EXCLUSIVE: The Sundance Film Festival is looking both in the South and in the Backyard for a possible new home.
Along with Park City, UT, Atlanta and the other cities in Georgia, Athens and Savannah are among the 15 cities that managed to submit serious applications for the indie gathering founded by Robert Redford.
Deadline first exclusively reported on Santa Fe, New Mexico, as a candidate for the Sundance competition last year. Santa Fe in New Mexico is also in the running for the tender. In the rest of the country, San Francisco is a candidate for the SFF’s new location starting in 2027, as are jurisdictions in upstate New York and North Carolina, I understand.
Representatives from Sundance did not respond to Deadline’s request for comment on the final 15 and the current state of affairs. If so, this post will be updated. However, a festival insider told Deadline, “This is a pageant, and the host committees are scrambling to find an angle and a path to it.”
“It will come down to money and venues, but mostly money,” he added.
Sundance has had a presence in Park City and the surrounding area for four decades and currently has a contract with the resort to host the 2025 festival and SFF 2026.
There is a school of thought that says Sundance doesn’t really want to leave its longtime venue.
Various sources in Park City, Hollywood and elsewhere have expressed to Deadline the opinion that the festival is instead looking for a better deal that addresses the issues of growth and change in both the industry as a whole and the festival itself that have plagued Sundance in recent years. This year, there were fewer films, fewer venues and a decline in attendance at SFF. Visitors and locals alike complained that Park City was too expensive and too crowded, and that many of the premieres were already on the streaming platforms.
In doing so, Park City and the state of Utah won’t let hundreds of millions in revenue, prestige and annual attention from much of the world’s media disappear without making a big offer themselves. Last week, a joint host committee for the Utah Sundance Film Festival was unveiled with Gov. Spencer Cox at the helm.
“The Utah Sundance Film Festival Host Committee thanks the Sundance Institute for the opportunity to proceed to the next step in its RFP process for the 2027 film festival and beyond,” Utah Film Commission Director Virginia Pearce said in a statement Explanation.
“We are committed to working together to reimagine future festivals, inspire film enthusiasts and preserve the festival’s connection to its home state,” Pearce continued, clearly representing a broader approach to Sundance than just Park City itself. “Our collective growth and success over the past 40 years has contributed greatly to Utah’s culture and economy and fostered a proven partnership in the film industry. Most importantly, we believe remaining in Utah will best ensure the continued growth and long-term success of the Sundance Film Festival.”
Even before the relocation bids were made this year, there had been whispers since 2023 that Sundance was considering moving the bulk of the festival to Salt Lake City, which now has a high-tech international airport, and designating Park City as a satellite site for the gathering – which was actually the case for a time decades ago.
Reading between the lines, this idea seems to have taken root among Utah stakeholders.
“This is a team effort, and not just from Park City,” the city’s very pro-Sundance mayor, Nann Worel, told Deadline today. “We believe our history as the home of the festival for 40 years, strong partnerships throughout the region and world-class natural resources give Utah an excellent chance to be selected,” said Mayor Worel, who serves on the Utah Sundance Film Festival host committee.
When Sundance revealed its closely guarded secret on April 17 that it was considering moving from Utah, the wannabe companies flocked to the event, turning it into a horse race.
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After the request for information submission period closed on May 1, a Sundance Institute task force that includes board member and founder Amy Redford whittled down the dozens of candidates. The RFP process began May 7 and runs through June 21, with board members and Sundance staff then touring bidders, much as IOC officials bask in the glow of host city Olympics hopes.
A final decision is expected internally around the end of September. This decision is expected to be published at the end of Sundance 2025, around February 2nd next year.
“Sundance needs to evolve, the whole industry needs to evolve. Whether in Park City, Utah, Atlanta or elsewhere, it’s time,” a well-placed stakeholder said Wednesday. “Let’s see what the others have to offer,” she added.