Why Sundance?

Many people have asked us why we agreed to become an "official provider" of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Why would a pizza franchise company with 40 locations in states throughout the U.S. want to support an internationally renowned independent film festival?

The answer is simple: exposure

At the moment, Nick-N-Willy's is a small pizza franchise company but we have plans to grow and get much, much bigger. We want more people to try our delicious pizza, calzones, focaccia sandwiches, wings, salads and desserts because we think our food tastes better. We also want to invite more people to partner with us as franchisees because we also believe our franchising model is better.

The 2010 Sundance Film Festival has given us the opportunity to reach out to about 50,000 people at the event. Most of them from the United States, but many from other parts of the world. The festival is located in an area where we have two restaurants - one in Park City, the other in Salt Lake City. The event has also given us a chance to feed 3,000 people, most of whom are from the Park City area and other markets where we have restaurants. All of these people are new potential customers and franchisees.

In addition, we have leveraged our sponsorship of Sundance through "Official Provider" branding, social media and media relations, and managed to capture new audiences through newspaper articles, radio interviews, Twitter, Facebook and blog posts.

Total exposure has exceeded the value of our investment and we're pleased with the results.

Overall it's been a win-win for everyone. We got the exposure we wanted and festival organizers got the best pizza for their event!

Nick-N-Willy's Vice President of Operations, Paola Rossi explains more about our contribution to Sundance and why we wanted to get involved.

Click below to listen to our interview with Paola Rossi, VP of Operations at Nick-N-Willy's Pizza:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q73FMReJrHI

A Day in the Life of "Nick", the Pizza Box Man at Sundance

The day started with a little snow which worried our friend "Nick", the pizza box man. He had a full day of pizza deliveries ahead of him to hundreds of festival volunteers, but even just a bit of snow could cause serious damage to a guy made out of cardboard!


Knowing that the volunteers depended on him and that a hot slice of pizza was the best cure for anyone’s appetite on a cold winter day, Nick was determined not to let the slushy snow get the best of him. He headed into the Park City Nick-N-Willy’s to start preparing for a busy day ahead of pizza deliveries. He helped to get the oven fired up and the prepare all the fresh ingredients to the quality standards of a Nick-N-Willy’s pizza. Nick and his team then went to the streets armed with pizzas, salads, and focaccia sandwiches ready to feed hundreds of hungry festival volunteers.

While delivering pizza from one theater to the next, Nick was desperately hoping to catch a glimpse of a few celebrities amongst the crowds. Just as he was pulling up to make his final pizza delivery at the Eccles Theater, he thought he saw actor, Philip Seymour Hoffman jumping into a taxi. The event is crawling with movie stars and film makers. If only Nick could get a box of pizza into their hands!

Star struck, he forged on to deliver piping hot pizzas to the eagerly awaiting volunteers. As he entered the theatre he was greeted like a celebrity by all the volunteers who were thrilled to be receiving Nick-N-Willy’s pizza. This couldn’t have made Nick more pleased as he passed out all of his favorite pizza recipes like the Aegean, Taste of Tuscany, and the Big Kahuna. He became even more proud as he heard encouraging comments from around the room like “I love the sauce!”, “Delicious!”“The crust is amazing!” and even, "This is the best pizza I’ve ever had!"

Nick could feel his box cheeks flush and his cardboard knees go weak. This was the reason for his existence - to spread his passion for Nick-N-Willy’s and his love of pizza.

Walking back to his car Nick glanced at his watch seeing it was only 2:30 and as much fun as he had making everyone so happy, he couldn’t resist the opportunity to take in a slice of the slopes to reward himself for all the hard work he had done that day. He dashed over to the mountain where he was able to get in a few runs (very carefully) prior to closing time.

As night time began to fall upon Park City, Nick had an “out of box” experience as he reflected on the day’s events and knew that each person he met today would remember him and the delicious pizza he provided. As he laid his box head to rest, he fell into a deep sleep and dreamed of pepperoni slices, gooey cheese and crispy thin crusts being enjoyed by all.

Sundance Film Festival Feast Provider

Sonia Bernard-McCall slices pies at Nick-N-Willy's in Park City, Utah

What does it take to be an official provider of pizza for 3,000 volunteers at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival? The answer is great tasting pizza, an organized team and a strong leader with a passion for pizza. Sonia Bernard-McCall is the owner of the Nick-N-Willy's in Park City and she is the reason 3,000 festival volunteers will be able to enjoy hot, delicious pizza for free from Nick-N-Willy's. Sonia and her team have been able to seemlessly keep up with the demanding pizza delivery schedule without ever missing a beat. Every day for the last few weeks Sonia's been rallying her crew to bake and deliver volumes of pizzas to hundreds hungry people.

To Sonia, the exposure at the festival is already paying off. A large majority of the volunteers are from the Park City area and Sonia expects most of them will become Nick-N-Willy's customers after they taste her incredible pizza made with the freshest ingredients and signature pizza dough recipe. The new customers are already streaming in.




Sonia's goal is to share her passion for pizza with as many people as possible. By participating in Sundance, the biggest event in her community, she's doing exactly that.

Click here to hear an interview with Sonia about her store's participation in the 2010 Sundance Film Festival

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgfoUyvC-OU

Sundance Star Spotting

Celebrity watching at Sundance isn't necessarily as easy as you'd think it would be - at least it hasn't been for us. We'd heard that this year there were going to be lots of great actors milling about the festival but we hadn't seen anyone yet. We started to think that maybe it was because we didn't have the inside scoop on where the celebrities were hanging out, or maybe we were just too busy delivering pizza and not paying enough attention!

I have to admit, we were starting to get discouraged a bit. We'd been at the festival a few days and still hadn't seen a spec of stardom (at least none we'd recognized). Not even a glimmer of glamour - nothing! Sure we'd heard rumblings that Jessica Alba, James Franco and Kristen Stewart were in town, but we sure hadn't any luck spotting them. We would enter a restaurant and the hostess would say, "You just missed Ben Affleck!" or we'd hear people saying, "Did you see what Paris (Hilton) was wearing?" We'd scoured Main Street, screenings, parties and panel discussions but our timing must have been off, that is until we went to see the premiere of "Get Low".

We clearly hadn't done our research on the film when we were star struck to discover legendary comedic actor, Bill Murray in our midst! There he was standing outside the theatre with a small entourage. A real live movie star in the flesh! And one talented enough to be cast in an independent film at Sundance! We're not sure why he had a crutch but he was pleasant and smiled for the few people who noticed him before being led into the theatre.

Bill Murray outside the Eccles Theatre at Sundance.

We thought that was it until the premiere started and out he walked onto the stage, followed by more stars! Sissy Spacek and veteran actor, Robert Duvall both joined Murray and were introduced as the stars of "Get Low". It was pretty exciting to see these celebrities up close and then watch them perform in the incredible film that followed. Following the screening, they once again came out on the stage for an informal question and answer period with a huge audience full of people. A few brave souls raised their voices to ask questions about their experiences in the film and in true character, Bill Murray commanded the stage and had the audience roaring in laughter.

Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek and Bill Murray at Sundance Q & A session for premiere of "Get Low"

Click below to watch a funny video clip from the Q & A at "Get Low: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch3Qpw5vgT4

It's official, we're hooked on star gazing! Hopefully there are many more stars in our future!

The Real Stars of the Sundance Show.

It's no doubt that the volunteers at Sundance are an integral part of making the event run efficiently. Some may say they're actually the real stars of the show here. The Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization, therefore it relies heavily on donations, sponsors and the dedication of thousands of people - many of whom don't get paid a cent.

Festival volunteers enjoying our pizza.

We've noticed the volunteers everywhere at the resort. They can be seen in the theatres, at the info booths and the box office, and even directing traffic. This year 1,600 people have graciously donated their time to be a part of this world renowned festival. Sure, they get to see some fantastic screenings and are fed great meals from Nick-N-Willy's pizza, but for the most, they're worked hard over the course of the 10-day event.


We had the chance to speak with Emily Aagaard, the Manager of the Sundance Festival Volunteers, to learn more about how the volunteer operation works, why Sundance values having a pizza sponsor this year, and what the volunteers really think about Nick-N-Willy's Pizza!

Interviewing Emily Aagaard, Manager of Sundance Festival Volunteers

Click here to watch our video interview - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lk4wsg1YVM

Sundance Fever

Party time at Sundance - Legacy Lodge Opening Party

The moment had finally arrived. After months of anticipation we touched down in Park City, Utah and found ourselves in a mystical winter wonderland buzzing with excitement about the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Right away it was apparent that everyone we met was absolutely thrilled to be here. The volunteers were incredibly enthusiastic to help direct us to the Eccles theatre for our first screening and provide insight into where and how to meet the stars. They were even more eager to help us out when they found out we were their pizza provider! Many of them had already been served our pizza and were already anticipating their next delivery!

Volunteers enjoying our pizza

Even our hard working crews at Nick-N-Willy's in Salt Lake City and Park City were getting into the spirit of the festival with their branded chef hats and newly hung window signage. Starting tomorrow the orders are really going to start pumping out of our restaurants, especially in Park City.

Nick-N-Willy's staff in Salt Lake City (top) and Park City

Nick-N-Willy's VP of Operations, Paola Rossi and I were lucky enough to get tickets to the premiere screening of "Restrepo", a war documentary that was both shocking and fascinating. Following that, we headed for the Sundance Opening Night Party at the Legacy Lodge.

Inside the Sundance Opening Night Party

This uber-artsy extravaganza boasted four floors of film industry movers and shakers schmoozing the night away. We had a blast trying to keep up with the crowd and met a few savvy locals who shared some serious Sundance "how to" tips.

Tanis Sullivan, PR Manager and Paola Rossi, VP Operations, strike a pose at Sundance

Within just a few hours of being here, we can definitely say we've caught Sundance fever, and we've only just scratched the surface of our adventure here.

Nick-N-Willy's will be dishing it out at the Sundance Film Festival

The crew from Nick-N-Willy's is headed to the 2010 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah tomorrow to dish out hundreds of meals to thousands of hungry festival volunteers. From our Park City restaurant, we'll be turning out close to 700 pizzas and countless focaccia sandwiches and salads as part of our contribution to this world renowned international film event. We've ramped up staff and delivery vehicles to accommodate this exciting opportunity, and will be travelling "behind-the-scenes" to deliver the goods. That means, we'll have access to some interesting festival perspectives that we want to share with you!

Beginning tomorrow, we'll be posting tweets and updates on our Twitter feed and Facebook Fan Page, plus we'll provide updates here on our Slice of Life blog. Through our pictures, video and posts you'll be able to come along on our Sundance Film Festival "Feast" and see how we make our way through the festival delivering hundreds of pizzas and taking in all the sites. You never know we may run into a celebrity or two.

Stay tuned......

Find us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/nick_n_willys and on Facebook by clicking here: http://www.facebook.com/pages/wwwnicknwillyscom/Nick-N-Willys-Pizza/138765372253?ref=mf

Hot, Crispy Pizza on a Cold, Crispy Night at the Loveland, CO Nick-N-Willy’s

My family and I were recently invited to try out one of Nick-N-Willy’s pizzas and who can resist a free large pizza in exchange for a few thoughts? Our choices were between the Big Kahuna and the Canadian Chicken Club varieties. Seeing as the temperature outside was below zero, my family of five was dying to get their hands on a little tropical pizza paradise so we went with the Big Kahuna. One of the nice things Nick-N-Willy’s offers that their take-n-bake competitors don’t is the option of eating in and having the pizza come out piping hot from their stone oven. That was a huge plus for us as the pizza would have been frozen by the time we got home if we had taken it to go. With a family of five, we wanted to make sure we had enough food to go around so we also ordered a medium Olde Fashioned Italian pizza and a large order of foccacia breadsticks. The staff was very friendly and answered any questions we had making the ordering process painless.

After we ordered, we had a seat and relaxed. After only a few minutes our breadsticks were already out and on the table. The breadsticks were crispy on the outside and very soft on the inside and were accompanied by marinara sauce for dipping.

By the time we were done with the breadsticks the pizzas were finished and brought out to the table piping hot, pre-cut and ready to serve. The Big Kahuna is a slightly different twist on a traditional Hawaiian pizza. It not only has pineapple and Canadian bacon on a red sauce base, it also has mandarin oranges. This was a huge selling point for everyone in the family. The cheese and toppings were abundant and everything tasted fresh. Their stone oven produced a wonderful, flavorful, crispy crust that was also a highlight. The Big Kahuna was a big hit and will definitely be on my family’s frequently ordered list.


The second pizza, the Olde Fashioned Italian, came out at the same time and looked just as good. The pizza is a combination of nine different ingredients but the seasoned beef, feta cheese, garlic and black olives really brought it all together and provided a nice contrast to the sweeter Big Kahuna.

Overall, the visit was a great success. The pizzas were piping hot, flavorful, well-made and not skimped on. Everything we ordered we would certainly order again and even though we have a take-n-bake competitor in our home town of Windsor, Nick-N-Willy’s in Loveland, CO provides a much better menu and the ability to have the pizza cooked for you in their oven is a huge plus and worth the extra 10 miles we had to drive.


On this night I would rate the Loveland, CO Nick-N-Willy’s a 10 out of 10.


Sam Dreyer is a married, father of three from Windsor, CO