Atlanta could become the new host of the Sundance Film Festival

Atlanta is among the cities bidding to become the next official host of the coveted Sundance Film Festival.

The new “Hollywood of the South” is set to host the nation’s largest annual film festival, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. Others on the list include San Francisco, upstate New York and Savannah, Georgia.

With its infrastructure and evolving entertainment scene, Atlanta could be the perfect location once Sundance leaves Park City, Utah in 2027.

“Atlanta has become an important part of Hollywood’s economic and cultural history and is also, by all accounts, one of the cultural epicenters of the United States of America,” said Dominic Patten, editor in chief. from Deadline.

“Atlanta, unlike a lot of other cities that might think they can have Sundance, has the infrastructure, the theaters, the screens, the hotel rooms, the airport.”

The Sundance Film Festival has grown in importance and recognition since its inception in 1985. Still held in Park City, Utah, the festival stimulates the local economy by generating $118 million in revenue. Last year’s festival sold nearly 140,000 tickets and attracted more than 20,000 attendees worldwide.

The annual festival is a must-see event for independent and aspiring filmmakers. Many films premiere at the festival before the box office opens later in the year.

Sundance will begin accepting proposals from cities across the country on June 27 in hopes of becoming the festival’s new host in 2027. Whichever city is selected will benefit from all the benefits and status the festival brings.

“You look at restaurants, you look at hotel occupancy, you look at the prestige that comes with that as well,” Patten said.

Although Sundance leaving Park City is a possibility, some remain skeptical that the city will let the big event leave without trying to renew its contract.

“It’s hard to imagine that this is much more than a tactic to negotiate a better deal with Park City when it comes time to renew their contract in 2026,” said director Raymond Wood, whose film Faceless after dark just played at the Atlanta Film Festival, GBP News said.

“Unlike other world-famous institutions such as the Olympics, Super Bowl and World Cup, the Sundance Film Festival is historically and culturally tied to a particular city, and this experience in this venue has become the cornerstone of the festival’s legacy. »

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