Artist Relations

Artist

Relations

Getting Ready

Dates, Deadlines & Required Materials

Important Dates & DeadlinesMore >

Post Acceptance Form & Materials Needed More >

Meet the Artist Video More >

Film/Project Info

Technical Specs More >

Shipping RequirementsMore >

Press, Marketing & Industry

Sundance Film Festival Official Selection LaurelsMore >

Press & Publicity More >

Sundance Industry Office (SIO) More >

Social MediaMore >

The Festival

Health Safety/COVID 19 Protocols More >

Travel to Utah More >

Lodging More >

Features LodgingMore >

Shorts LodgingMore >

Transportation

Getting around the FestivalMore >

Miderra, Official Provider of the Sundance Film Festival FleetMore >

Security, Piracy & Community Agreement

PiracyMore >

Community AgreementMore >

Security More >

Utah Services

Prefered VendorsMore >

Rules of the RoadMore >

Advice from AlumniMore >

Connect with Us

Sundance CollectiveMore >

Give Back + Get More with Sundance CircleMore >

Preserve Your WorkMore >

International Travel Information

U.S. Travel Guidelines and Restrictions:

If anyone from your team is travelling internationally, they need to follow all CDC guidelines and U.S. travel restrictions and visa requirements.

Visa Application Timing
- The U.S. is seeing heavy delays with visa processing. If you do not already have a visa or waiver, contact your nearest U.S. embassy or consulate to find out wait times and determine the ability to receive the proper documentation before your travel dates.
COVID-19 Vaccines approved for U.S. travel
- World Health Organization Vaccines
  - Attendees are required to be vaccinated at least 14 days in advance of arriving at the Festival
Negative COVID test requirement
- The U.S. requires all air passengers two years of age and over entering the United States (including U.S. citizens and Legal Permanent Residents) to present a negative COVID-19 test, taken within three (3) calendar days of departure, or proof of recovery from the virus within the last 90 days.

Typical Visa Application Process:

Overview for applying for a U.S. visa may be found HERE

Step 1: The visa type you need to apply for is a B-1 Visa
- B-1 business visa – specifically, the line item that mentions attendance of a scientific, educational, professional, or business convention or conference

Step 2: Complete the online visa application
- Online non-immigrant visa application | Form DS-160
- Upload a photo | read here for photograph requirements
- Non-immigration visa fees associated with application

Step 3: Schedule an appointment
- Schedule an appointment at your nearest US consulate or embassy in your home country. Locate your embassy here: https://www.usembassy.gov/
- Wait times vary as much as 1 month, contact your embassy directly to find out the appointment wait time.

Step 4: Gather the necessary Documentation (varies by country, contact your embassy directly)
- Passport (must be valid at least 6 months beyond stay in the U.S.)
- Printed form DS-160
- Application fee payment receipt (if you are required to pay before your interview)
- Photo (if the online upload failed)
- Documentation of travel plans with exit date from U.S. (optional)
- Letter of acceptance to the Festival (if applicable)
Step 5: Visit the consulate on the date and time of your interview and bring with you supporting documents.
Step 6: Upon approval, pick up your visa!!

Artists coming from developing countries should be advised to prepare to explain verbally why their activities fall within the exception for attending conferences, should be able to verbally explain why they will likely return to their home country, and should consider bringing documentation to prove their ties to their home country.

If you have any questions, need additional assistance or a letter of acceptance, reach out to your Artist Relations Liaison directly.

Post Acceptance Form & Materials Needed

Our Post Acceptance Form will show you your project information from FilmFreeway that you may confirm or edit. It will also prompt you to provide new information. Please make sure that all the information is entered accurately.

Step 1- Program Announcement Information:
Film/Project Title Director(s) Film Type Screenwriter(s) (up to 3) Country of Origin Principal Cast (Up to 6) Synopsis Producers (Up to 6 names) *Optional for press release
Step 2 – Film Information & Main Contacts:
Additional Credits 10 credit titles with up to 24 total names. Language Film Internet / Social Media Links Main Contact Premiere Status Main Publicist Contact Year Finished Public Contact Screening Format Post Festival Contact Aspect Ratio DCP/File Technical Contact Sound Format Director(s) Contact Info, Demographic Info Color Director Bio(s) 60 words or less/100 words total for multiple directors Run Time
Step 3 – Team Contacts & Additional Info :
Screenwriter(s) Sales Agent(s) Producer(s) Distributor(s) Editor(s) Community and Student Outreach Questions Cinematographer(s) Film History Composer(s) Production Questions

Press Materials:
Film Stills – REQUIRED Director Headshots – REQUIRED Digital Poster – REQUIRED Clips & Trailers – OPTIONAL BUT RECOMMENDED Digital Press Kit – OPTIONAL
Meet the Artist Video:
We ask that ALL filmmakers create their own Meet the Artist video to be featured on your film’s project page in our Festival Program Guide 30 seconds and 2 minutes max. It can be as simple as a voiceover that includes stills and clips from your film—or can be as adventurous as you see fit. Feel free to get creative! Export videos in H264 format.

Piracy

Night Vision In-Theater

Sundance Film Festival is not responsible or liable for protecting the films/projects we screen from piracy. We make best efforts to educate our audiences of the ramifications of filming any content during the Festival screenings. Film/project teams who hire private security to use night vision equipment must contact their Artist Relations Liaison to connect them to our Security Team at least 2 weeks in advance so arrangements may be made to access the theaters during the requested screening times. Your liaison will put you in contact with a local provider for night vision services if needed. This expense would be the responsibility of the film/project team representative.

Team Filming In-Theater

The use of cameras and other recording equipment is strictly prohibited during any screening. Cameras may be used during Introductions and Q&As only. If members of your team are recording your experience at the Festival with small personal cameras, or phones, we ask that you use discretion in public places and Festival venues. Theater and venue managers reserve the right to ask you to stop filming if they feel it is disruptive to their patrons or venue. The use of cameras and other recording equipment is strictly prohibited during any screening. Cameras may be used during Introductions and Q&As only.

Piracy Monitoring

A Digital Piracy vendor, WebSherrif, will monitor torrent sites for pirated copies of festival films. If a pirated copy of a festival film is found, the user whose forensic watermark appears within the copy will be determined and Sundance will disable the user’s account. Our vendor will take the appropriate actions and steps to advise removal of the pirated copy of the festival film, if a forensic watermark is not available because of in-theater filming.

Digital Rights Management

All films will be protected by DRM (digital rights management), namely Microsoft Playready, Apple Fairplay and Google widevine, to ensure playback can only occur on an authenticated video player. This ensures users who should not have access to screen the film will be prevented from screening the film. The technical DRM workflow works as follows:

The film content is encrypted and packaged for delivery.
When a customer clicks play, the video player requests a key to access the content from a license server. The server determines whether the video player and device are authorized before giving a response containing a decryption key.

Forensic & Visible Watermarking Online

Films will be embedded with forensic watermarking, an imperceptible embedding of information directly within content that identifies the user accessing the content. Forensic watermarks make each genuine copy of the content unique and can be extracted from pirated content to trace leaks back to the source Sundance user email address and take anti-piracy action. The forensic watermarks are imperceptible to the consumer, causing no degradation of the viewing experience. We use NexGuardforensic video watermarking, provided by NAGRA, to implement this protocol.

Visible watermarking is the overlay of information directly within content that identifies the user accessing the content. Our standard visible watermarking will appear in a corner of the screen for 20 seconds every 15 minutes.

System Testing

Our security protocols are best-in-class, shown through our successful screenings since March 2020. The details are as follows:

Film Access: Our VOD windows are governed by our custom solution, only granting users access to a film between certain times. This feature has been used for all of our online screening events, including Sundance Film Festival 2021.
Digital Rights Management: DRM is an out-of-the-box feature from Shift72.
Geoblocking: In order to deliver the geoblocking protocol, our development team worked alongside Shift72 to build our custom solution, accommodating international access for select passholders. This feature was successfully rolled out with Sundance Film Festival 2021.
Forensic & Visible Watermarking + Piracy Monitoring: These watermarking capabilities were requirements in our video player selection process. We use Web Sheriff for piracy monitoring & actioning.

Advice from Alumni

The best advice I ever got at Sundance: Try to have at least one meal a day with someone you like (regardless of what they can do for you and your movie)!

Preparation

Book your lodging EARLY! Get on it as soon as you are accepted. Get a place near a bus stop and enjoy the festival as much as you can. We stayed longer to enjoy the calm before & after the storm of our premiere.
Stay on top of your deadlines, and there are a LOT of them. There is a lot of prep work, between finishing your film and getting all the materials in for the Festival, so stay organized and on it! Make sure your team’s main contact is someone that you trust andis really capable, it will save you so much stress.
Bring lots of warm clothes and be ready to meet people and make conversations about films and festival experiences! Oh, and bring business cards – and prepare to hand them out like candy.

To do at Fest (In-person and Online)

The Director’s Brunch was by far the highlight of the week. There’s nothing more motivating than hearing directors talk about the path they took to where they are. People making great features for only hundreds of dollars and putting their all into what they do is an inspiration.
Utilize the Artist Relations Box Office to get tickets! There are often tickets available there that aren’t available to the public. Plus, it’s a nice place to hang out and run into other filmmakers.
See other films, especially docs. There’s nothing that can put it all in perspective more than watching a heartfelt documentary, made on a small budget to remind you about why you became a filmmaker.
Participate in VR or any form of virtual socializing offered on the platform. It is scary at first especially for us homebody types, but it is rewarding. Force yourselves to NOT BE SHY! Virtual gatherings are a great place for a shy filmmaker to connect more.
Be present on social media – whether through Twitter or Instagram, that is where a lot of conversation directly with your audiences can take place there (Industry too). Make yourself available and engaged, especially if you aren’t there in person – create your own buzz for your film.
Definitely schedule some time to do something non-festival related – ski, massage, hike – that kind of thing. And enjoy the music related stuff – a great change of pace. Also check out films at random – can be very rewarding. Early morning screenings can be weirdly fun too! Drink lots of water, it’s so damn dry. Moisturize! Remember to have fun, even if you’re working. Say hi to everyone! Go for it.

Connect

Get to know your fellow filmmakers. They’re every bit as nervous and excited as you are. Chances are you will meet people you’ll know the rest of your life. Don’t be a jerk. Nobody likes that. And thank, thank, thank the volunteers and the staffers. It’s really their festival — you’re just lucky to be a guest there! Have fun.
Sundance is an amazing place to meet incredibly talented and connected people from all facets of the industry. In fact, you will not find another festival more geared towards getting you to meet other filmmakers, press, producers, actors, etc. Avail yourself to all that the organizers offer and you will be hard pressed to ever find an event that will make you feel better about yourself and your chosen field.
Sundance is about making the most of this unheralded opportunity to advance your career. Whether that means selling your film or getting your work noticed or film publicized or meeting and schmoozing everyone from big-time heavyweights to up-and-coming future filmmakers, I feel you absolutely MUST take advantage of everything the festival has to offer.

Be Nice!

Be nice to everyone. Staff, other filmmakers, volunteers, people on the bus, people in line, people sitting next to you at screenings, etc. If you’re a dick, no one will want to help you, and you won’t know who the cool people are; everyone looks like a schlump at the festival. Believe it or not, the best contacts you make will probably be random people you meet on the street, so don’t put people off with your ego.
Remember that the people who work for the festival do it out of love. They don’t do it for the money. Most are volunteers. They love films, they love the festival and they are true pros. Let them know how you feel. It lifts the whole experience.
A big tip for fist-time producers/ directors at Sundance is to get to know the Sundance staff members well and keep close in contact with them throughout the festival. They are exceptionally kind and dedicated people. They normally have solutions for all your problems and concerns!!
Be yourself, be confident but not smug or conceited, relax, project, add humor and if there’s a great pertinent story that’s short, tell it. Make your intro short, to the point and thank the people at Sundance that bust their asses for you. Not just the programmers, but also your liaisons that never get the recognition they deserve.

Stay Healthy

Don’t drink too much. There’s an incredible amount of cold, tasty beer available in Park City. Damn they’re good. But don’t overdo it. Every day at Sundance is a big day and you don’t want to be hung over.
Have a great time and don’t get sick! Make sure you sleep and take lots of socks and warm waterproof shoes. This all sounds obvious but any sense of reason seems to slip away from most after the first day.

The biggest piece of advice I could give is probably the same every Sundance veteran would give to every Sundance virgin: relax, enjoy, it may be your first time, but hopefully, it won’t be the last!

Sundance Industry Office (SIO)

The SIO services members of the independent film industry and will be the main liaison for your Sales Agent to receive important Festival information (i.e. Sales Agent Pass registration and ticketing, Press & Industry screening schedule, etc.). During the Festival, they are located at Festival Headquarters in the Sheraton Park City in Ballroom 4, adjacent to Artist Relations.

Once you secure a Sales Agent, please email their contact information to Paul Giacomazzi, SIO Associate Manager, at paul_giacomazzi@sundance.org. The SIO will liaise directly with your sales company to distribute information such as Sales Agent pass registration, ticket purchasing, and Press and Industry (P&I) screening schedule.

If you don’t have a Sales Agent, the SIO has a Sales Agents Reference List of active sales agents (both domestic and international) that includes contact information and past credits in order to help you. This list is not intended to reflect a complete list of all sales companies. The Sundance Film Festival has no commitments to any of the listed individuals or companies and you are under no obligation to enter into a contract with any of them. You may also contact Rosie Wong (Director, Industry Relations) at rosie_wong@sundance.org if you’d like to talk to her about sales agents. She has headed the SIO for many years and is happy to offer any advice/guidance that she can.

If you are acting as your own Sales Agent, email Paul to ensure you receive all pertinent Festival information. If you have yet to hire a Sales Agent during the ticket sales period, we highly urge you to buy as many of the allotted Sales Agent tickets to your public screenings that you can. This ensures your Sales Agent will have tickets to service buyers when needed.

Starting in mid-December, refer to the SIO Attendee List, which lists all the registered SIO members attending the Festival. If you have a Sales Agent, they will receive a copy from the SIO.

If your film sells to a distributor BEFORE the Festival:

If your film is sold to a distributor prior to the Festival, they will most likely assign someone from their team to be the Main Film Contact (MFC), who receives all pertinent information regarding the film (ticketing benefits, credential benefits, screening times) from the assigned Artist Relations Liaison. It is up to the MFC to communicate all information to the rest of the team (including the director/ lead artist and other appropriate team members). Any ticket benefits provided by Artist Relations will be managed by the MFC, including director specific allocations for the premiere screening. Additionally, the SIO will reach out to the distributor to see if they would also like to access the ticket allotment the SIO usually provides for Sales Agents, since there would not be a Sales Agent on the film.

If you film sells to a distributor AT the Festival:

If a distributor buys your film at any point during the Festival, please share that information with your Artist Relations Liaison. Since your Festival ticketing benefits will already have been distributed to your MFC (and film team), it will be up to them to share these benefits with the distributor. Keep in mind that Sundance provides director specific screening tickets for the premiere screening; directors may choose to keep this allotment or share them with the distributor.

Meet The Artist

The Sundance Film Festival Meet the Artist video is an opportunity for you to introduce yourself and your film to our audiences! We ask that ALL filmmakers create their own video in their own style and voice. Yours will be featured on your film’s project page in our Festival Program Guide, on our social channels, and on your film’s IMDb page.

Your Meet the Artist video should be between 30 seconds and 2 minutes max. It can be as simple as a voiceover that includes stills and clips from your film—or can be as adventurous as you see fit. Feel free to get creative! All filmmakers must include English subtitles.

Examples:

Ahmir Questlove Thompson – Summer of Soul

Meet the Artist: Carlson Young on THE BLAZING WORLD

Meet the Artist: Akinola Davies Jr. on LIZARD

Rodrigo Ruiz Patterson – Blanco de Verano

Carlos Lopez Estrada – Summertime

Shooting Requirements:

Film in Landscape Mode but wide enough that it can be cropped for square or vertical. (See example below)
Make sure the footage is well exposed.
Sound ideally would be with a lav or boom but not required.
- Minimize background noise as much as possible.
The background should be representative of you. It adds to the story.

Deliverable Requirements

Export 1920×1080, ProRes or H264.
Provide two versions: one WITH music, one WITHOUT music
Do not include any graphics over the picture unless that is the original format of the footage.

Script:

Intro: Hi, I’m ___________(your name), and I’m the ____________(role on film) of ________________(name of the film) that will be premiering at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival.
Tell us a little about who you are and your background.
Give a brief description of the film.
What makes your story unique? Give us a sense of some of the themes and character journey’s (ex. “Our lead really goes through a transformation after she breaks up with her childhood sweetheart” – etc. etc. etc.).
What was the creative spark or how did you first get involved with it?
Why do you think you were the best storyteller for this film? What made you personally obsessed and the right voice to tell this story? **give us personal anecdotes of what motivated you to persevere and make this film**
How long did you shoot for?
Where did you shoot?
What challenges did you face?
Is this an original screenplay or based on something?
Why is this story important to share?
Why are you a filmmaker?
What are some filmmakers that inspired you?
What tips would you give someone who is an aspiring filmmaker?
What was the process of getting your film accepted to Sundance?
Why Sundance?
Outro: (sample) “I can’t wait to share this film with you and hope you enjoy it!”

Getting around the Festival

Our Artist Relations Fleet (generously provided by Acura) will provide transportation for all directors and lead artists to attend their Intros and Q&As for their scheduled public screenings outside of Park City. These may take place in Salt Lake City or at the Sundance Mountain Resort (30-45 minutes away).

For the rest of your transportation aroudn Park City, the best way to get around is to ride the Festival shuttles. They’re free and hit every Festival theater and venue, in Park City. Keep in mind that parking does not exist at most of our theaters and venues.

Airport arrival / How to get to PC

Travel time from the Salt Lake City International Airport to Park City is approximately one hour. We do not have an official relationship with a shuttle company and do not have discounted rates to offer. There are a number of transit options between Salt Lake City Airport and Park City:

Lyft

Uber

Alta Shuttle

Salt Lake Express Shuttle

Shuttles

There is no public parking at the Festival’s Park City locations, but the shuttle is free and hits every Festival theater and venue in town—plus it’s a great way to meet fellow Festivalgoers.

Make sure to plan ahead—use the free shuttles and estimate your travel time using the Festival map. If you need assistance, volunteers are always ready to help at all main shuttle stops.

For shuttle directions in Google Maps, enter your destination, select Directions, and then choose the public transit option.

For information on shuttle accessibility, see Accessibility.

Parking

There is no public parking at Festival theaters or venues in Park City; parking at theaters or venues will result in immediate towing.

Free Parking

The Ecker Hill Park and Ride (2500 Kilby Rd., off of the Jeremy Ranch exit from I-80) offers free shuttles directly to Kimball Junction, and Main Street.

The Richardson Flat Park and Ride (off of the Kearns Blvd. exit from Hwy. 40) offers free shuttles directly to Eccles Theatre.

Paid Parking

The China Bridge parking structure (420 Swede Alley) offers parking for a $40 daily rate that does not include reentry. China Bridge is near Main Street and provides easy access to the Egyptian Theatre, the Festival stores on Main Street, and Filmmaker Lodge. Note that this facility is likely to reach capacity early in the day.

Map

The Festival map includes details on every theater, venue, and shuttle route you’ll need. Access it through the 2022 Sundance Film Festival mobile app (Apple Store, Google Play), or open the map in Google Maps via the link below.

OPEN THE FESTIVAL MAP

To save the Festival map to your Google Maps app on your mobile device, open the link above and select the “View Larger Map” icon. You will then be able to access the map anytime in your Google Maps app by selecting Your places > Maps.

Private Transportation

If you want additional transportation service for you and your team, we offer significantly discounted transportation packages from our official transportation provider, Miderra. Miderra is the only fleet with all the parking passes needed for close access to the entrance of our theatres, the press line areas, as well as the ability to park and wait on-site at all the official non-theater Sundance venues and Main Street. Check out their website at Miderra.com.

Security

The safety of our Festival community —artists, audiences, volunteers, press, industry, staff, and partners— is of paramount importance as we convene to celebrate independent storytelling. With that, the governance of our safety and security policies extend to all official theatres and venues. While we do not provide personal security for attending guests or invited artists, we have outlined protocols and additional resources should you require additional security measures.

Identifying Security Needs Ahead of the Festival

Your Artist Relations Liaison is available to discuss your Festival security needs related to the following:

Desire for additional security beyond the Festival’s standard crowd control provisions
Obtaining a private security escort accompany any of your team in our theatres or venues
Acquiring night vision services during a screening

Not sure of your Artist Relations point of contact? Reach out to (insert person) to get connected with the appropriate Festival staff and official providers.

Requesting Additional Security

In the event you need additional private security detail, a member of our Artist Relations team can connect you with a preferred local provider. Please note, this expense would be the responsibility of the film/project team representative.

Navigating the Festival as Private Security

During the Festival, security escorts must abide by our festival security protocols, including:

Notifying the Safety and Belonging team in advance of their arrival onsite at the Festival
Remaining credentialed in order to enter official Festival theatres and venues.
Obtaining screening tickets and/or passes to remain with their clients throughout the duration of a screening.
Refraining from standing in aisles or occupying any space around the perimeter of the theatres.
Requesting walk-through of official Festival theatres or venues no less than 24 hours in advance.

Additional Disclaimers and Advisories

While Sundance Institute is proud to curate bold and creative films that can be provocative, we recognize that some content may not be suitable for all audiences. In an effort to provide additional protection to vulnerable audience members, we reserve the right to create advisories and procedures, including but not limited to:

Content advisories for films that are either particularly graphic, contain scenes depicting sensitive situations, and/or discuss sensitive issues that may be disturbing to viewers.
Denoting films that require viewers to make an age attestation prior to viewing the film through either point of purchase verification and/or onsite carding.

Point of Contact for Additional Questions and/or Concerns

For additional questions and/or concerns regarding Festival safety and security procedures, please connect with your Artist Relations Liaison directly.

Post Acceptance Form Step 1 + director headshot & film stills	24-48 hours
Post Acceptance Form Steps 2 & 3	Nov. 17 (Features + New Frontier) Nov. 22 (Shorts + Indie Episodic)
Remaining Materials & Meet the Artist Video	Nov. 17 (Features + New Frontier) Nov. 22 (Shorts + Indie Episodic)
Record digital intro and Q&A with Sundance team	Before December 20
Festival Program Announced & Festival Program Guide Live	Dec. 9
Stipend information + participation agreement	Dec. 20
Print/Digital delivery	Dec. 20 (Shorts) Jan. 7 (Features + Indie Episodic)
FESTIVAL DATES	Jan. 20- Jan. 30