’), and the producers’ program. ‘I also travel to New York,’ Satter said, ‘and other parts of the world (Brazil, Mexico, France, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Jordan) where I’ve helped to launch creative labs, modeled on the Sundance Lab, in support of a new generation of screenwriters, directors, and producers.’ But ‘Pacific Palisades is my home,’ Satter continued. ‘I walk on the beach every day and I feel so lucky that I live in this incredible place.’ Originally from the town of Elberon on the Jersey shore, Satter attended Northeastern University, where she majored in art history. After graduating, she recalled, ‘I had several odd jobs before co-founding ArtiCulture, Inc., a nonprofit performing arts production company with two of my friends. We were all recent graduates who completely learned on the job and got to produce hundreds of performing arts events throughout Boston and Cambridge. We did this for three years. ‘During that time, I fell in love with film, spending many afternoons at the Orson Welles Cinema, where they had a steady program of foreign language, classic, and independent films.’ Satter worked briefly at Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art as the director of public relations ‘waiting to find that perfect job in film,’ she said. In June of 1981, it arrived. ‘I was invited to the inaugural program of the Sundance Institute, the June Directors Lab,’ Satter said, ‘where I had the opportunity to provide organizational help to the first creative lab supporting the work of emerging independent filmmakers. ’At the time, it was a very small operation with several full-time staff and a temporary office. Everything was makeshift and new.’ The Institute and its attendant festival, the most prestigious in independent cinema, was famously the brainchild of actor-cum-filmmaker Robert Redford. ‘I got to meet with Robert at the end of that first lab and pitch him a proposal on how I could extend my run. He was like, ‘Sure,” she said, laughing. ‘I opened the L.A. office [in September 1981] and became the founding director of the feature film program. ‘His commitment is unflagging and has been consistent,’ Satter continued of Redford. ‘He’s still very hands-on. The great moments for him are working directly with the filmmakers. It’s his vision, his leadership, his generosity of spirit that has been the drive of the Institute.’ It doesn’t hurt to have one of Hollywood’s handsomest, most charismatic celebrities on hand. ‘Sundance depends on the generosity of many,’ Satter said. ‘Of course, with his lead, a lot of creative people have come forward and we couldn’t run the institution without them.’ But it’s the filmmakers who keep Satter sated: ‘I’m really excited, and Sundance is always excited by the next generation of artists.’ For tickets and information regarding the ACLU gala, call (213) 977-5250 or e-mail meegan@aclu-sc.org.
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