One of the highlights of the festival, between screenings, of course, are the hospitality lodges and special events. WarnerMedia, a division of AT&T Inc., will be hosting their first-ever combined presence at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. Judging from last year, there will be a lot ti look forward to including the Jon & Vinny’s Pop Up on Main Street, the Snowpiercer Sneak Peek, and the McMillion$ immersive pop-up.

From January 24-27, WarnerMedia will transform the space located at Heber & Main at 660 Main St., which will serve as the nexus for WarnerMedia activations. WarnerMedia Lodge: Elevating Storytelling with AT&T will host daily lunches for celebrities and tastemakers, premiere parties and after-parties, industry panels and cast dinners for some of the festival’s most buzzed-about titles and WarnerMedia properties.

WarnerMedia Lodge: Elevating Storytelling with AT&T programming includes:

• Variety Studio presented by AT&T – January 24-27: WarnerMedia together with AT&T will host Variety Studio, featuring interviews and portraits with the festival’s top A-list actors and filmmakers.

• Jon & Vinny’s Pop Up – January 24-27: AT&T and WarnerMedia will partner with Jon & Vinny’s Italian Restaurant for a pop-up culinary experience from the famed Los Angeles restaurant from James Beard Award-winning chefs Jon Shook and Vinny Dotolo.

Adjacent to the main space is Lateral, a new chic, underground hotspot hosted by WarnerMedia featuring panel discussions, receptions, live entertainment and late-night programming. Activations at Lateral, located at 600 Main St., include:

• TNT Presents Snowpiercer Featuring Sneak Peek Footage and a Conversation with Stars – January 25: A panel with Daveed Diggs, Lena Hall, and Showrunner Graeme Manson, moderated by JD Heyman (Editor-in-Chief, Entertainment Weekly).
• TBS Presents Miracle Workers: Dark Ages Screening & Panel with Cast and Creators – January 25: Screening followed by a panel with Steve Buscemi, Geraldine Viswanathan, Karan Soni and the show’s creator Simon Rich, moderated by Rachel Handler (Vulture).
• Career Conversations hosted by WarnerMedia’s Talent Acquisition Diversity Outreach – January 25: As part of the company’s ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion, WarnerMedia invites festival participants to stop by the lounge to view content, better understand our work culture and discuss current or future professional aspirations. View https://www.warnermediagroup.com/careers for a list of potential opportunities.
• “The Impact of Innovation on Today’s Connected Consumer” Panel – January 25: Cross-industry leaders in content, technology and innovation will detail the ever-growing demand to connect on multiple platforms and devices, and how companies of any size can scale innovation efforts while measuring success, sentiment and smiles, during an era of ongoing change. Moderated by Jesse Redniss (EVP Data Strategy, WarnerMedia & GM, WarnerMedia Innovation Lab), panelists will include Tony Driscoll (SVP, Emerging Technology & Innovation Strategy at Warner Bros.), Jacee Scoular (Director, Brand Marketing Strategy at Hollister Co.) and Sarah Vick (Executive Producer, Intel Studios).
• Particular Crowd Celebrates Latin America at Sundance Lunch – January 26: A few days after its official launch at NATPE, Particular Crowd, Turner Latin America’s film division, will participate for the first time at Sundance with a lunch to celebrate Latin America. This is following the premiere of one of its movies POSSESSOR the night before.
• HBO Presents Welcome to Chechnya – A Conversation with Filmmaker David France and Film Subjects – January 27: In the present-day Russian republic of Chechnya, gay and transgender citizens are targeted as part of a deadly “cleansing” campaign. This searing documentary shadows a group of brave LGBTQ activists risking their lives to confront the ongoing persecution, working undercover to rescue the victims of this aggression. HBO will host a panel with Filmmaker David France, Alphonso David, President of the Human Rights Campaign, subjects featured in the film and moderated by Rashad Robinson, President of Color of Change.

WarnerMedia will also host Our Stories to Tell, an invite-only pop up experience from HBO, TNT and TBS celebrating their commitment to multicultural storytelling, creators and audiences, taking place during the first weekend of the festival on Main Street. The event space at Firewood, located at 306 Main St., will transform to accommodate various interactive and engaging programming ranging from special events, panels and discussions with talent and creatives, exclusive dinners with casts and more to showcase ongoing initiatives that authentically engage African American, Asian American, LGBTQ+, and Latinx audiences.

In addition to the above, HBO will host a multi-day, immersive pop-up experience at OP Rockwell, 268 Main St., from January 25-27 in support of the six-part documentary series, McMillion$, and CNN Films will return to Sundance at Fletchers, 562 Main St., with a slate of programming and events.

We will work to bring as much as we can to you! See you in the snow.