Sundance Film Festival organizers on Friday said a combined effort between Park City and Salt Lake City advanced to another phase of the selection process as Sundance considers whether to move the event from its longtime location in Park City.
Sundance said six places advanced. The other five:
• Atlanta
• Boulder, Colorado
• Cincinnati, Ohio
• Louisville, Kentucky
• Santa Fe, New Mexico
Sundance said members of a selection committee plan to visit the finalists shortly. It also said the evaluation process that narrowed the field included assessments of infrastructure, equity values and the capability to stage events.
“Each finalist was required to demonstrate how they would welcome and continue to foster the diverse Sundance community and culture of independent creativity that is an integral part of the Institute and Festival experience,” Sundance said.
The Utah Host Committee leading the efforts crafted a concept for the future of the festival that expands the footprint outside of Park City, dubbed “Two Cities. One Experience.” The vision essentially calls for Salt Lake City having a larger role in the festival than it currently has in staging the top marketplace of independent films in the United States and one of the top festivals on the international circuit.
“We’ve been fortunate to host the Sundance Film Festival and witness some of the greatest films made over the past 40 years. And now, we are committed to working in partnership on a new vision of ‘Two Cities, One Experience’ with a shared goal of reinvigorating the Festival with an even greater tradition for storytelling over the next 40 years. At the heart of our proposal is a commitment to ensuring it remains an inspiring showcase of independent film, bringing together audiences and creators from all walks of life,” said Mayor Nann Worel, Salt Lake City Mayor Erin Mendenhall and Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson in a statement.
The Utah Host Committee said the concept “will provide opportunities to utilize additional venues and reach new audiences.”
“This new vision also offers new ways to secure and expand upon the approximately $4 million in financial assistance the festival currently receives from government entities, as well as the $2 million in cash and in-kind support from local, corporate, foundation and individual donors,” the statement said.
The statement, though, did not provide details about any financial package that is part of the submittal to Sundance. There has been limited information about the financials released by the Utah committee even as some of the other places that are seeking the event have publicized numbers.
City Hall and Sundance have an agreement that covers festivals through 2026. The events in 2025 and 2026 are scheduled to be staged as normal. Any relocation of the festival, or a reimagining with Salt Lake City holding an expanded role, would begin with the event in 2027.
Sundance is the most lucrative event on Park City’s calendar, and City Hall leaders and the tourism industry want to keep the festival in the community, even if the role is smaller under a new concept.
“‘Two Cities, One Experience’ leverages what has worked for the last 40 years with our dedicated funding assistance, our amazing volunteers, and of course this world-class venue we call home,” Worel said in a statement. “From the beginning, this has been an all-hands-on-deck approach to keep Sundance in Utah and that is reflected in this exciting new vision.”
Eugene Hernandez, the Sundance Film Festival director, spoke in broad terms Thursday about the process.
“Now, after months of more private conversations as our committee has been meeting with governors, mayors, local officials, film commissioners and arts advocates, we’ve had a chance to evaluate the many pitches that have come from around the country,” he said. “And it’s really exciting for us in all seriousness to like be at this stage of the process so we can go visit and have those conversations openly. That’s the next vital stage.”
Scene Editor Scott Iwasaki contributed to this report.