STILL CONTRACTED FOR 2025 & 2026 FESTIVALS
Audience members attend a post-screening question-and-answer session at the Eccles Theatre during the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The
festival has begun testing the waters for a possible move from Utah after its contract with Park City expires following the 2026 season. Photo
copyright 2024 by Sundance Institute. Photo by Jemal Countess.
John Rogers
Utah Business Journal
After nearly 40 years in Park City, the Sundance Film Festival may be pulling up stakes. With its current contract expiring after the 2026 festival, organizers of the iconic Robert Redford-founded independent film gala in the Summit County town have announced that they have opened a bid process for a possible move to a new host city.
With the 2025 and 2026 festivals still set for Park City, the legacy home of the event remains in the mix to continue hosting after the current 13-year contract expires. Local and state officials have vowed to devise a strong local effort to keep the festival home.
“To be clear, this does not mean that we are moving or have made a decision to move,” a Sundance spokesperson’s statement read. “This includes Utah, given the Festival’s long-standing relationship, and we absolutely encourage them to be a part of this process with us.”
Sundance brings a lot of out-of-state dollars into the economies of both Park City and the state of Utah. The financial impact of the recently concluded 2024 festival has yet to be released, but according to figures compiled for the Sundance board by Salt Lake City market research firm Y2 Analytics, festival spending in 2023 contributed $118.3 million to the Utah gross domestic product and meant 1,608 jobs for Utah residents who earned $63 million in wages. State and local governments collected $12.8 million tax revenue from spending related to Sundance.
The decision to open the process now, with more than six months to go before any renewal with Park City has to be decided upon, was signed off on by founder and board president, 87-year-old Redford himself, according to Hollywood news website Deadline. The site reported late in 2023 that the Sundance board had begun to consider the possibility of a move.
The process to select a potential new home for the festival has already begun. The board of the nonprofit Sundance Institute, which runs the festival, appointed a task force, including Robert Redford’s daughter, Amy Redford, which sent out a request for information (RFI) call on April 17, inviting interested locales to make their interest known to the group. The task force will consider all comers until May 1 and then begin whittling the applicants down to those it considers viable.
The potential hosts chosen during the first phase will then be asked to submit a detailed application during a request for proposal (RFP) period that will run from May 7 to June 21. The task force will then take its recommendations to the Sundance Institute board of trustees, chaired by filmmaker and former Obama White House social secretary Ebs Burnough, for a final decision.
“Park City has been our home for more than 40 years, together with the state of Utah, and Sundance cherishes and respects our history and partnership. We are thrilled with the vitality we see in independent filmmaking and want to assure the continuous discovery and support of independent artists and audiences our Festival is known for,” Burnough said. “We look forward to reviewing each proposal and working together with all of our potential collaborators to determine how we can collectively meet the needs of the independent film ecosystem and broader creative community,”
“We are in a unique moment for our festival and our global film community, and with the contract up for renewal, this exploration allows us to responsibly consider how we best continue sustainably serving our community while maintaining the essence of the Festival experience,” said Eugene Hernandez, Sundance programming director.
Gov. Spencer Cox and Park City Mayor Nann Worel said in statements that they plan to work with local leaders to keep the festival in the Beehive State.
“We appreciate our partnership with Sundance and we want the Festival to remain here for another 40 years,” Worel said. “We will not be alone in the effort to ensure that Utah remains host to diverse new voices from around the globe. With gratitude to the thousands of volunteers, our dedicated workforce, our residents, and the passion of our visitor and resident film lovers — we will work collaboratively with all our state and local partners on next steps.”
Sundance organizers made no indication of what it hopes to find in a new host city should they choose to move the festival. However, it is widely known that Park City struggles to handle the event as it grows. News reports about Park City’s full-time residents and hardcore skiers complaining of the intense pressure on the town are commonplace during the annual gathering. In recent years, many of Sundance’s film screenings and other events have been held in Salt Lake City. Sundance had more than 17,000 film entries from 153 countries for its 2024 festival.
As the Sundance board looks for new possibilities for a host city, the board seems to recognize its connection to its current home.
“The Sundance Film Festival has a rich and treasured 40-year history in both Park City and the state of Utah,” the festival said in launching its search. “Sundance Institute’s connection to Utah is profound, reflecting decades of shared cultural achievements that have shaped the Festival into what it is today.”
The festival, which launched in 1978 as the Utah/U.S. Film Festival in Salt Lake City, has been staged in Park City since 1981 with the exception of two pandemic years when it was hosted virtually.