This results in a total of audience views of more than 600,000 ? 2.7 times (168%) more than in 2020.
Partners: Sundance proudly welcomed back longtime sponsors, many of whom have been with the Festival for over 10 years, and added five new sponsors. The online Festival Village included Main Street that was home to 125 events, panels, and other fun surprises from over 74 partners, including official Festival sponsors, Institute supporters, year-round partners, and nonprofit allied organizations. Also in Festival Village, 28 Satellite Screen Partners also programmed 124 talks and events, featured on the Festival platform. Finally, the Artists Lounge offered intimate gathering opportunities for creators with 15 events from daily artist meetups to artist receptions.
Press and Industry: The Festival retained and expanded the vibrant press and industry attendance in the virtual form. 1,800 industry members and 1,272 press were accredited to participate in the Festival, a 5% increase from the year prior. The ability to participate without travel allowed for more professionals from around the globe, resulting in an increase of industry representation from 26 countries in 2020 to 41 countries in 2021, and for press from 33 countries in 2020 to 41 countries this year. Additionally, the Festival’s Press Inclusion Initiative, created to broaden and deepen the diverse composition of our press corps, increased from 51 members in 2020 to 80 members in 2021, with each individual receiving a grant to support their professional needs to cover their work in the Festival.
?It?s been rewarding to see the way adventurous audiences everywhere engaged with our program and platform, and of course we are delighted to have met and even exceeded our goal of expanding the reach and community for independent film in this challenging year,? said Sundance Institute CEO
Keri Putnam. ?I am so inspired by the incredible Sundance team who rose to the challenge of presenting the Festival in a new way, and grateful to our Board whose partnership and support was invaluable and — as always — to Robert Redford for being our guiding light.?
?We talked about this year?s festival as a grand experiment,? added Festival Director
Tabitha Jackson ?and now we are in the process of analysing the results — a vital part of informing the expression of Festival in 2022. There is a lot still to learn, but we are delighted that a combination of online and in-person participation, innovative social spaces, hard work, and a lot of crossed fingers came together to expand and connect audiences for the incredible slate of work we were lucky enough to program this year.?
The Festival?s online elements played out on a platform that Sundance custom designed in house with the goal to capture the essential elements of the traditional festival experience online and which used a player from Shift72. The New Frontier exhibition platform was created with Active Theory.
The Sundance Film Festival?
The Sundance Film Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, includingClemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, Whiplash, Brooklyn, Precious, The Cove, Little Miss Sunshine, An Inconvenient Truth, Napoleon Dynamite, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Reservoir Dogs andsex, lies, and videotape. The Festival is a program of the non-profit Sundance Institute. 2021 Festival sponsors to date include: Presenting Sponsors ? Acura, SundanceTV, Chase Sapphire, Adobe; Leadership Sponsors ? Amazon Studios, AT&T, DoorDash, Dropbox, Netflix, Omnicom Group, Southwest Airlines? , WarnerMedia; Sustaining Sponsors ? AMC, Audible, Canada Goose, Canon U.S.A., Inc., Dell Technologies, Documentary Plus, GEICO, IMDbPro, Stella Artois?, Unity Technologies, University of Utah Health, White Claw Hard Seltzer, Zoom; Media Sponsors ? The Atlantic, IndieWire, Los Angeles Times, NPR, The New York Times, Variety, Vulture, The Wall Street Journal. Sundance Institute recognizes critical support from the State of Utah as Festival Host State. The support of these organizations helps offset the Festival?s costs and sustain the Institute’s year-round programs for independent artists.sundance.org/festival
Sundance Institute
As a champion and curator of independent stories for the stage and screen, the nonprofit Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for artists in film, theatre, film composing, and digital media to create and thrive. Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, the Institute’s signature Labs, granting, and mentorship programs which are dedicated to developing new work and take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally, are supported largely through contributed revenue.Sundance Co//ab, a digital community platform, brings artists together to learn from each other and Sundance Advisors and connect in a creative space, developing and sharing works in progress. The Sundance Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences and artists to ignite new ideas, discover original voices, and build a community dedicated to independent storytelling. Sundance Institute has supported such projects asClemency, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, Zola, On The Record, Boys State, The Farewell, Honeyland, One Child Nation, The Souvenir, The Infiltrators, Sorry to Bother You, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, Hereditary, Call Me By Your Name, Get Out, The Big Sick, Mudbound, Fruitvale Station, City So Real, Top of the Lake, Between the World & Me, Wild Goose Dreams andFun Home. JoinSundance Institute onFacebook,Instagram,Twitter andYouTube.