Locally Grown: Sun Valley Filmmakers Shine

By Kim Frank

This year’s Sun Valley Film Festival features several selected films that have locally connected actors, filmmakers, and/or producers. To honor the local talent and these spectacular films, SVPN sat down with a handful of the filmmakers to discuss the making of their film and the ways the Sun Valley area has influenced their careers.

There has long been an electric current running between Sun Valley and Hollywood. From the earliest complimentary invitations extended to movie stars and high ups in the film-industry courtesy of the Sun Valley Lodge, hoping (and succeeding) in luring the publicity to the express train, the Snowball Surprise, a non-stop part from L.A to Ketchum. Films like the Dutchess of Idaho, Bus Stop, and It Happened in Sun Valley, drove home the message that super stardom and luxury paired with rustic, remote ski mountain enclave is a match made in heaven. It’s a relationship that continues today. While many film industry elite have historically made Sun Valley their public and private retreat, the creation of star power works both ways, with creative talent bubbling up from the Wood River Valley as stars in their own right.

Over these next several pages, please welcome L.A. Times’ Michelle Morgan and Dree Hemingway (also on the cover), Camera Store’s Robert Peterson, Blood Road’s Rebecca Rusch, Charlie vs Goliath’s Reed Lindsay, and Big Sonia’s Leah Warshawski and Todd Soliday.