City of Atlanta officially submits to host Sundance Film Festival

Credit: The Sundance Institute.

The city of Atlanta has officially entered the race to be considered as the new host of the Sundance Film Festival beginning in 2027.

The city announced it has officially submitted a Request for Proposal (RFP) to the Sundance Institute via press release. Sundance announced a bidding process for a possible new city to call home earlier this year, with Atlanta Film Society Executive Director Chris Escobar announcing the city’s intent to put its name in the running this April. The Sundance Institute asked selected cities, including Atlanta, to submit RFPs in early May. The deadline to submit RFPs was on June 21. 

“We are honored that Atlanta is being considered as a potential host for the Sundance Film Festival in 2027 and beyond. Atlanta is where the worlds of film, entertainment, economic development, diversity and inclusion meet and grow cohesively, together,” said Mayor Andre Dickens in the release. “We’re ready to show the Sundance Institute that Atlanta is the place where opportunities are endless, and Sundance can continue to shine.”

The city’s RFP highlights Atlanta’s diverse neighborhoods, its film industry, its ability to host large scale events, its climate action plan, transportation possibilities, its hospitality industry and more. The city of Atlanta and its partners have pledged $2 million in support, according to the release. The city has also created a website dedicated to the Sundance Film Festival. 

Thomas Smith, an Emory University professor who teaches the class Economics and Finance of Film, said proximity to some large industry players, the amount of film and television production that goes on in Atlanta, and the cosmopolitan nature of the city might be some of the factors that Atlanta can count in its favor. 

However, the ease of getting around the city, particularly when it comes to MARTA, might not look so good to the selection committee. 

“Atlanta’s public transportation system is not very thorough,” Smith said. “It’s a giant X, and of course there are bus routes. But the main public transportation mode is the train, and it’s a giant X…unless you’re living somewhere on that X, it’s not very easy to get from point A to point B.” 

Smith also pointed out that while MARTA might not be a big selling point, Atlanta does have a great central location within its city and has hosted other large events in the past. In a letter to the RFP Selection Committee, Dickens highlighted Atlanta’s hosting of events like the Super Bowl and the Olympics. The city also hosts a number of other film festivals, including the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, and Out on Film.  

“Our convention element is one of the largest in the country, and is incredibly user friendly from a convention standpoint,” Smith said. “That part of it is actually quite adequate — more than adequate — for having a big event.”

At the beginning of the month of June, two water main breaks plunged the city of Atlanta into a water crisis that lasted nearly a week and had consequences for residents and businesses alike. Smith said it’s possible that the selection committee would take the crisis, along with the city’s communication issues during the crisis, into consideration. 

“The infrastructure is aging. I think the mayor has been pretty forthright about that,” he said. “There’s billions of dollars worth of improvements that need to be made.”

Two other Georgia cities, Savannah and Athens, were also invited to send RFPs to host the festival. Smith said that while Savannah has a lot of charm and its own film history connections, it might have less of a chance than Atlanta because of its distance from the city and its smaller airport. 

“It seems very charming,” Smith said. “[But] the feasibility of it is just not on the same wavelength as it is for Atlanta.” 

There is no official date for the announcement for the new city for the Sundance Film Festival, but it might be announced as early as later this year. 

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Rough Draft Atlanta.