CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval has made the trip to Park City for the Sundance Film Festival — because Cincinnati has high hopes of stealing it away.
While Film Cincinnati members and leadership are no stranger to making the trek to Sundance, Pureval specifically joined along this year because Cincinnati has been named one of the top three finalists in consideration to host the festival starting in 2027.
"Film Cincinnati has been coming out here for almost 30 years, and we come out here every year to meet and connect with filmmakers and talk about Cincinnati and get them excited about Cincinnati as a destination for their independent production," said Kristen Schlotman, president and CEO of Film Cincinnati.
Pureval said the strategy in past years has been to appeal directly to filmmakers at the festival, to encourage artists to choose the Queen City as a backdrop for future projects.
"In fact, many of the filmmakers who get their big break here at Sundance then come to Cincinnati to make one of their first features," said Pureval. "Kristen's been cultivating this relationship for a very long time and this is my first time being out here, and I'm out here because we take this opportunity very seriously."
The Queen City made the list of six possible locations under consideration back in July.
Then in September, the film festival announced, it's down to just three:
- Cincinnati
- Boulder, Colorado
- Salt Lake City/Park City, Utah
The cities originally considered that didn't make the top three were: Atlanta, Georgia; Louisville, Kentucky; Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Pureval said his trip is also focused on gathering more information on what it would take to handle being the host city for such a large film festival.
"Kris and I have been walking the footprints, understanding the logistics, understanding the safety concerns and strategies, understanding crowd control with that many people on foot walking around to the various venues, understanding what we're potentially taking on, because it's so important," he said.
The festival's final decision will be announced sometime after this year's festival, held from January 23 through February 2, concludes — in late winter or early spring, the Sundance Institute said.
For 2025 and 2026, the festival is already slated to be held in Park City/Salt Lake City, Utah, where it's been held since it was started over 40 years ago.
According to a release from Sundance, the Sundance Institute assessed each applicant city's infrastructure, ethos and equity values, event-hosting capabilities, and how each finalist city could sustainably serve and support the festival as it grows.
"It's so important as an economic development strategy moving forward," said Pureval. "This isn't just an event, this is a real partnership for 10 years. Every year for two weeks, Sundance could potentially be coming to Cincinnati with all of those economic development dollars hitting our restaurants, small businesses, obviously our hotels, two-week stays, and also it affects the brand of Cincinnati."
In April, WCPO 9's sister station in Salt Lake City reported the film festival had announced it could move out of its longtime home.
"We are in a unique moment for our Festival and our global film community, and with the contract up for renewal, this exploration allows us to responsibly consider how we best continue sustainably serving our community while maintaining the essence of the Festival experience,” said Eugene Hernandez, Director, Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming, in a statement released by the Sundance Institute.
In October, city officials passed a motion to offer the festival $2.5 million to show the city's commitment to bringing Sundance to the Queen City. Council member Jeff Cramerding filed the motion on Oct. 23 suggesting the city allocate the funds from an estimated $14,859,008 remaining in the Capital Project Reserve.
The motion suggests providing the fund as a payment for the 10-year commitment that would be made by the festival if it were to move to Cincinnati. After that, city council will discuss forking over another $2.5 million for operating costs, meaning winning the event would cost $5 million for a festival that would span a decade.
According to the festival's 2023 economic impact report, the event is projected to bring dozens of new jobs to the city and generate at least $120 million annually in economic impact, totaling $1.2 billion over the 10 years the festival would operate here.
"You know, if we get this, we turn into one of the hubs of international filmmaking in the entire world overnight," said Pureval. "And that is consistent with our long history of investing in the arts. The chamber just recently showed that the arts have a $1.6 billion impact collectively on our economy and getting Sundance would only boost those numbers."
The Sundance Film Festival is part of the Sundance Institute, which was founded by Robert Redford in 1981 to support, sustain and discover independent filmmakers and storytellers. The festival just celebrated its 40th year in 2023. The festival took over what was then known as the Utah/U.S. Film Festival.
The Sundance Film Festival is part of the Sundance Institute, which was founded by Robert Redford in 1981 to support, sustain and discover independent filmmakers and storytellers. The festival just celebrated its 40th year in 2023. The festival took over what was then known as the Utah/U.S. Film Festival.
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