Sundance isn’t leaving because of Utah’s flag ban
Calm down. The iconic festival is leaving the most liberal city in the state for financial reasons.
Whenever my home state is in the news, I feel the need to defend its honor. Sometimes it deserves it, sometimes it doesn't — but after the weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth after the news broke that the iconic Sundance Film Festival was leaving Park City, Utah, for Boulder, Colorado, I think the Beehive State deserves an apologist.
This news coincided with the passage of a bill from the state legislature that effectively banned government buildings and schools in the state from flying any unapproved flags, including Pride flags. It was clear to everyone — the media, commentators, and virtually everyone in my Facebook feed came to the obvious conclusion that Sundance was leaving because of Utah's backward views on LGBTQ+ issues.
Despite the hoopla, this isn't the reason the festival is leaving.
The Sundance Institute has been talking about leaving for years. Park City is small and cramped, and it has become expensive for the festival to find enough theatres to do screenings. Several screenings have been available in Salt Lake City, a 40-minute drive away, to accommodate this growth over the last few years. In fact, when Sundance sent out a request for proposals for new locations, a joint Salt Lake City/Park City bid was one of the finalists.
On the other hand, Boulder is larger, has a similar vibe to Park City, and the state of Colorado offered them a $34 million incentive in refundable tax credits compared to Utah's measly (if you can call it that) $3.5 million offer of support.
This isn't to say that cultural tensions aren't an issue. Some state lawmakers have said (at times unhelpfully) that the festival isn't a great cultural fit, and the Sundance Institute has agreed.
While I have also had my reservations about my state's bills around LGBTQ+ issues, I think the concern has been blown out of proportion. I agree with some more than others as they put a hold on potentially destructive practices. Others, like the flag bill, seem like a solution in search of a problem, in addition to being expensive and challenging to consistently enforce. And some, like our transgender athlete bill, have very little evidence to support that it's a widespread problem that local lawmakers couldn't better handle.
Regardless of your take on any of these bills, it is a risky choice to move a festival so identified with Park City — Utah’s bluest city — and so expensive to produce, to a new location over (potentially unenforceable) laws that will likely have little effect on the festival's operations or patron experience1.
Suppose the cultural fit was truly the reason for the move. In that case, it doesn't sit well with me that the organization would throw its weight around, threaten over 1700 jobs, and cause a financial blow to a town of 8,000 people to attempt to bully the state and its mostly conservative constituents into thinking the way they want them to.
Sundance isn't the first organization to threaten to leave over the state's policies. In 2017, the Outdoor Retailer's trade show — one of the largest conventions in Utah — announced its intention to leave for Denver after Utah's efforts to rescind the Biden administration's declaration on Bears Ears National Monument.
The issue was fraught. The state argued that it was excessive to expand the land and that it violated the Antiquities Act — not to mention, while the expansion was popular in Northern Utah blue cities, it was incredibly unpopular to Southern Utahns and the Native American tribes as it would restrict their access to the land. But REI, The North Face and Patagonia threatened to boycott the event over the state's lawsuit, so the trade show left.
In 2023, they returned after discovering that Colorado did not suit their needs — Bears Ears be damned.
The stakeholders in Utah, while unhappy, don't seem to be perturbed by the news. There has even been a discussion about starting a new film festival. And honestly, I'm not too upset about not having to navigate the freeway with a bunch of out-of-towners who don't know how to drive in the snow. Boulder can take the festival, and its patrons can enjoy their unnecessarily long trek from the Denver2 airport and longer commutes to the ski resorts.
The only thing I can think of as being an issue for transgender patrons is our bathroom laws. As far as I’m aware, it only affects government-owned buildings — and knowing the vibe up in Park City — there would be plenty of privately-owned businesses who would be more than happy to lend their restroom.
Pro-tip: Don’t fly into Denver in the middle of the day or during rush hour. It will take you FOREVER to get into the city.