By Stephanie Ornelas
Digital Gym is ready to deliver a slice of Sundance Film Festival to San Diego.
Almost two years ago, when the California-based independent micro-cinema lost the lease to its location and was forced to close during the pandemic, Mois s Esparza (Exhibitions Manager) was concerned that the cinema wasn't given a proper send-off. Today, instead of a goodbye, they're ready to introduce their brand-new home to their community as a 2022 Sundance Film Festival Satellite Screen partner.
It all aligned itself really nicely, says Esparza via Zoom. We're making up for the closure of the previous location with this amazing grand opening and [we're] pairing it with the Satellite Screen experience.
As a single-screen cinema, Esparza noted how it took some time for Digital Gym to cultivate supporters. Caught between two other independent cinemas, he explains, It took a while for us to carve out our space in the film community here in San Diego. But it felt like we hit our stride in the last couple of years. With the pandemic, so much was paused, but we're ready to pick up where we left off with this new sense of momentum.
Uniquely part of two entities - Esparza also manages the San Diego Latino Film Festival - he provides an important perspective when it comes to the cinematic depth of the community.
The film festival community here is so strong. It really is the cinephile's dream, he says excitedly. From the San Diego Asian Film Festival, to the Jewish Film Festival, the G.I. Film Festival and San Diego Film Week, there are so many opportunities here to not just appreciate, but also discover film. We really advocate for independent films made from all over the world, so we're honored to be the in-person ambassadors for the Sundance Film Festival.
Being one of the only in-person aspects of the Festival is what really kept the Digital Gym team not just encouraged, but exhilarated.
The pandemic brings on so much stress, and it's kind of hard to see a path through all the noise, but producing this event has given our team so much to hang on to, Esparza says. It's giving us a bit of renewed purpose.
In terms of what's changed [since Sundance Institute's announcement of a primarily online festival], the cinema is limiting capacity and will be rethinking some of its reception-type events to promote social distancing and an overall safe environment. But they will still be hosting Q&As, something Esparza stresses is so important to the overall experience.
The real magic happens during that audience-filmmaker interaction after the film plays, he says. You can see it on peoples' faces. They just want to interact with special guests and talk about the film.
He continues, we project so much onto the screen while we're watching, but we almost, in a way, want the film to talk to us after it's over, and how we do that is by having these filmmakers, actors, producers, editors, and other special guests provide that context.
But more importantly, Esparza is excited to bring a small taste of the Sundance Film Festival to the energetic and fast-evolving community that is San Diego.
I want to create a Sundance experience that's really accessible. Bringing films to the community, setting up the red carpet, having Q&As with filmmakers - those are the things I'm really looking forward to.
The pandemic challenges have prompted Esparza to have conversations within his own community. And despite the 2022 Festival's pivot to online, many agree that the most crucial facet - the core reason we're all gathered here in the first place - will always be present.
This just allows us to [examine] the reason why we're coming together in the first place, which is to watch and support movies, he says. All of the supplemental events are amazing and create a vibe, and they're so valuable, but what are we really here for? To watch films communally. That important aspect of the film is still there.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
06/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
06/04/2026
From high school sports all the way up to the major leagues, building high-quali...
06/04/2026
Quickplay, an AI company for the media and entertainment industry, has been accepted into the Advanced tier of the TwelveLabs Ecosystem Partner Program. Quickpl...
06/04/2026
Grass Valley has announced the Future Playmakers Program, a global initiative to...
06/04/2026
El l der de operaciones impulsa la producci n en estudio mientras encuentra insp...
06/04/2026
The ops leader helps lead the charge in studio for the Spanish-language broadcas...
06/04/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
06/04/2026
The National Hockey League (NHL), in partnership with Verizon and the New Jersey Devils, today announced the opening of the NHL Innovation Lab powered by Verizo...
06/04/2026
Rock League, a new professional curling league, has announced that ESPN+ will stream its inaugural 2026 season for fans in the United States. The first Rock Lea...
06/04/2026
Advanced Systems Group has announced the appointment of Andrea (Andy) Cummis as Vice President of Systems Design and Engineering. In this role, she will lead de...
06/04/2026
Backed by Bolt Ventures, the venture brings Bryson DeChambeau, Grant Horvat, and...
06/04/2026
With this environment we can start that collaboration even earlier because we ca...
06/04/2026
Like the immortal lives of vampires, some stories never really end. That's t...
06/04/2026
As podcasting continues to evolve, growth increasingly means building beyond aud...
06/04/2026
Multiband dynamics plug-in enhanced
California-based developer FSK Audio have released a significant update for their innovative multiband dynamics processo...
06/04/2026
Share official & user-created full-rig presets
IK Multimedia's latest TONEX update makes it possible for users of the popular amp and effects modelling ...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
06/04/2026
Dalet Showcases Dalia Agentic AI and End-to-End Media Workflows at NAB Show 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Dalet, a leading technology and...
06/04/2026
OpenDrives Shows Off Sports Expertise in Sports Business Hub located in NAB Show...
06/04/2026
Proton to Demonstrate 3D Application at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Yet further creative potential unleashed through innovation in ...
06/04/2026
Autoscript Highlights Voice-Driven Prompting and PTZ Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 6, 2026
0 Comments
Experience Autoscript Voice, PTZ prom...
06/04/2026
Mediaproxy Highlights Significant Enhancements to its LogServer suite at NAB Sho...
06/04/2026
Wayne, N.J., April 6th, 2026 Phantom High-Speed announces the release of PCC 4...
06/04/2026
April 6th, 2026
TRIBECA STUDIOS AND LILLY ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF INAUGURAL VITAL...
06/04/2026
Back to All News
Netflix Expands Kids Entertainment Lineup With Playground App ...
05/04/2026
Tackles all reported bugs!
SoundBridge have just announced the launch of a new update that introduces a couple of minor changes to their remote collaboratio...
04/04/2026
The University of Arizona's Men's Basketball team has only loss twice th...
04/04/2026
1080p HDR arrives, a new generation of storytelling tools takes center stage, an...
04/04/2026
Michigan legends bring a new voice to the broadcast as TNT Sports and CBS Sports...
04/04/2026
Faster, cleaner and more intuitive than ever
The control software for Flock Audio's digitally controlled patchbay systems has just been treated to an up...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/04/2026
DHD Introduces AI-Based Audio Noise Reduction to XD3 IP Core
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
The accompanying image shows the rear panel of the ...
04/04/2026
Macnica Redefines ST 2110 Flexibility with Two Speeds on One Card
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
New for NAB Show 2026, MEP100 SmartNIC now sup...
04/04/2026
Unified Media Workflows for Story-Centric Production
Brie Clayton April 3, 2026
0 Comments
Framelight X unifies field capture, editing and publishing ...
03/04/2026
Michigan's Fab Five will reunite for an alternate presentation of the Mich...
03/04/2026
Avid will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (April 18-22, Booth N2226, Las Vegas Convention Center), demonstrating its Content Core platform and new AI-driven workflow c...
03/04/2026
Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC) has announced the appointment of Nick Barthee as Chief Operating Officer.
The announcement follows MRMC's transition fro...
03/04/2026
Interra Systems has announced that Elite Media Technologies has selected its BATON file-based QC solution for media workflows. Elite Media Technologies speciali...
03/04/2026
Ateme has announced that Moldtelecom has deployed Ateme technologies across its streaming workflow, covering encoding, delivery, operations, and analytics.
Mol...
03/04/2026
Grass Valley will demonstrate Framelight X, its content management platform, at NAB Show 2026. The platform connects capture, ingest, editing, and publishing in...
03/04/2026
Encompass Digital Media and Techex have announced a cloud-native Master Control ...
By Stephanie Ornelas 
