Sundance Institute history

In 1984, the management of the US Film Festival was then taken over by the well-established Sundance Institute.

The changes proved popular, but money problems persisted, and in 1985 the festival came under the auspices of Redford’s Sundance Institute, which he had started with the mission of nurturing and developing independent filmmakers.

Think Steven Soderbergh and his 1989 Sundance entry Sex, Lies And Videotape, and what about Quentin Tarantino and his directorial debut Reservoir Dogs? Not only did QT premiere the film at Sundance, he also produced it with formal guidance from the Sundance Institute.

Fun fact: Before its premiere at the Festival, Quentin Tarantino and Steve Buscemi attended the 1991 Sundance Institute Directors Lab with Reservoir Dogs.

Quentin Tarantino, who had received funding and creative support from the Sundance Institute, premiered his 1992 film Reservoir Dogs at the festival; the film went on to earn more than $2 million at the box office and established his reputation as a significant American auteur.

Fun fact: Wes Anderson’s 13-minute short Bottle Rocket screened during the 1993 Festival, and his feature-length version of the film was supported by the Institute’s Screenwriters Lab in the same year.

Fun fact: Director Guillermo del Toro premiered his first feature-length film, Cronos, during the 1994 Festival.

Recent indie sensation Paranormal Activity, in fact, had its premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival, which was founded by four Sundance rejects in 1995 and takes place in Park City at the same time.

The Institute launched a cable-TV arm, the Sundance Channel, in 1996 to air films, documentaries and original series commercial-free.

Fun fact: Strays, actor Vin Diesel’s feature-length directorial debut, premiered during the 1997 Festival.

The Blair Witch Project, a tiny, scary independent film produced with a budget of less than $25,000 by two old friends from college in their 30s, was snapped up for $1 million after its screening at Sundance in 1999 and ended up making $249 million worldwide.

Programmatically, 2001 introduced many films that would soon become cult classics.

Fun fact: Progenitor of an entire series of gory horror flicks, Saw premiered as part of the 2004 Festival’s Park City at Midnight program.

Solidifying its commitment to showcasing original storytelling from around the world, the Festival launched its World Cinema Competition in 2005.

Highlights of the 2006 Film Festival included Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris’s Little Miss Sunshine, Davis Guggenheim’s An Inconvenient Truth, Jason Reitman’s Thank You for Smoking, Kelly Reichardt’s Old Joy, and Patrick Creadon’s Wordplay.

Fun fact: The World Cinema Jury Prizes for directing, cinematography, editing, and screenwriting were first awarded in 2008.

Fun fact: During the 2010 Festival, graffiti artist Banksy—the subject of the documentary Exit through the Gift Shop—surprised Park City and Salt Lake residents with strategically hidden, film-themed street art.

The 2011 Sundance Film Festival played host to 25 first-time filmmakers in the Dramatic and Documentary Competitions, had a record 78 film sales, and introduced an all-new Documentary Premieres category, showcasing the work of established masters of the craft.

In 2012, it traveled the first time outside of the US and was held in London at The O2 Arena.

New to 2014 was the Kids section, designed for independent film’s youngest fans.

Another story that arose was the formal diversity of the 2016 program.

Read the 2017 Financial Statements And Independent Auditor’s ReportMore >

Read the 2018 Sundance Institute Annual ReportMore >

Read the 2019 Sundance Film Festival Economic Impact Report More >

Read the 2020 Sundance Film Festival Economic Impact Report More >

The Sundance Film Festival 2021 will begin from January 23rd to February 2nd, 2021.