The highlights and lowlights of this year's Sundance Film Festival weren't limited to the 119 feature films and 68 short films that were screened. Attendees of the festival's 33rd edition, which returned to Park City, Utah, from January 19 to 29, experienced three feet of snow, a cyber attack that affected box offices, and power outages that postponed screenings. The festival also introduced it's first-ever environmental-focused program called the New Climate, and played host to an independently organized Women's March—which was one of 673 marches that were part of the worldwide mass protest aimed at President Donald Trump on January 21.
Once again, festival sponsors and brands used the 10-day event as an opportunity to engage with festival attendees, filmmakers, and actors. Here's a look at what companies including Dream Hotels, Orville Redenbacher's, Stella Artois, and Francis Ford Coppola Winery brought to Sundance this year.
Nylon magazine and Dream Hotels hosted the fourth annual AprĂ©s Ski event on January 21 at Church Public House. Celebrating the opening of the hotel brand's flagship West Coast location, the party showcased an ice sculpture modeled after the Hollywood sign. NVE: The Experience Agency produced the event.Â
Acura marked its seventh year as a presenting sponsor and official vehicle of the festival by hosting its Festival Village on Main Street from January 20 to 28. The activation featured interactive stations for guests including Mood Roads, an immersive virtual driving experience inspired by the brand's technologies. The experience, along with other village activations, was conceptualized and produced by MullenLowe, George P. Johnson, and Spinifex Group with support from Groundwork Events.
The space showcased the 2017 Acura NSX in a variety of ways, including a full-size ice sculpture embedded with LED lighting to highlight features of the model's Sport Hybrid SH-AWD technology.Â
The village also showcased a virtual-reality pod that gave guests a chance to virtually test out the Acura NSX.Â
Festival sponsor Stella Artois hosted its Filmmaker Lounge from January 20 to 22 on Main Street. The lounge, which was designed by Mosaic North America, featured the Belgian beer brand's color scheme on furniture including branded pillows.Â
The lounge served as an opportunity for the brand to promote its "Buy a Lady a Drink" campaign, which involves a partnership with Water.org to raise awareness of the global water crisis. Panels and events included "From Tap to Table: the Global Water Crisis Through the Lens of Culture and Cuisine," which was hosted by Water.org co-founders Matt Damon and Gary White, along with culinary star and water advocate Marcus Samuelsson. PR for the event was supported by 3PM, PMK-BNC's joint venture with Weber Shandwick.
To encourage consumers to support the campaign, the brand had an on-site "Chalice Shop" that showcased limited-edition Stella Artois chalices. For every chalice sold, the brand committed to helping Water.org donate five years of clean water for one woman in the developing world.Â
Returning festival sponsor Canada Goose brought back its lounge, which offered attendees hot beverages, Canada-inspired snacks, Wi-Fi, and charging stations. Produced by Groundwork Events, the Base Camp was located on Swede Alley near Park City's Transit Centre.Â
The lounge offered an Instagram photo printing station provided by Luster.Â
J.Crew, Vulture, and New York magazine hosted an event at Rock & Reilly's on January 20 that featured movie-theater-inspired signage. Sunshine Sachs produced the event.
Guests were given tote bags decorated with a colorful take on the J.Crew logo.Â
New York magazine's entertainment news website hosted its lounge for celebrity interviews on January 21 at Rock & Reilly's. Produced by Sunshine Sachs, the lounge featured a winter-lodge-theme setup for interviews and portraits with brand signage.Â
Debbie Durkin, C.E.O. of Durkin Entertainment Group, hosted her annual lounge at the Blue Iguana on January 21 and 22. The 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.Â
Presented by Orville Redenbacher's, the film industry publication's studio for celebrities and filmmakers took place January 20 to 23 at 625 Main Street. The studio, which was produced by Peak 5, included a comfortable setup with branded water bottles and a bowl of Orville popcorn.
The studio offered a popcorn bar with toppings such as maple cinnamon, pretzels, and chocolate candies.Â
The Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, which partnered with the studio, showcased a colorful photo backdrop decorated with pool floats.
As the official television sponsor of the festival, SundanceTV hosted its headquarters at 268 Main Street. Created and produced by experiential marketing company Pop2Life, the heavily branded headquarters served as a venue for parties, panels, and more festival events.Â
Throughout the festival, sponsor Francis Ford Coppola Winery hosted parties and activations, including a custom oversize wine cork mural at the Sundance Co-Op. The winery commissioned artist Scott Gundersen to create the mural—titled "The Big Picture"—through the duration of the event. Attendees also were able to contribute to the installation.Â
Mirrored Media produced the Hub at Park City Live, which included a variety of brand lounges for celebrity photo ops and interviews. Cool Effect, a crowdfunding platform that focuses on fighting global warming, promoted its Save Our Snowmen campaign with a photo op that included on-theme mascots and props.Â
The festival's Shorts Awards, which honored filmmakers of short films screened at the festival, took place January 24 at Jupiter Bowl. The event turned the bowling alley into an award show venue with a giant projector that was incorporated into announcing winners.Â
