The Sundance Institute wants to keep the annual Sundance Film Festival rolling as an economic engine for the state, and it may need financial help to do it.
Sundance officials on Thursday built the case for possible state funding as they produced for the Governor's Office of Economic Development Board a long list of statistics indicating the festival is an economic force.
Without asking for specific funding and getting no response from the board, the officials said the festival boosts economic activity, "cultural tourism," economic development and worldwide branding for Utah and serves as a draw for filmmakers and the film industry.
Jill Miller, managing director of the nonprofit Sundance Institute, said that without support, the festival might need to have a smaller "scope and scale." It could still deliver on the basic Sundance mission, "but we would see a falloff in some of these other areas," she said.
"Sustainability is our biggest challenge," she said, noting that margins used to reinvest in the festival "are narrowing."
"We love the festival. It's going to be here. We're not interested in moving. Park City is such a huge part of why our festival has been successful," Miller said. "But we do have to find new ways, in terms of looking at our share of business, to sustain us long-term.
"So this is the crossroads we're at. We're not necessarily looking for a solution from you but wanted to share our story and our struggles with you and would just love to find ways to explore ... to keep this event sustainable."
Saying Sundance is "not the quirky, little event that we were 20 years ago," Miller said the film festival resulted in $63.4 million in direct economic activity this year and $268 million the past five years. The average attendee spends more than six days at the festival, with 37 percent of the visitors skiing an average of 2.5 days while in Utah. Sixty-one percent of attendees were from outside Utah, including 1,036 international visitors.
Forty-four percent of attendees this year were first-time attendees, and nearly 53 percent of out-of-state visitors were first-time attendees.
Media coverage resulted in stories worldwide about Utah, officials said. About 1,300 journalists from 56 countries converged on the festival, producing more than 1,100 magazine and newspaper articles, and 2,380 radio and TV segments.
The event also attracted more than 4,500 members of the film industry from 29 countries, and many state organizations and agencies conducted business events coinciding with the festival.
Despite the current economic downturn, Miller predicted this year's festival — the 25th — will have about the same attendance as last year's. She figures that the "core constituency" plans to come, but the "fringe" might not.
She also noted that corporate sponsorship "is incredibly challenging. The festival seeks three-year sponsorship deals, but many companies are wanting to sign deals for only two years," she said.
Sundance economic impact
2008 impact: $63.4 million, including $31.7 million in lodging spending
Impact over the past five years: $268 million
Average attendee spending: $1,406.61, or $234.44 daily, not counting airfare
2008 attendance: 45,056, including 14,373 Utah residents and 1,036 international visitors
Attendance over the past five years: 230,667, including 157,651 from outside Utah
Source: Sundance Institute
E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com