Recent editions of the Sundance Film Festival have been buzzy, as the festival has provided a setting for the film industry to make statements on current events. But for the 35th edition of Sundance, which took place January 24 to February 3, Park City saw flurries rather than blizzards when it came to headline-making events. There were no women’s marches, rallies, or major demonstrations on Main Street as there have been in past years. And what was expected to be a massive protest of the premiere of Leaving Neverland, a documentary focused on allegations of child sexual abuse against Michael Jackson, ended up drawing just a handful of the late pop star’s supporters to the Egyptian Theatre.
While events on Main were a bit subdued this year, many festival sponsors still engaged guests in some innovative and visually exciting ways. Here’s a look at some of the festival highlights from brands including Autograph Collection Hotels, Vulture, Salesforce, and DirecTV.
Chase Sapphire served as the premier sponsor and official credit card of the festival for the ninth consecutive year. The financial services company held activations and panel discussions at its branded house on Main Street, which was produced by Intersport and Brilliant Consulting Group. A blue and white graffiti-style mural welcomed festivalgoers.
The activation was home to L.A. Times Live, which featured panel discussions for a number of festival films. Guests including actress Judith Light posed in front of a bookshelf that doubled as a step-and-repeat.
The festival’s technology sponsor for the second year, Dell, offered a space for attendees to network and participate in interactive experiences that highlighted the brand's sustainability efforts and innovative ways technology can be used in storytelling. Guests could pose in front of a photo wall that featured wings created with recycled computer parts. Lacy Maxwell Experiential produced the space.
The space’s interactive experiences spotlighted Dell EMC’s newest Intel-powered product lines and infrastructure solutions. At one station, guests could have 3-D portraits taken by photographer Mark Mann.
The exterior of the space featured video projections that displayed facts about Dell’s sustainability efforts.
A branded wall created with wood featured an outline of mountains inspired by Park City’s ski slopes.
An associate partner of the festival, Autograph Collection Hotels brought back its cozy lounge to its Hotel Park City location for a fourth year. The Marriott-owned brand held a series of events highlighting its Indie Film Project with partners such as Vulture, The Cut, Sundance Institute, and Black List. The lounge’s main step-and-repeat showcased a variety of travel- and film-inspired light blue props against a wall of dark wood. Props included toy airplanes, film reels, typewriters, antlers, and clapperboards. The brand works with BMF to produce and design the space.
Event swag including blankets, mugs, mittens, and luggage tags complemented the festival atmosphere.
An area for talent panels and photo shoots resembled a studio, complete with director’s chairs and glass tables created with film reels.
To highlight that the brand has more than 160 hotels around the world, one wall displayed imagery of select properties.
The official beer of the festival, Stella Artois, held a film-inspired lounge at 364 Main Street, with activations and panels that were live streamed on Deadline.com. The space invited passersby with an attractive illustration of a spiral of film, shaped like Stella's signature glass chalice. Mosaic oversaw the design of the space.
A bar served beer and elevated takes on concessions one would buy at a movie theater.
A photo booth invited guests to pose as if they were on a ski lift.
New York magazine’s entertainment website Vulture brought its media studio back to Sundance for a third year, where editors interviewed and photographed casts from festival films. The studio, which was sponsored by Autograph Collection Hotels, had a winter theme with painted blue logs and faux trees. The design was handled in house.
The studio also was sponsored by outerwear brand Woolrich, which showcased its winter coats. Guests could pose in front of a photo wall with a plaid pattern.
Event production company Axcess Entertainment produced the festival’s first CBD pop-up, Wellhaus, in partnership with Colorado-based CBD company Charlotte’s Web. The three-day pop-up included an educational panel, sampling and gifting of CBD products, and a culinary program that served CBD-infused dishes from the Herbal Chef’s Chris Sayegh. Catering included a dessert table that offered tarts, fresh berries, strawberry and chocolate sauces, fluid gels, mousse, cream, coconut, and sorbets.
Starz and Vanity Fair held the world premiere party of the new comedy series Now Apocalypse on January 27. The event, which was produced by Civic Entertainment Group, included a silent disco.
Software company Salesforce held a three-night music event with conversations and performances benefiting various philanthropic causes. The activation, which was produced by Anthemic Agency, included a performance by Arcade Fire’s Win Butler and Régine Chassagne to benefit the Kanpe Foundation.
Festival sponsor AT&T brought back the DirecTV Lodge, which took over Heber & Main on Main Street and served as a hotspot for culinary events, premiere parties, and industry panels. The winter-theme space invited guests with illustrations of leaves in blue, purple, pink, and orange colors. Best Events produced the space and PR and programming was handled by PMK-BNC.
Decor included a ceiling installation of white paper leaves created by Wild Child.
At the Hollywood Reporter Lounge, sponsor Francis Ford Coppola Winery invited talent such as Alfre Woodard to record video birthday messages for the director’s upcoming 80th birthday. NVE Experience Agency produced the lounge.
Lyft partnered with NVE Experience Agency to create a lounge with an Instagram-friendly photo op. Guests, including actress Danielle Brooks, posed in a bobsled photo booth.
For its ninth year as a Sundance Institute partner, auto brand Acura brought back its festival experience, which held daily industry panels and live music in a branded tent. The highlight of the sponsorship, the outside area featured a vehicle display that included the Acura NSX supercar. George P. Johnson produced the experience.
The village included an interactive winter-theme photo booth that featured hanging paper snowflakes.
Film industry and review website IndieWire brought back its studio, which served as a space for interviews and activations from sponsors including Adobe and Dropbox. At a Dropbox activation, filmmakers and talent were invited to “give credits to the credits” and share their appreciation for production designers, gaffers, and other below-the-line talent by writing on a dedicated wall. Messages were then shared with team members unable to attend the festival. Crush Studio produced the space.
American Civil Liberties Union returned as a sponsor of the space. Guests including actress Awkwafina were invited to pose with signs calling out constitutional rights and issues the nonprofit organization fights for.
