Attracting an overflow crowd of notables from across the entertainment industry and corporate world, Alkemy X held its annual Sundance Film Festival party on January 26th at The Cabin in Park City, Utah. Always a hot ticket, the invite-only event served as a respite from nonstop festival screenings and a chance to engage in conversation with old friends while enjoying cocktails and entertainment, delivered in a spirit of celebration. This year’s attendees included execs and guests from Merrill Lynch, Marriott, AKA Hotels, the Philadelphia Film Society and the William Penn Foundation, among many others. Celebrities included former NFL star Reggie Bush and The Bachelor’s Natalie Fiori.
Alkemy X CEO Justin Wineburgh once again acted as host. A regular at Sundance since 2005, Wineburgh sees the festival as not only an incomparable entertainment and social event, but also vital to his company’s business. “Every person who attends Sundance, whether a producer, a director, a distributor or a content acquirer, can utilize services provided by Alkemy X,” he observes. “Every film and television project requires the editorial, visual effects, picture finishing, color correction and audio engineering services that our incredibly talented staff provide.” He points out that Alkemy X currently provides visual effects and other post-production services for such popular shows as The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Fear of the Walking Dead, SMILF, High Maintenance, Power, Blindspot and The Gifted. It also provided visual effects for M. Night Shyamalan’s Split.
“Sundance is even more important for our Branded Entertainment division,” Wineburgh adds. “Many of the brands whom we met, or presented with, at NATPE earlier in the month, including Marriot and Jukin Media, were at Sundance for a sponsored event hosted by the organization Brand Storytelling. There are now more brands and products represented at Sundance than films.” Fast becoming a major player in branded entertainment, Alkemy X has recently produced projects for Samsung, Google, Red Bull, Comcast and xfinity.
Alkemy X’s Sundance parties are not motivated solely out of self-interest. “Our purpose is to promote connectivity among and between thought leaders,” Wineburgh says. “We have developed a highly-curated, specialized guest list. Everyone who attends has some shared professional interest. I love nothing more than filling a room with people who can do business together, whether Alkemy X is involved or not.”
One of Alkemy X’s goals is to promote Philadelphia, its corporate home base. Wineburgh notes that he was originally introduced to Sundance by another Philadelphia native, the late producer J.C. Spink. “I’m very loyal to Philadelphia,” he says. “I’m also a member of the Philadelphia Film Society, and we use the party as a way to draw attention to the society and its exceptional work for, and dedication to, the local Philadelphia film community.”
Wineburgh says that this year’s party was Alkemy X’s best. “Turnout was very strong,” he says. “We had Academy Award-nominated producers, prominent actors, sports stars, private equity investors, venture capitalists, philanthropists and high-caliber people from the corporate world join us. It was an extremely impressive group and everyone had a great time.”
About Alkemy X:
Alkemy X produces commercials, branded content, network creative, integrated marketing, social/digital initiatives, long-form unscripted television and visual effects for feature films, episodic TV and commercials. Advertising and branded content clients include BMW, Pepsi, Panera, Lexus, Google and Samsung. Promo, integrated, and social clients include Nickelodeon, Syfy, AMC, TruTV and Food Network. The VFX team works on series including AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead, NBC’s Blindspot, HBO’s The Leftovers, Netflix’s Maniac and Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.
