15 Cool Sponsorship Ideas From Past Sundance Film Festivals

Vulture returned to Sundance last year with its interview studio called the Vulture Spot, sponsored by Amazon Fire TV and Peet’s Coffee. This partnership with Vulture marked Fire TV’s festival debut.

Last year, AT&T also returned to Sundance with a new look and name—WarnerMedia Lodge: Elevating Storytelling with AT&T. (AT&T was a presenting sponsor, the official wireless provider and the official multichannel video programming distributor sponsor for the festival.) Throughout the weekend, the space also included the Variety Studio presented by AT&T, which featured interviews with festival talent. Produced by Gold Sky Productions, the lounge area offered up a cozy, alpine vibe.

Dubbed Our Stories To Tell, the weekend-long pop-up experience seen at last year's festival celebrated multicultural storytelling, creators and audiences across three brands: HBO, TNT and TBS. Over the course of three days, the event space, Firewood Restaurant, hosted various invite-only interactive programming including panel conversations and discussions with on-screen and behind-the-scenes talent, dinners with casts and more, as a way to showcase the networks' initiatives that aim to engage African American, Asian American, LGBTQ+ and Latinx audiences. Experiential agency Team Epiphany handled the production. See more: Sundance 2020: See How Sponsors Welcomed Attendees to This Year’s Film Festival

Chase Sapphire served as the premier sponsor and official credit card of the 2019 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 2019 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 official beer of the festival, Stella Artois, held a film-inspired lounge at 364 Main Street, with activations and panels that were livestreamed on Deadline.com. Inside Stella's film lounge, designed by Mosaic, a bar served beer and elevated takes on concessions one would buy at a movie theater. See more: Sundance 2019: 26 Ways Sponsors Kept Festival Attendees Cozy

The restaurant Rock & Reilly’s Park City celebrated its sixth year at the 2018 festival with a daytime media lounge and nightly events throughout the week. Lounge sponsor J.Crew hosted a “Denim by You” customization bar, which invited guests to create their own denim looks with patches and custom calligraphy by illustrator Sam Teich.

IndieWire, a film industry and review website, hosted its inaugural studio for filmmakers and talent during the 2018 event. The space, which was presented by festival sponsor Dropbox, included a colorful wall of words that filmmakers could relate to, as well as a wall for talent to sign their names. The space was produced by Crush Studio. See more: Sundance 2018: 25 Festival Highlights From Sponsors and Brands

Acura marked its seventh year at the Sundance Film Festival as a presenting sponsor and official vehicle of the festival by hosting its Festival Village on Main Street. The village also showcased a virtual-reality pod that gave guests a chance to virtually test out the Acura NSX. The experience, along with other village activations, was conceptualized and produced by MullenLowe, George P. Johnson and Spinifex Group with support from Groundwork Events.

Floral and nature designs never seem to go out of style. Debbie Durkin, CEO of Durkin Entertainment Group, hosted her annual lounge at the Blue Iguana. The 2017 event showcased an all-organic living eco-mountain forest wall installation that was used as a photo backdrop for celebrity arrivals. Utah-based Betsy Borden of Dancing Daisies Floral designed the activation. Talk about an Instagram-worthy backdrop!
See more: Sundance 2017: 20 Highlights From Brand Activations and Events

At Sundance 2015, hospitality company Airbnb partnered with the festival to host an activation in Park City. Dubbed the Haus, the activation took over a venue on Main Street. The Haus was also hosting an experiential art activation by San Francisco artist Ivan Cash. Called "Self Less Portraits," the activity lets strangers—festivalgoers from all over the world—draw portraits of one another based on Polaroids. The activities tied into Airbnb's #OneLessStranger campaign, which was designed by the brand to encourage its users to engage in acts of kindness and share experiences on social media.

In 2015, haircare brand Keratin hosted a pop-up salon at the MTV Music Lodge, a space where reporters conducted interviews with celebrities. Before they were interviewed, celebrities such as Jessika Van had their hair touched up by professionals. The pop-up salon space had decor inspired by a film set. Though the brand had hosted a gifting suite at the festival, this was the first time it had hosted a pop-up salon.
See more: Sundance 2015: See Engaging Activations From New Festival Sponsors

The dinner series ChefDance returned to the 2014 festival for its 11th run, this time with El Tesoro de Don Felipe Tequila and Suja Juice as partners. Held at Park City Live, the dinner had colorful elements from Finnish design company Marimekko. Different chefs, including former Top Chef stars, prepared the nightly meals.

Looking for gifting ideas? At Sundance 2013, producers from Fresh Wata wanted to design an activation that would appeal to both men and women. The organic fragrances at the scent bar were unisex and came in Tea Thyme, Blackberry-Sage, Washed Suede, Rain and more.

The former Harry O’s music venue, which closed in 2011, reemerged as Park City Live—sponsored by Axe Hair and Mario Barth—for Sundance 2012, hosting live events throughout the festival, including Ludacris and DJ Deadmau5. See more: Sundance Report: Nintendo, Bertolli, AT&T, and Others Blanket Festival With Experiential Promos