West Bloomfield Native Gets First Nod at Sundance Film Festival

West Bloomfield native Stacie Passon is among the Michiganders whose works are being showcased during this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Passon wrote and directed in "Concussion", which is one of 16 dramatic films chosen from 1,200 entries for the annual indie showcase that runs from Jan. 17 to Jan. 27 in Park City, UT, according to the Los Angeles Times.

The film deals with a wealthy lesbian couple whose longtime marriage hits the skids when one of the partners is hit in the head with a baseball and starts to re-evaluate whether she wants to continue to live the suburban life, according to USA Today.

Passon told the Free Press that "Concussion" is her first feature film.

The USA Today story continues that Radius, a studio arm of The Weinstein Co., announced it had purchased the film for distribution. "Concussion" is now slated for an early fall 2013 release.

Other Sundance films with Michigan ties include the following, according to the Detroit Free Press.

• "The Lifeguard": actress Kristen Bell, a Huntington Woods native
• "Toy’s House": director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, formerly of Royal Oak
• "North of South, East of West": filmed in Detroit

Michigan Film Office Director Margaret O'Riley also was set to represent Michigan at the Sundance Film Festival.

"I'm a very positive person and I'm all about bringing investment into the state of Michigan," O'Riley told the Free Press. "We want good projects. We want a combination of projects, small, medium and large. That's my goal."