Sundance Catalog - In Search of the Archetypes of the West

Put Your Own Skin in the Game

Provo Canyon and Salt Lake City, Utah:  Travel into a pristine part of the Rocky Mountains, a place that Robert Redford wanted to preserve. To sustain his dream and continue to pay for it all, he turned to Brent Beck and Harry Rosenthal when he had an idea for a catalog business.

Brent knew the products. Harry knew direct mail. But, unlike most of us, these three had a fast start for this business -- leveraging the Robert Redford brand.

It wasn't always easy even for Redford. When he applied for that initial loan from the bank, just like so many of us, he was rejected.


By turning to investors, he bought the land  and began thinking of how to turn it into a business. That was in the late '60's.  Now this area is a premier recreation destination; the film festival has become a major venue for artists to learn and display their work. And, the catalog business is going gangbusters.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid  created the momentum; Redford took the flying leap, and then he was joined first by Brent and then by Harry. It's a good story. Even celebrities, once less than famous, had to crawl, scrap, and take a risk -- a flying leap -- just like the rest of us.

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