By Brice Wallace
The economic impact of the Sundance Film Festival continues to grow.
The Sundance Institute, a nonprofit organization, announced recently that the 2017 version of the festival generated a total economic impact of $151.5 million. That’s up from the 2016 total of $143 million.
“This year’s numbers clearly display the great economic return that investments in the arts can produce in a community,” said Betsy Wallace, the institute’s chief financial officer and managing director. “We’re proud to call the state of Utah home, and with the support of the state, local communities, great local vendors and indispensable volunteers, Sundance Institute is able to bring an arts event of this size and scope to Utah.”
The economic and demographic study of the 2017 festival indicated the event supported 2,778 jobs, up from 1,400 reported in 2016; attracted more than 71,600 attendees, up from 46,660 last year; and generated $14 million in state and local revenue, up from nearly $8 million in 2016.
The 2017 study was conducted by Y² Analytics, which the institute said used updated methodology and technology to give a more complete picture of the festival’s impact on the state of Utah’s economy. The 2016 figures come from a study by the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah. The 2017 figures do not include the economic impact of the institute’s year-round Utah-based programs, such as the Filmmaker Labs and Summer Film Series.
Since 2013, the festival has had a total economic impact of $465 million, generated more than $41.6 million in state and local tax revenue, and supported more than 8,400 jobs.
“It is apparent that the Sundance Film Festival continues to have an expanding impact on Utah’s vibrant and diverse economy,” said Gov. Gary R. Herbert. “In addition to the obvious economic benefits, our ongoing collaboration with Sundance Institute highlights the exceptional cultural, recreational, tourism and business opportunities available here in Utah.”
“More than ever, the people of Utah and our business community appreciate the unique benefits provided by the Sundance Film Festival,” said Francis Gibson, majority whip of the Utah House of Representatives. “We look forward to our ongoing work together and the positive collaboration between Sundance Institute and the state.”
The 2017 festival’s attendee number was an all-time high. It included 37,200 out-of-state visitors from 46 states and 744 international visitors from at least 18 countries. Of the out-of-state attendees, 22 percent indicated this was their first visit to Utah and 86 percent indicated they would likely visit Utah again within the next year.
Per-person spending by out-of-towners averaged $3,287, with an average stay of five days. About $53.9 million in attendee spending was for lodging, followed by $31.1 million for food and beverages.
The study also showed that the festival continued to be a media darling. Between November 2016, when the film program was announced, through February of this year, the festival was the topic of more than 53,000 stories in print, online and on television — up 11 percent from 2016. The value of the publicity totaled $90.9 million, up 20 percent from the event’s five-year average. More than 950 members of the media from 22 nations were accredited to cover the event.
Social media and website traffic also were strong. The festival has nearly 2.5 million fans across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest, Snapchat and Google+. During the festival, there were over 42 million impressions on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter alone. In the period Nov. 30-Feb. 28, the institute’s website had more than 5.8 million page views and 1.1 million unique visitors from 187 countries.