Photo credit: photo courtesy of spa montage deer valley
With the debut of Equity, her first feature film, at Sundance, Alysia Reiner covers the Spa Montage Deer Valley for Organic Spa Magazine
Making a movie is one of the best and hardest things I have ever done. It took almost 18 months of 18- to 24-hour days to get to the Sundance Film Festival with my new film, Equity, which I star in and produced. Only 16 films go to competition at Sundance (over 14,000 are submitted) and, as hard as we worked, as good as the film is, there is an element of pure luck: we won the lottery. Make no mistake, had we not gotten sold to Sony Picture Classics and gotten amazing distribution with such an incredible home, it would have been the hardest and worst idea ever, but we got blessed.
In the case of Equity, I took on not only the role of actress, but creator, as I (and my partner) created the idea, wrote the story treatment, hired the writer and director (and the rest of the crew) and produced the entire thing. The hours upon hours, day and night, the stress my body accumulated over the last year, could take a decade to decompress, but who has time for that? So, thankfully, the spa at the Montage Deer Valley in Utah did their best in two hours.
First, the Spa Montage Deer Valley is gorgeous. The pool and the tubs make you feel like you have stepped back in time to the Ancient Roman Baths—but wait—there is snow outside in the winter months and incredible views of the mountains year-round! Pure heaven. And the gym is state of the art. You can hop on a treadmill or Stairmaster while looking at the beauty outside.
I don’t get to spa very often, lately, but when I do, I look for an eco-spa. Someone rubbing me up with chemicals, parabens, etc., is kind of a buzz kill for this green gal. Just like I use simple, organic body, face, skin and beauty products at home, I want the best at a spa. I had an incredible Yoga Thai massage. The therapist was amazing, and I was truly transported away by that perfect balance of deep massage—and getting the knots and kinks out—but didn’t feel abused. The balance of a great massage is tricky when you love deep massage. It’s that fine line between ahhhh but not owwwww!
The same therapist also gave me an organic facial. She used a series of masks with a lot of facial massage, which was pure heaven and the products smelled divine. I don’t love sweet scents but do love the scents of lavender, rose and geranium. Of course it was all the better because it was natural and organic. My skin looked amazing afterward, it was super glowy!
The spa also did my hair and makeup for an award event. (Did I mention we got an award? The Creative Coalition gave Equity the Spotlight Award, which celebrates the “art and craft of independent filmmaking.”) They did a beautiful job and used natural makeup products as well. In my personal kit, I use some amazing organic and yuck-free brands, and love when makeup artists do, too!
I would highly recommend the spa at the Montage. It was such a well-needed oasis during an insane week and after a crazy year of making this movie!
Equity opens in the summer of 2016.