Here’s how much loser Sundance will cost jute

After a 40-year run, a praised Sundance Film Festival leaves Utah and takes millions of dollars with him.

The Sundance Institute announced on Thursday that it would move the annual event to Boulder, Colorado, splitting from where it all started. The news is cut deeply on an emotional front for local films and art lovers, but the wound is even more economically deeper.

“Boulder is an art city, Tech Town, Mountain Town and College Town,” said Sundance Institute Executive Director Amanda Kelso in a prepared statement. “This is a place where the festival can build and flourish. … We can’t imagine better than Boulder.”

Launched in 1978 as a Film Festival in Utah/The United States, which took place for the first time in Salt Lake City, it eventually moved to City Park in 1981 and became the Sundance Film Festival after the Sundance Institute took over.

Since then, she has grown into a large-scale annual collection that attracts Hollywood A-Leisters, along with current filmmakers in a new cinema showcase, which has built a global reputation along with a huge economic impetus for the bee country.

Sundance economic impacts

According to a report on economic influence in 2024, from the Y2 Analytics, over 72,000 people attended the festival between January 18 and January 20, 2024, which led to 141 212 tickets redeemed.

More than 24,000 attendees were out of the country. Visitors outside the country spent about $ 106.4 million in Utah during the festival. The Sundance Institute also directly contributed to the Utah economy through the costs of planning and producing the festival, according to the report.

The total of the Sundance Film Festival contributed to the Utah economy in 2024 to the Y2 analysis:

• $ 132 million gross domestic product

• $ 13.8 million state and local tax revenue

According to a report by the Sundance Institute, the edition of the festival in 2024 includes a smaller imprint from a personal place with a smaller capacity to accommodate present personally, leading to an expected reduction in the presence of a checkmark. However, the Institute said the festival has a higher rate of screening with incredible search for personal attendance, reflecting “the decisive point for gathering for an independent story of stories.”

Sundance visitors outside the state in 2024 spent an average of $ 4,411 during their stay in Utah, a total of $ 735 a day. Utahns, mainly because they rarely need accommodation, spend less, but still buy $ 437 for goods, services and recreation, or $ 246 a day, according to the Y2 report.

Utah/Sundance connection

During one of his monthly PBS UTAH news conferences last fall, Utah Governor Spencer Cox celebrated Sundance’s long -standing relationships with the state, along with the level of economic impact. At that time, the governor also expressed his optimism that Park City would continue his hosts.

“Sundance and Utah are connected in ways that would devastate both of us, in my opinion, to need this separation,” Cox said. “I think it would hurt Sundance to leave this condition and leave the place where their identity is so much of the fabric of our country. And so I am optimistic. I hope.”

Cox shared his concerns about the quantity of explicit content in Sundance films, but noted that he hosted a mature film festival, is a small price for paying the economic return “outside the charts” provided by the festival.

“These films will happen, whether they happen here or somewhere else,” Cox said. He added that the Film Festival was an “economic engine” in Utah.

“We pay less taxes as a country because we have so much tourism in the state because other people come here and spend their dollars,” Cox said last September. “They spend nights in hotel rooms, rent cars, buy food, and this helps to maintain our taxes low. And this is the trade that the legislature looks at.”

Last April, the Sundance Institute announced that it has opened a request for a proposal (RFP) as part of a process for researching places across the country to host the Film Festival. The contract of the Park City festival was for renewal in 2027, which provided the institute with the opportunity to view new host cities.

The leaders of the institute narrow the field in September 2024 to Park City/Salt Lake City; Boulder, Colorado; and Cincinnati, Ohio.

Utah loss, Colorado’s profit

Utah has drawn up a financial package that will almost double the annual public funding for the festival over the next 10 years.

In kind, it would jump from $ 3.7 million to $ 6.6 million a year, while the offered money would increase from $ 2.7 million to $ 5.5 million each year. The proposed increase would be covered by a combination of public sources, including state funding and various local tax revenue divided between Salt Lake and Samit.

Meanwhile, the bill is making its way through the Colorado General Assembly, which would provide Sundance $ 34 million in 10 years, starting in 2027.

The economic impact of the festival is not lost on Colorado employees. The Economic Development Service in Colorado and International Trade is expecting a significant impetus.

“Here, in Colorado, we are also celebrating the art industry and films as a key economic engine, a work creator and an important contribution to our thriving culture,” the government Jared Polis said in a statement. “Now, with the addition of the iconic Sundance Film Festival, we can expect even more jobs, a huge benefit for our small businesses, including shops and restaurants, and help the festival achieve even more successful success.”

New Beginning?

Even the news of Boulder’s successful offer is still being settled on Thursday, seeds are already being sown from launching a new Utah -based film festival.

On Thursday on Thursday, Cox recorded his disappointment with the festival, which was leaving the state, but noted that he was already talking about restarting the Film Festival in Utah.

“We have already started meeting with partners, stakeholders and creative voices to create a new festival – the one who honors our heritage and writes the next chapter of the independent film in Utah,” Cox writes.

And Utah’s jazz owner Ryan Smith quickly offered his own support to the idea.

“The construction of the next Utah Film Festival sounds like a blast,” Smith wrote in response to the governor of X. “Pouring people who want to help support a new new experience starting from scratch is remarkable. Seg is 100% committed to joining Gov Cox, the state and local leaders.

The Utah Film Committee and the Utah Tourism Service expressed confidence that the state film industry would continue to flourish and that they remain committed to supporting filmmakers and building a “world -class film economy right here in Utah.”

“The healthy film industry in Utah has grown far beyond an event,” says Virginia Pierce, Director of the Utah Film Commission, “We cultivated a thriving talent ecosystem, infrastructure and incentives that will continue to attract film manufacturers and productions in our beautiful country.”