Latest news with #AmandaKelso
Washington Post
30-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Sundance Film Festival to leave longtime Utah home for Boulder, Colorado
The Sundance Institute announced Thursday that its influential movie festival will leave Park City, Utah — its home since 1981 — and move east to Boulder, Colorado. The decision comes after a nearly year-long search for a potential new host for the Sundance Film Festival. 'Boulder is an art town, tech town, mountain town, and college town. It is a place where the Festival can build and flourish,' Amanda Kelso, the institute's acting CEO, said in a news release. 'This is the beginning of a bold, new journey as we invite everyone to be part of our community and to be entertained and inspired. We can't imagine a better fit than Boulder.'
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
That's a wrap! Sundance announces its 2027 move to Boulder, Colorado
The Sundance Film Festival will relocate to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027, ending months of speculation about its future. The Sundance Institute announced the decision Thursday after evaluating proposals from multiple cities since revealing the top contenders last September. Boulder beat out Utah's unified bid and Cincinnati, Ohio. The college town's expansion possibilities proved decisive. "Part of the decision-making process was around opportunity for growth," acting Sundance Institute CEO Amanda Kelso told Deadline. "Knowing that we can be in a town that has 100,000 people means that it has more venues, more spaces, and more opportunities." The move comes as Sundance's contract with Park City approaches its 2026 expiration. Deadline first reported in June 2023 that the Institute had formed a task force to scout potential new locations. The change follows years of challenges, including pandemic-related cancellations, tensions with Park City locals, and leadership changes at the Institute. The festival's relationship with Park City has deteriorated over time. Locals have expressed frustration with the influx of attendees, while industry executives have balked at the rising costs. The festival's timing during ski season—Park City's economic driver—has also created strain for local businesses. Boulder's winning bid included $34 million in tax incentives over the next decade. The Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau emphasized the city's variety of venues and lodging options, promising a more accessible, affordable experience. Colorado Governor Jared Polis welcomed the announcement: "Colorado is thrilled to welcome the Sundance Film Festival to its new home in Boulder starting in 2027. Here in our state we celebrate the arts and film industry as a key economic driver, job creator, and important contributor to our thriving culture." Downtown Boulder will serve as the festival's central hub, with Pearl Street—a permanent pedestrian-only area—becoming a focal point. The festival will also utilize select locations on the University of Colorado Boulder campus, festival founder Robert Redford's alma mater. Kelso noted Boulder's natural setting as another advantage: "From a sense of space perspective, it's this really vibrant town that's surrounded by nature. You can imagine walking from venue to venue, metabolizing the film you just watched and communing with nature which is something Robert Redford felt so strongly about." She added, "Boulder is a cool town, it's an arts town. There are poets, musicians and filmmakers who live here. It's a tech town. It's also a college town—38,000 students attend University of Colorado Boulder, and that creates an opportunity for us to think about audience development in a more expansive way." Get the latest news delivered to your inbox daily! Sign up for Los Angeles Magazine's The Daily Brief below or click here.
Asharq Al-Awsat
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Sundance Film Festival to Relocate to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027
After a yearlong search, the Sundance Film Festival announced Thursday that its new home will be Boulder, Colorado, keeping Sundance in the mountains but moving it out of Park City, the Utah ski town that had for decades provided the premier independent film gathering its picturesque snowy backdrop. According to The Associated Press, organizers said that after 40 years in the mountains, the festival had outgrown Park City, and lacked the necessary theaters or affordable housing to continue hosting what has become one of North America's most sprawling movie events. Sundance had narrowed down the options to Salt Lake City (with a smaller presence in Park City), Cincinnati and Boulder. Boulder emerged as their choice due to its close proximity to nature, its small-town charm and an engaged community that, organizer said, provides Sundance the ideal setting for its future. 'Boulder is a tech town, it's a college town, it's an arts town, and it's a mountain town,' Amanda Kelso, acting chief executive of the Sundance Institute, said in an interview Thursday from Boulder. 'At 100,000 people, a larger town than Park City, it gives us the space to expand.' Kelso, Sundance Institute board chair Ebs Burnough and Eugene Hernandez, director of the festival and head of programming, spoke shortly before announcing the festival's move. Local officials, who helped lure Sundance with $34 million in tax credits over 10 years, applauded the decision. 'Here in our state we celebrate the arts and film industry as a key economic driver, job creator and important contributor to our thriving culture,' Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, a Democrat, said in a statement. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said Thursday that Sundance will come to regret leaving Utah. "As I've said from the beginning, we wanted Sundance to stay,' Cox said in a statement. 'We made that clear to their leadership and put together a highly competitive package. Ultimately, this decision is theirs to make, but I believe it's a mistake and that, one day, they'll realize they left behind not just a place, but their heritage.'
The Hill
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hill
Sundance Film Festival moving to Boulder from Park City
The Sundance Film Festival announced that it will be moving from Park City, Utah – its home for over four decades – to Boulder, Colo., in 2027, according to its organizers. 'Boulder is an art town, tech town, mountain town, and college town. It is a place where the Festival can build and flourish,' Sundance Institute Acting CEO Amanda Kelso said in a Thursday press release. 'This is the beginning of a bold, new journey as we invite everyone to be part of our community and to be entertained and inspired,' Kelso added. 'We can't imagine a better fit than Boulder.' The year-long process to find the next host included looking at the finalist cities's 'infrastructure, ethos and equity values, event capabilities' and how each spot could 'sustainably serve and support the Festival's ever-growing community of independent artists and audiences.' Apart from Boulder, a city with a population of 100,000 near Denver, the other two finalists were Cincinnati, Ohio and Salt Lake City, Utah. 'This decision was informed by a detailed evaluation of the key components essential to creating our Festival. During the process, it became clear that Boulder is the ideal location in which to build our Festival's future, marking a key strategic step in its natural evolution,' Sundance Institute Board Chair Ebs Burnough said. The influential movie festival, which was founded in 1978 by Robert Redford, will be hosted in the center of Boulder, with the institute looking to utilize various venues, theaters and spaces around the Pearl Street Mall. The annual festival draws a host of artists, celebrities and filmgoers who watch critically acclaimed movies. While Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) and Boulder's Mayor Aaron Brockett were thrilled with the organizer's choice, Utah's Gov. Spencer Cox (R) argued the decision to depart Utah is a 'mistake.' 'As I've said from the beginning, we wanted Sundance to stay. We made that clear to their leadership and put together a highly competitive package,' Cox wrote in a Thursday post on social media platform X. 'Ultimately, this decision is theirs to make — but I believe it's a mistake, and that one day, they'll realize they left behind not just a place, but their heritage.'
Associated Press
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
So long, Park City. Sundance Film Festival to relocate to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027
After a yearlong search, the Sundance Film Festival announced Thursday that its new home will be Boulder, Colorado, keeping Sundance in the mountains but moving it out of Park City, the Utah ski town that had for decades provided the premier independent film gathering its picturesque snowy backdrop. Organizers said that after 40 years in the mountains, the festival had outgrown Park City, and lacked the necessary theaters or affordable housing to continue hosting what has become one of North America's most sprawling movie events. Sundance had narrowed down the options to Salt Lake City (with a smaller presence in Park City), Cincinnati and Boulder. Boulder emerged as their choice due to its close proximity to nature, its small-town charm and an engaged community that, organizer said, provides Sundance the ideal setting for its future. 'Boulder is a tech town, it's a college town, it's an arts town, and it's a mountain town,' Amanda Kelso, acting chief executive of the Sundance Institute, said in an interview Thursday from Boulder. 'At 100,000 people, a larger town than Park City, it gives us the space to expand.' Kelso, Sundance Institute board chair Ebs Burnough and Eugene Hernandez, director of the festival and head of programming, spoke shortly before announcing the festival's move in Boulder. Local officials, who helped lure Sundance with $34 million in tax credits over 10 years, applauded the decision. 'Here in our state we celebrate the arts and film industry as a key economic driver, job creator and important contributor to our thriving culture,' Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (Dem.) said in a statement. Reacting to the decision, Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said Thursday that Sundance will come to regret leaving Utah. 'As I've said from the beginning, we wanted Sundance to stay,' Cox said in a statement. 'We made that clear to their leadership and put together a highly competitive package. Ultimately, this decision is theirs to make, but I believe it's a mistake and that, one day, they'll realize they left behind not just a place, but their heritage.' A change endorsed by Sundance founder Robert Redford A shift from Park City to Boulder means Sundance stays in the mountains but trades a luxury ski resort enclave for a growing, outdoorsy small city. The mile-high Colorado city set in the foothills of the Rockies also maintains a sense of surrounding nature — something organizers stressed as a major factor in their decision. Boulder's four-block pedestrian mall on Pearl Street, with nearby theaters, could provide a similar sense of central hub like Park City's Main Street. The Macky Auditorium, on the University of Colorado campus, is expected to be a central stage for Sundance. The Sundance Institute was founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, who sought a location far from Hollywood to foster independent voices in film. In 1984, the institute took over the Sundance Film Festival, but the nonprofit's mission of helping young filmmakers grow through labs and workshops — Redford's real passion — continued year-round away from the festival. The 88-year-old Redford, who attended the University of Colorado in Boulder in his youth, gave the move his blessing. 'Words cannot express the sincere gratitude I have for Park City, the state of Utah, and all those in the Utah community that have helped to build the organization,' Redford said in a statement. 'What we've created is remarkably special and defining. As change is inevitable, we must always evolve and grow, which has been at the core of our survival.' How Sundance chose its new home The festival made 'ethos and equity values' one of its criteria, prompting many to wonder how much local politics would influence the choice by Sundance, which emphasizes inclusivity. Cox is currently weighing a bill that would ban the flying of certain flags at schools and government buildings, including the LGBTQ pride flag. Organizers said Boulder's 'welcoming environment aligns with the ethos the Sundance Film Festival developed in Park City.' 'This process started 18 months ago and we've been in Utah for 40 years. So politics really didn't guide the process,' Burnough said Thursday. 'It was really and truly about evolution. That's where it landed. We didn't constantly spend time examining what bill was going forward or may or may not be signed.' With its current contract expiration date looming, the hunt for a new host city began in earnest in April 2024. The initial group of six contenders also included Atlanta, Louisville, Kentucky and Santa Fe, New Mexico. What Sundance has meant for Park City, and the film world Before packing up, Sundance will have one last edition in Park City in January 2026. 'The Sundance Film Festival will be the Sundance Film Festival wherever we go. What's consistent is our mission,' said Hernandez. 'This is a festival of global discovery. What's exciting about Boulder is this is a place we can build.' Over the years, Sundance in Park City swelled into a premier marketplace for American film, drawing studio executives and parka-wearing celebrities into the Wasatch mountains every January. It helped launch countless filmmakers over the years, from Steven Soderbergh ('Sex, Lies and Videotape') to Ryan Coogler ('Fruitvale Station'). Sundance scored its first best picture winner with 'CODA' in 2022. Sundance meant big business for Utah and Park City. In 2024, the festival had some 72,840 in-person attendees, 24,200 of whom were coming from out of state. According to the festival's economic impact report, out-of-state visitors spent an estimated $106.4 million in Utah during the festival. Its total economic impact was estimated to be $132 million, with 1,730 jobs for Utah residents and $69.7 million in Utah wages. But the festival had also sparred with local ski resorts — Park City's other major money maker — as festivalgoers filled the hotels and left the slopes virtually empty for two weeks during peak ski season. The festival was a boon to some local businesses, but a hindrance to others. For visitors flying into the 10-day festival, ballooning rental costs increasingly factored into attending. All three top contenders budgeted millions to lure the lucrative festival to their city. Cincinnati set aside $2.5 million for Sundance and another $2.5 million to come if it was chosen. Salt Lake City offered Sundance $3.5 million to stay in Utah. Sundance's relocation puts two of the top U.S. film festivals in Colorado. The Telluride Film Festival, held further west in the state, runs in late August.
