Meet the 2012 Sundance Filmmakers #16: Jon Kasdan, "The First Time"

"The First Time" director Jon Kasdan

Two teens fall in love for "The First Time" in this sophomore feature from Jon Kasdan, which will play in the US dramatic Competition.

What's it about?  It's a high school romance about two kids who meet at a party and, over the course of a weekend, fall for each other.

Says director Jon Kasdan: I found every aspect of making this film challenging. Of course, I've only made only one other movie, 'In the Land of Women,' and that was challenging too. For me, the hardest thing, with both movies, was this - you NEVER have enough time. You plan, you prepare, you rehearse, but no matter what, once you actually get there, you're racing the clock. And I've never had a single day as a director where I felt like I actually got everything I should've.

"I grew up in Los Angeles. My parents are filmmakers. My brother is a filmmaker. We grew up in a movie-centric house. It's the only thing either of us ever wanted to. I went to NYU film school. I dropped out. I wrote for television. I wrote a lot of unproduced screenplays. Eventually I tricked someone into letting me direct one of them. After that, I went back to writing screenplays until, once again, I tricked someone into letting me direct this one. Every time you get to make a movie it's a f***in' miracle and there's never any reason to think that it will ever happen again.

An image from Jon Kasdan's "The First Time"

"I don't have much experience with Sundance (I was there for one night for my buddy Mike White's movie, 'Year of the Dog', but that's all) so, at this point, I'm kinda just hoping that some people show up to see the movie. Beyond that... i dunno, it's a romance so, if it left folks with, like, a tiny romantic buzz/feeling (i've felt that buzz coming out of movies) then, that would be terrific.  More the anything I'm really hoping to not slip and fall down on the icey sidewalks."

Indiewire invited Sundance Film Festival directors to tell us about their films, including what inspired them, the challenges they faced and what they're doing next. We'll be publishing their responses leading up to the 2012 festival.

Keep checking here every day up to the launch for the latest profiles.