After 40 years in Park Metropolis, Sundance exploring choices for 2027 movie pageant and past
The Sundance Movie Competition could not at all times name Park Metropolis, Utah, residence. The Sundance Institute has began to discover the potential of different U.S. places to host the unbiased movie pageant beginning in 2027, the group mentioned Wednesday.
The 2025 and 2026 festivals will nonetheless happen in Park Metropolis and Salt Lake Metropolis. However with the present contract up for renewal in 2027, the institute is taking steps to take a look at all choices by means of a request for info and request for proposal course of, starting instantly. The ultimate choice, which may nonetheless be Park Metropolis, is predicted to be introduced by early 2025.
“We’re in a singular second for our Competition and our international movie group, and with the contract up for renewal, this exploration permits us to responsibly think about how we greatest proceed sustainably serving our group whereas sustaining the essence of the Competition expertise,” mentioned Eugene Hernandez, the pageant’s director, in a press release.
Hernandez mentioned they need to “be certain that the Competition continues to thrive culturally, operationally, and financially because it has for 4 a long time.”
Park Metropolis has been residence to the Robert Redford-founded pageant for 40 years. The pageant and its sponsors take over many venues within the small metropolis each January to rework it into a movie pageant hub with theaters in locations just like the library and different pop-up experiences and gathering locations.
However the contract and a altering panorama introduced a possibility to take a look at choices that may greatest swimsuit the pageant going ahead. Sundance obtained a file variety of submissions final 12 months.
“We’re thrilled with the vitality we see in unbiased filmmaking and need to guarantee the continual discovery and help of unbiased artists and audiences our Competition is thought for,” mentioned Ebs Burnough, the chair of the Sundance Institute Board, in a press release.
Redford, who stepped again from the Sundance highlight years in the past, expressed concern in 2016 that the pageant because it existed might need outgrown Park Metropolis and was interested by methods to evolve. He and his daughter, Amy Redford, who’s on the board, have been concerned within the course of introduced Wednesday.
Final month, the Institute’s CEO Joana Vicente stepped down after two and a half years within the place. Amanda Kelso, a member of the board, was appointed appearing CEO, however no everlasting alternative has been introduced.
