Telluride 2011: UTA Holds Party at Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall's Ranch

Ralph Barnie

L to R: Rich Klubeck, Michel H., Frank Marshall, Rena Ronson

It took a van ride along one of the longest and most treacherous driveways known to man, but the white-knuckle trip was worth it.

UTA, which is co-sponsoring the Telluride Film Festival for the first time this year, took the opportunity to hold a Friday night party at the sprawling ranch of producers Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall (The Bourne Legacy, War Horse), who is a client. So attendees piled into shuttles at the downtown gondola for the trek up and above Mountain Village and off into the lush, dark woods to the Kennedy/Marshall property. (During the snowbound winter, the owners and guests apparently use snowmobiles to get up and down to the ranch.)

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Director Michel Hazanavicius, whose film The Artist has been on many people’s lips this weekend, made the trip, as did Butter producer Michael De Luca, A Dangerous Method writer Christopher Hampton and UTA’s Jeremy Zimmer, Jeremy Barber, Rena Ronson and Rich Klubeck. Everyone snacked on filet mignon sliders, crabcakes and prosciutto i melone while exploring the candlelit ranch and talking movies. Hampton gave a small discourse on the early handling of hysteria, while De Luca talked up Moneyball (opening in three weeks) and how its ad campaign focusing on star Brad Pitt is designed to evoke a Jerry Maguire feel.

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Saturday's cocktail parties and dinners will be thrown by ICM president Chris Silbermann, at his house in Mountain Village, Sony Pictures Classics, IFC and Fox Searchlight. Aside from the occasionally risky travel, the other danger with holding events like this at Telluride is that invitees are loathe to miss a chance to squeeze in yet another film, and so the parties are generally more sparsely attended than the organizers would like.

But everyone is looking for another opportunity to talk movies.