Every year in the month of February, Park City hosts this nation’s largest independent film festival. This festival brings people from across the world and lets their talents in the film industry be known.
From experience, this festival brings to life an already popular and lively city. For the duration of the film all of the bars and stores stay open for incredible hours to accommodate the thousands of people enjoying their weekend.
Originally this festival was held in Provo Canyon at the Sundance Ski resort, but in the past years it has become so popular that it moved north to the lovely city of Park City.
Several well-known people have helped this festival move forward, but none more so than Robert Redford, owner and operator of Sundance Ski Resort. His involvement has helped the festival see the media light and attract the attention of film makers across the world.
A few big name movies have gotten their start at the film festival including Saw, Garden State, The Blair Witch Project, Napoleon Dynamite, and Thank you for Smoking, just to name a few.
The festival in years past, however, has become something that needs to be changed in order to better suit the needs of independent movie makers hoping to catch their big break. It turns out that the fans are so dense that it is difficult for important enough directors and movie studies to find the talent and give it the proper attention.
In the early years of the event, there was a little crisis. The event was new enough that naming it became somewhat of an issue and they decided on using the title of Film Festival. At the last moment Utah was added to the beginning and printers were panicked as they had to reprint all material.
After the first few years the entire book keeping was done and they realized that the film gathering had put them in debt $40,000. This debt caused investors to push for more events, knowing that their only chance of recovering their money would be to sell tickets. The pushed the event much further into the future.
The festival originally was held during the summer, but to increase popularity, Sydney Pollack suggested that they open during winter in one of Utah’s prettiest cities, Park City. This suggestion made the Sundance film event become the only one of its kind during the winter and thus attracted the attention of much larger and more famous audience.
During some years the snow and high life of Park City have drawn out the record numbers. During years of excessive snow, however, the number decline drastically.
The Sundance film festival has become one of the most spectacular events in Park City Utah. This competition allows for everyone to see what is on the minds of these directors.
The next festival will start in February and people are probably already hoping for no snow this time around for the sakes of everyone coming to enjoy.
Tom Selwick is a resident of Utah and has written hundreds of articles relating to tourism and real estate. He recommends (http://www.parksedgeparkcity.com) for your next home in Park City.
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