I asked Harvey if we could compete with CHASING AMY back in ’97. I knew we had something special & I figured we could’ve walked with at LEAST an acting award. Said Harvey “Sundance is about emerging filmmakers. You’re already established. You gain nothing by competing, even if you win an award.” But it was @TheJonGordon who put it best, re: AMY competing. Jon had been Harvey’s assistant for years before being promoted to an exec. It was @TheJonGordon who got Harvey to re-watch CLERKS at Sundance, after he’d passed months before & walked out during the third scene. And when @TheJonGordon was made an exec, one of his first moves was to sign me & @SMosier to an exclusive overall deal at Miramax. That deal wound up running from fall of ’95 to the end of ’07 – 12 years. Under that overall deal, I made everything from CHASING AMY to ZACK & MIRI.

So it’s December ’96 & Harvey’s just urged me not to submit CHASING AMY for the competition category at Sundance. He’s urging premiere only. But it was @TheJonGordon who said the thing that made the most sense, re: competing. “You’re a returning alumnus. You can probably get AMY into any of the other sections. If you compete, you hurt a freshman’s potential to show THEIR Clerks.” @TheJonGordon was right. And human.

So if I go to any film festival, I try not to compete. Harvey’s reasoning was right, but @TheJonGordon hit the nail on the head. Competition categories are where dreams come true & lives can be changed with a screening. All my dreams started coming true in January of 1994. And the thought of gilding the lily by competing unnecessarily & possibly robbing someone like me of THEIR shot? That’s too Gordon Gecko for me.

So, years later, @TheJonGordon is my RedState producer – the guy who found the loot & made it happen when nobody else could or wanted to. And there we were, looking at the Sundance paperwork for our RedState submission. And someone else in the room asked “Competition, right?” And I smiled at the guy who’d helped give me & ViewAskew a home for 12 yrs & who sweated RedState into existence and said to @TheJonGordon, “I can’t fuck a freshman.” The 20 year old Kev cried betrayal at this sentiment, but fuck him. So competition was never a consideration.

Later in January, during the festival, “Red State” will mark its public world premiere, where Kevin still plans to auction distribution off like so:

Via @pklain “Will you determine RedState distributor at Sundance by highest bid, marketing strategy, or what?” Biggest balls. And checkbook.

Here’s a new Sundance article in anticipation of the big premiere. Minor plot spoilers ahead:

Ever since Clerks (co-winner of the Filmmakers Trophy at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival), Kevin Smith has been known for his sharp, subversive, comedic writing. He shifts from comedy to horror with Red State and aptly demonstrates that good writing transcends genre.

Red State begins by following three horny high school boys who come across an online ad from an older woman looking for a gang bang. Boys being boys, they hit the road to satisfy their libidinal urges. But what begins as a fantasy takes a dark turn as they come face-to-face with a terrifying “holy” force with a fatal agenda.

Instead of relying on archetypes and predictable formulas, Smith meticulously fashions all-too-real characters, utilizing exceptional performances (notably by Michael Parks) and an intelligent script. His realistic style gives the film an intimate feeling, heightening the terror to biblical proportions. Red State is a shocking new kind of horror film that aggressively confronts higher powers and extreme doctrines with a vengeance.

Festival attendees can now login to the site and add a screening to their calendar. 3 shows are currently on the books: Sunday, January 23rd at 6:00 PM, Monday January 24th at 8:30 AM (both in Park City), and Wednesday, January 26th at 9:00 PM (Salt Lake City).