Sundance Institute Brings $151 Million in Economic Impact to Utah with 2017 Sundance Film Festival

15/06/2017

Park City, Utah - The nonprofit Sundance Institute today announced that its 2017 Sundance Film Festival, which took place in Park City, Salt Lake City and Sundance, Utah in January, generated a total economic impact of $151.5 million. These numbers come from an independent economic and demographic study conducted by Y Analytics,which used updated methodology and technology to give a more complete picture of the Festival's impact on the state of Utah's economy. They are in addition to the economic impact of Sundance Institute's year round Utah-based programs, such as the Filmmaker Labs and Summer Film Series.

The economic and demographic study also determined that the 2017 Festival generated $14 million in state and local tax revenue; supported 2,778 jobs; and attracted more than 71,600 attendees from 46 states and 18 foreign countries. This year's economic impact brought the cumulative total since 2013 to $465 million, with more than $41.6 million in state and local tax revenue generated and more than 8,400 jobs supported.

It is apparent that the Sundance Film Festival continues to have an expanding impact on Utahs vibrant and diverse economy, said Governor Gary R. Herbert. In addition to the obvious economic benefits, our ongoing collaboration with Sundance Institute highlights the exceptional cultural, recreational, tourism and business opportunities available here in Utah.

More than ever, the people of Utah and our business community appreciate the unique benefits provided by the Sundance Film Festival, said Francis Gibson, Majority Whip of the Utah House of Representatives. We look forward to our ongoing work together and the positive collaboration between Sundance Institute and the State.

This year's numbers clearly display the great economic return that investments in the arts can produce in a community, said Betsy Wallace, CFO and Managing Director of the Institute. We're proud to call the state of Utah home, and with the support of the State, local communities, great local vendors and indispensable volunteers, Sundance Institute is able to bring an arts event of this size and scope to Utah.

Record-Setting Attendance and Economic Impact

This year's Festival attracted an all-time high of at least 71,600 attendees. The Festival brought in 37,200 out-of-state visitors and 744 international visitors from at least 18 countries. Of the out-of-state attendees, 22 percent indicated this was their first visit to Utah and 86 percent indicated they would likely visit Utah again within the next year - exemplifying the added tourism benefits the Festival brings, which extend throughout the year.

Per-person spending for out-of-town visitors averaged $3,287 with an average stay of five days. Lodging continues to be the highest expense for out-of-state visitors, and generated a total of $53.9 million in attendee spending. The second largest expense was in food and beverage with $31.1 million total attendee spending generated. Efforts to mitigate traffic and congestion near theatres contributed to a $12.2 million dollar spend in transportation methods.

Building Audiences at Home and Abroad

The Institute helps shine an international spotlight on Utah by attracting top-tier industry attention for its programming and proactively securing diverse, global media interest. Between the announcement of the film program in late November 2016 through wrap-up articles in February 2017, the Festival generated more than 53,000 stories in print, online and on television, 11% higher than the previous year. Publicity value around the Festival has increased significantly over the last few years, totaling $90.9 million this year, a 20% increase over the Festival's 5-year average. Over 950 press were accredited to attend and cover the Festival from 22 different countries, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, Dubai, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and Venezuela.

The Institute's social media and website continue to expand their reach, connecting with new audiences around the world. The Festival now has nearly 2.5 million fans and followers across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Tumblr, Pinterest, Snapchat and Google+. During the Festival there were over 42 million impressions on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter alone. Additionally, from November 30, 2016 to February 28, 2017, the Institute's website, Sundance.org, had more than 5.8 million page views and 1.1 million unique visitors from 187 countries. Top countries outside the United States included the United Kingdom, Canada, France and Spain.

Economic Report Methodology

Attendance estimate data was provided by Blyncsy, a Utah-based company which assigned anonymous ID numbers to each unique cell phone found at a Festival venue. From these attendance numbers, total visitor spending was calculated by combining the number of visitors with information from online and intercept surveys where attendees reported on how much they had spent during the Festival. From total visitor spending, total economic impact was derived by applying the latest (2015) RIMS II economic multipliers produced by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. These multipliers capture how much additional spending is induced by the Festival. The RIMS II model also estimates the effect of the Festival on earnings in the state and the number of jobs produced. Additionally, the Y Analytics team conducted three surveys, using Systematic Random Sampling techniques, to determine spending among Festival attendees.

The Sundance Film Festival

The Sundance Film Festival has introduced global audiences to some of the most groundbreaking films of the past three decades, including Boyhood, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fr

LINK:	http://www.sundance.org/blogs/news/2017-sundance-film-festival-economi...
	See more stories from sundance

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

18/03/2026

Net Insight Names Larissa GrnerMeeus CPO

Newly named chief product officer (CPO), Larissa G rner Meeus will return to Net Insight on May 4. Larissa G rner Meeus will become CPO of Net Insight on May 4...

18/03/2026

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026: Select Sessions Now Available to Watch on SVG PLAY

SVG Europe's The Football Summit 2026 explored how the sports broadcasting i...

18/03/2026

SVG's SportsTech@NABShow Blog Goes Live as Countdown to Vegas Heats Up

The 2026 NAB Show kicks off one month from today and SVG is once again set to cover the show from every angle. SVG's SportsTech@NAB Show Blog is now live - ...

18/03/2026

The Premiere of Dead Lover Showcases Grave Robbing and Sex With a Giant Finger

(L-R) The cast and crew of Dead Lover at The Ray Theater for its premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. (Photo by Robin Marshall/Shutterstock for Sundan...

18/03/2026

Music Row Piano from Wiltone Productions

Yamaha C7 captured in Nashville Wiltone Productions have announced the release of Music Row Piano, a deeply sampled Yamaha C7 piano library that's been ...

18/03/2026

Techivation introduce T-Warmer Mk2

Bass-enhancement plug-in upgraded Along with a steady stream of new releases, Techivation have recently been revisiting some of the older plug-ins in their ...

18/03/2026

Tonal Balance Control 3 from iZotope

Mix-reference plug-in overhauled iZotope's powerful mix-referencing plug-in has just reached its third major version, and now boasts a new capture proce...

18/03/2026

Toontrack Transistor Organ EKX

Latest EZKeys 2 expansion arrives Toontrack's staggering collection of EZKeys 2 expansions has grown once again, and the latest instalment delivers a on...

18/03/2026

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture

Jess Ho explores the politics of food in new SBS Audio podcast For The Culture 18 March, 2026 Media releases New SBS Audio podcast For The Culture, hosted ...

18/03/2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz at NAB 2026

Future-ready broadcasts with ATSC 3.0 and enhanced services from Rohde & Schwarz...

18/03/2026

LCTWS 2026

London Calling - When The Industry Convened to Help Streaming Find its MoJo In this blog, Laura Rognoni reflects on key discussions from the Connected TV World...

18/03/2026

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations

SMPTE Unveils 2026 NAB Show Educational Presentations Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, a...

18/03/2026

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K

Auditel Ad Campaign Shot on Blackmagic PYXIS 12K Brie Clayton March 18, 2026 0 Comments LED wall virtual production blends 12K open gate acquisition w...

18/03/2026