letter from the editor
VERGE Founder and Creative Director, Jeff Vespa, and I have been covering Sundance for nearly 20 years. As the visionary co-founder of WireImage and a tireless photographer, Jeff has been in a prime position to get the first look at Naomi Watts, Kristen Stewart and Carey Mulligan, to name but a few former Sundance starlets. This was often years before they registered on the mainstream media’s radar let alone rocked couture on the covers of fashion magazines.
As a veteran entertainment editor at Condé Nast and Time, Inc., I had a similarly unique vantage point. One of the best job perks has always been meeting new, humble and hungry talent at the beginning of their careers — then watching their film festival buzz blossom into Independent Spirit Awards, Oscar nominations and, eventually, international acclaim. But having attended countless movie premieres, press conferences and, yes, swag suites over the years, it seemed like we had truly seen it all. Then Jeff and I realized there’s one thing we had never seen…an advance look of the best and brightest talent on the big screen at Sundance, complete with original photography.
“These actors are young, full of energy and excited because they’re all on the brink of something big,” Jeff says of the nine newcomers he shot for our first annual — and, incidentally, groundbreaking — THE VERGE LIST: SUNDANCE 2013. (Top 10 lists are so last year.) Thanks to our list, now you, too, can be among the first to meet this year’s breakout stars, including 14-year-old Gina Piersanti, who makes her debut in It Felt Like Love (this happens to be her first photo shoot as well). And slightly more familiar faces like Tony-nominated actor Jonathan Groff. Fans of Glee will no doubt recognize the frequent guest star who has landed his first leading man role in the feature C.O.G. And then there is VERGE’s cover star, Amy Seimetz, who has not one but two movies — and did we mention a short film? — all screening simultaneously at the festival. Trust us, you’ll be hearing a lot more about Amy in the future, especially when her TV show helmed by Christopher Guest makes a splash on HBO.
Like a brisk walk up Main Street in Park City, Jeff and I hope that our Sundance preview takes your breath away. Or at least entertains you. One thing we can both guarantee: It will introduce you to nine brilliantly talented actors who are bound to be the talk of the town. Let the buzz begin!
James Patrick Herman
Editorial Director