(The Center Square) – The Sundance Film Festival is moving from its longtime home in Utah to Colorado, where the state is giving the festival $34 million in refundable tax credits over 10 years.
Gov. Jared Polis this week signed House Bill 25-1005, Tax Incentive for Film Festivals. The law provides $34 million in tax credits to a film festival that sell a minimum of 100,000 in-person tickets and has more than 10,000 out-of-state and international attendees.
More than 141,000 tickets were sold in 2024 at the Sundance Film Festival, according to the festival’s economic impact report. The popular festival was started in 1978 by “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” star Robert Redford. Originally called the Utah/US Film Festival, the annual event was renamed the Sundance Film Festival in 1989.
The Sundance Institute announced in March that it decided to move the festival from Park City, Utah, to Boulder, in 2027 from a list of finalists that included Salt Lake City and Cincinnati.
“Boulder is an art town, tech town, mountain town and college town,” Amanda Kelso, the acting CEO of the Sundance Institute, said. “It is a place where the festival can build and flourish.”
House Bill 25-1005 will award the tax credits to the Sundance Film Festival on the following schedule, according to a fiscal note from the Legislative Council staff:
$4 million in credits for 2027.$4 million in credits for 2028.$5 million in credits for 2029.$3 million each year from 2030 to 2036.
The money will be administered through the Colorado Office of Economic Development.
“This investment highlights the invaluable role the state plays in cultivating creative industries that both enrich our culture and drive the economy,” Kelso and Ebs Burnough, Sundance Institute Board chair, said in a news release from Polis’ office.
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival contributed $132 million in gross domestic product in 2024 in Utah, according to the festival’s Sundance Film Economic Impact Report. The report credited the festival with creating 1,730 jobs and providing $69.7 million in wages and $13.8 million in state and local tax revenue.
In addition to the tax credit for the Sundance Film Festival, House Bill 25-1005 allocates $5 million over 10 years in income tax credits for existing or small film festivals in Colorado. That credit is capped at $500,000 each tax year.
The bill was praised by representatives of film festivals in cities such as Boulder, Denver, Durango, Ridgway and Pueblo
“This is an exciting moment for Colorado, as the magic of cinema set against Colorado’s exquisite natural beauty – seemingly crafted by cinematic masters – creates an experience that can’t be matched,” said Julie Huntsinger, director of the Telluride Film Festival.
But Tax Incentive for Film Festivals, which was passed with bipartisan support, faced criticism from a Republican lawmaker opposing it.
“Why is the emphasis not on cutting taxes in general, instead of giving the tax break?” said state Rep. Ken DeGraaf, R-El Paso County.
As reported by the Rocky Mountain Voice, DeGraaf said he represents many businesses that would also like to be protected from the Colorado tax code. He said he doesn’t see how the Tax Incentive for Film Festivals will benefit taxpayers in general.
