After just under a year of speculation, the Sundance Film Festival has named Boulder, Colorado as its new host city, beginning in 2027. People will no doubt be disappointed that it is leaving Park City, where it has called home for over 40 years, but Hollywood is already warming (is Colorado any warmer than Utah in January?) to the idea of Sundance‘s new home, even if there are a few naysayers who would’ve liked to see it elsewhere.
“Sundance made the right choice,” Sony Pictures Classics co-chief Tom Bernard told IndieWire in response to the news. He celebrated the idea that, with Sundance now situated in a college town, it will attract a new audience of passionate young film lovers every single year. “For the festival to be able challenge itself again and try and come up with some different, unique kinds of movies they can program for that new audience that’s out there looking for fresh ideas and actually changing the culture.”
Bernard has been going to Sundance in Park City when Robert Redford was first formulating the idea and was giving feedback about what it needed, including a lab for independent creators to get their movie made outside of the Hollywood system. Bernard hopes the festival will partner with the University of Colorado’s film school to offer student film contests in order to reach that younger audience. And with classrooms that could all be converted to venues, he believes the festival is poised to expand the number and the kinds of movies it can show.
“It can be an incubator to engage the college into the festival,” Bernard said. “There’s so many new opportunities I’m looking forward to, like Sundance beefing up its programming to get a lot more edgy than they’ve been in the past and maybe have more conversations within the selection group. There’s going to be things there that you would not normally have seen up in Park City.”
A big part of Sundance is the vibe, and the feeling is that Boulder, with its own mountain views and walkable spaces, has still got it.
“Anything other than Park City was always going to be a little bit of a bummer and hard to get the head around. Sundance and Park City go together like Cannes and Cannes,” said producer William Rosenfeld of Such, which sold “It’s What’s Inside” for $17 million at Sundance in 2024. “Maybe it’s just because it’s in the mountains, close to other ski resorts, but I think compared to the alternative options, Boulder feels like the best place to go if not Park City. I’m excited to see what they do with it. Sundance evokes such fond visions of a snowy mountain town and traipsing along the main street, and Boulder has all that.”
While Sundance was finally outgrowing Park City after all these years, the one downside some speculated on was whether Colorado would be big enough to host two major American film festivals, Sundance in January and also the Telluride Film Festival in the fall. But that doesn’t appear to be a problem. In a statement exclusive to IndieWire, Telluride Film Festival director Julie Huntsinger welcomed Sundance to Colorado and was excited about sharing the state with the festival.
“On behalf of the Telluride Film Festival, we extend a warm and heartfelt welcome to the Sundance Film Festival as it begins its exciting new chapter in Boulder, Colorado. This transition is a testament to the resilience and spirit of the independent film community, which continues to thrive and evolve, bringing powerful and profoundly original stories to audiences far and wide,” Huntsinger said. “Sundance has long been a beacon for innovative storytelling and an essential platform for emerging voices in cinema. We are thrilled to see such a dynamic festival in a new home, where the creative energy of filmmakers and artists will undoubtedly flourish against the backdrop of Boulder’s stunning landscape and vibrant cultural community. We obviously love Colorado and it somehow feels very right for both of us to be situated there.”
She continued: “We’ve always shared a deep admiration for the incredible work that Sundance has championed over the years, and we look forward to seeing how this new chapter will inspire fresh collaborations and bring audiences closer to the art of cinema. The spirit of community, passion, and dedication that unites our festivals is stronger than ever, and we celebrate the ongoing commitment to elevating independent voices and a variety of perspectives. We can’t wait to see what magic this new home will bring to the world of film.”
Another festival, SeriesFest that’s also in Colorado, similarly welcomed the festival to its home state, even name-dropping Sundance Festival Director Eugene Hernandez for his ties to SeriesFest.
“We’re thrilled to see the Sundance Film Festival making Colorado its new home! This move not only elevates our state’s creative landscape, but also strengthens the film community we’ve been passionate about growing,” SeriesFest co-Founder and CEO Randi Kleiner told IndieWire. “We founded SeriesFest in 2015 to champion emerging voices in episodic storytelling, providing a platform for bold, diverse, and innovative creators to be discovered, which aligns with Sundance’s mission. Eugene has been an Advisory Board Member of SeriesFest since we launched, so this is an exciting full circle moment. We look forward to collaborating with him and the Sundance team in new and dynamic ways. The future of independent storytelling in Colorado has never looked brighter!”
As Sundance conducted its search over the last year, which included 67 different cities submitting as part of the initial Request for Information stage of the process, the festival wanted to know about the city’s ethos, event capability, transportation, hospitality, inclusion and accessibility, financial sustainability, and host partner support. One of their key questions was if the city had at least six screening spaces in close proximity and at least one of those venues with a capacity of 1,300.
Boulder and the University of Colorado Boulder called home to filmmakers like Stan Brakhage and has a robust arts scene, so it easily checked all those boxes and, to many, appeared like a safe choice for the industry.
“Sundance could have found ways to survive in Salt Lake City or reinvented its appeal in Cincinnati, but Boulder was always the safest choice,” Eric Kohn, director of the Southhampton Playhouse theater and former IndieWire staffer, said in a statement. “It won’t alienate the industry stalwarts — including some who have voices on the board — and it provides a sufficient degree of familiarity to keep the brand intact. While it’s fun to imagine a complete reboot, this institution needs stability more than anything else right now. And it’s still less VIP than Park City. With venues like the Brakhage Center, a Boulder fixture that celebrates experimental film, Sundance will have an existing foundation of investment in ambitious cinematic undertakings to build on.”
Locals know it’s special, too. Ray Nutt, CEO of the Denver-based Fathom Events, lives and works not far from Boulder and said that many of the students and even industry folks who have relocated to Boulder tend not to leave. He also singled out Sundance’s intention to make Pearl Street Mall a major central hub for the festival.
“Pearl Street Mall, that’s something like no other,” Nutt said. “There’s restaurants, there’s entertainment, there’s street performers; people are going to have a wonderful experience and a lot of memories. You’re still going to get all the skiing and recreation. I may be biased because I live here, but it’s a wonderful, wonderful place.”
Additional reporting by Anne Thompson and Ben Travers.
