Utah Film Chief Says Efforts To Keep Sundance Is “Like Trying To Woo Back A Long-Term Lover”; Relocation Process In Final Stage Among Six Finalists
deadline.comEXCLUSIVE: As Tom Petty said a long time ago, “the waiting is the hardest part” — especially if you are the state of Utah bidding to keep the Sundance Film Festival against five other determined contenders. “I just think, why would you uproot a festival with such deep roots here?” says Utah Film Commission director Virginia Pearce of the possibility the Robert Reford founded festival could find a new home in 2027 in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Louisville, Boulder, CO, or Santa Fe, NM.
After Sundance finally said the quiet thing out loud this spring, and declared it was opening up the bidding process for a move once its current contract with Park City finishes, a unified Utah proposal has been seen as the front-runner in what is seen in some circles as a Potemkin exercise.
Still, offering up $6 million directly, as it has for years, the Beehive State has put forth a plan that recognizes the realities of both an evolved and post pandemic Sundance and an evolving Utah.
It’s an ambitious plan that, at its core, would see the much larger and more accessible Salt Lake City become the festival hub and Park City highlighted as more of a special events and weekend satellite.
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