Posts tagged with "Has been in Park City (Utah) for the past 40 years"

July 22, 2024

Sundance—which hosts an annual, influential film festival that has made the organization synonymous with the snowy mountain town of Park City, Utah, for the past 40 years—announced in April that it had begun reviewing whether it should move. The Institute’s current contract with Park City will end after the 2026 event, reports The New York Times.

The timing of the January festival will remain the same no matter where it is held, Sundance says. Among the reasons for the move: The ten-day event often pushes Park City to its limits, with snarled traffic and exorbitant rental prices.

When evaluating the individual locations, Sundance said it focused on logistical concerns, infrastructure issues, a city’s commitment to artistic endeavors, and the venue’s ability to capitalize on its local film community.

The Sundance Institute announced on Friday, July 19, that its search for a home has been narrowed to six finalists: Atlanta; Cincinnati; Boulder, Colorado; Louisville, Kentucky; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and its current locale, Park City, Utah, which would team up with the city down the mountain, Salt Lake City.

“Each of these cities has a vibrant creative ecosystem, either expanding or established, and has enabled creativity to flourish in their cities through their support of the arts,” Eugene Hernandez, Sundance’s Festival director and director of Public Programming, said in a statement.

Sundance, which was founded by Robert Redford in 1981 and moved to Park City in 1985, continues to be the dominant festival for independent films. For the 2024 edition, the festival received a record number of submissions—over 17,000 from 153 countries.

Research contact: @nytimes