K-Swiss partnered with Gen Art to host the K-Swiss Ping Pong Classic “The Chinese Penhold”, an event that celebrate the sport of Ping Pong while honoring a special selection of filmmakers and movies premiering at Sundance.
K-Swiss selected emerging filmmaker, Gabriel Sunday, to create a short film on Ping Pong which premiered at the event. Rising from a background of Shakespeare, improv and musical theater, Sunday produced his first film at age 16. Since then, he has collaborated with Regenerate on films such as My Suicide which went on to win 14 Best Picture Awards at major film festivals around the globe. Sunday currently studies with The Steppenwolf West Theater in LA and recently played roles in Judd Apatow’s Year One opposite Jack Black, directed by Harold Ramis and Taking Woodstock, directed by Ang Lee.
Sunday’s commissioned film short, The Chinese Penhold, portrays Jake Scribner, a rugged, burnout bro from Ocean City Maryland with an undying passion for competition and a girlfriend that won’t get off his freakin’ back. He finds himself at a ridiculous party in the Valley and must face the most important match of his life. Overwhelmed by a sense of self doubt, he must face the voices in his head, find balance and discover the true spirit of the game.
In the spirit of the annual celebration of indie film, K-Swiss and Gen Art got down with some of the brightest young actors and directors for a K-Swiss Ping Pong Classic at Sundance. Perfect for all comers, ping pong is an irreverent, old school fave that lends well to the party vibe of Park City (Susan Sarandon recently picked up a paddle, dumped her hubby and invested in the NYC club Spin as well as its founder, a 31 year-old filmmaker and ping pong fan).
The K-Swiss Ping Pong Classic was a hit! Josh Madden, Haley Ramm and other names (full list below) in film and music showed up to preview the latest from Gabriel Sunday and watch four Sundance filmmakers battle it out on the Ping Pong court! Ironically, these four filmmakers are battling it out off the court, as well, as they are competing against one another in the Sundance dramatic films category. Skateland’s Anthony Burns declared victory over Douchebag’s Andrew Dickler in the final round…and as a reward, K-Swiss will donate money in Anthony’s name to Artists for Peace and Justice, a charity organization supporting the earthquake relief effort in Haiti. The advisory board includes Maria Bello, Josh Brolin, James Franco, Jimmy Jean-Louis, Natasha Koifman, Diane Lane, Michael Stahl-David, Oliver Stone, Madeleine Stowe, Charlize Theron, Peter Tunney and Olivia Wilde.
Additional notable attendees included: Gabriel Sunday, Anthony Burns, Andrew Dickler, Alex Karpovsky, Diane Bell, Aimee-Lynn Chadwick, Danny Mooney, Melvin Fowler of the NFL, Margherite Moreau, A.J. Buckley, Taylor Handley, Casey LaBow, Heath Freeman, Brandon Freeman, David Sullivan, Ellen Hollman and more…
