First-Ever Audible Speakeasy to Debut at the Sundance Film Festival

Audible will make its Sundance Film Festival debut as the festival’s exclusive audio entertainment sponsor with The Audible Speakeasy, where stories are stirred, shaken and spoken. Creators and festival attendees will have the opportunity to attend Los Angeles Times-curated and hosted panel discussions, fireside chats, daily sound baths and more. Events include conversations with Tessa Thompson, Ron Howard, Rebecca Hall, Rufus Wainwright, Nnamdi Asomugha, Colman Domingo, Justin Simien, Heidi Ewing, Alison Ellwood, Belinda Carlisle and Amy Ziering, among many others.

Audible Speakeasy attendees are also invited to relax through daily, 30-minute sound baths hosted by a leading voice in sound bath experiences, Sara Auster. Guests will be introduced to sound meditation with guided instructions focused on breathing practices.

The Audible Speakeasy will provide Festival attendees, creators and industry professionals with an inspiring and comfortable meeting place at the center of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. The space will be open to the public on Main Street in Park City from Friday, January 24 through Monday, January 27.

Daily Public Programming:

9:00 – 10:00am: Sound Bath with Sara Auster (RSVP required at audible.com/sundance2020)

Afternoon: Audible In Conversation and Los Angeles Times Panels (Jan. 24-26)

FRIDAY, JANUARY 24

2:30 – 3:30pm: “How We Made It” Panel, hosted by the Los Angeles Times

Moderator: Alison Brower, Los Angeles Times Deputy Editor, Arts & Entertainment Panelists: Heidi Ewing, filmmaker (I Carry You With Me, Love Fraud), Rebecca Hall, actor (The Night House), Ron Howard, filmmaker (Rebuilding Paradise), Sasheer Zamata, actor (Spree) and Amy Ziering, filmmaker (Untitled Russell Simmons documentary)

Los Angeles Times deputy editor Alison Brower will lead a conversation about practical and artistic challenges across genres, how documentary and narrative storytellers respond to character and production hurdles, and the themes that unite great stories.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 25

1:15 – 1:45pm: In Conversation with Rufus Wainwright

Moderator: Kate Navin, Audible Artistic Producer

Legendary Grammy-nominated singer, songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright will join Audible’s Artistic Producer Kate Navin in a spirited conversation about the creative process in which powerful music and stories are born. Wainwright will explore his upcoming original project Road Trip Elegies: Montreal to New York which covers a journey he took many times with his beloved late mother, Canadian folk singer, Kate McGarrigle, from Montreal to New York City. The route represents both a physical and metaphorical life journey for him, one that oscillates between the emotional poles of his divorced mother and father living in Canada and New York, respectively.

2:00 – 3:00pm: “Music and Storytelling” Panel, hosted by the Los Angeles Times

Moderator: Amy Kaufman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Panelists: Eugene Ashe, writer-director (Sylvie’s Love), Alison Ellwood, filmmaker (The Go-Go’s), Belinda Carlisle, musician (The Go-Go’s), and additional participants to be announced

Los Angeles Times writer Amy Kaufman will lead a conversation about the intersection of music and storytelling — how to capture the magic of great performers and performances, how music drives narrative, and the art of creating songs that tell stories and stories that amplify musicians’ craft.

SUNDAY, JANUARY 26

2:30 – 3:30pm: “Transcendence of Narrative” Panel, hosted by the Los Angeles Times

Moderator: Mark Olsen, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Participants: Tessa Thompson, actor (Sylvie’s Love), Nnamdi Asomugha, actor and producer (Sylvie’s Love), Colman Domingo, actor (Zola) and Justin Simien, writer-director (Bad Hair)

Los Angeles Times writer Mark Olsen will lead a conversation about how great narratives can be told and retold, exploring how different storytelling formats inspire and inflect creation and provide new opportunities and challenges.