Sundance Subsidy Stirs Conservative Pushback
A disagreement between supporters of the Sundance Film Festival and a conservative think tank in Utah is raising questions about whether tax dollars should support the arts. The Sutherland Institute says some films screened at Sundance do not reflect Utah values.
The controversy began with a blog post on the Sutherland Institute's website. Writer Derek Monson called on Utah to end its sponsorship of Sundance because some of the movies shown there portrayed sexual promiscuity.
Paul Mero, president of the Salt Lake City-based Sutherland Institute, says the state should spend money on other priorities rather than subsidizing the financially successful film festival, founded by actor Robert Redford.
"It's almost like we're buying a friendship that doesn't naturally exist between Mr. Redford and the state of Utah," Mero says. "If that's the case, that's pretty pathetic."
Mero says his organization is uniformly opposed to any kind of business subsidy, and that some of the films screened this year — like a bio-drama about the late porn star Linda Lovelace — cast an immoral shadow over the festival no matter how much money it brings in.
"A lot of these film festivals are held in major cities and elite enclaves. In those circles, maybe it complements their values," Mero says. "But these highly sexualized films don't complement the values of most Americans, let alone Utahans."
On Main Street in Park City this weekend, festival goers visited the Hub, set up to act as an information center about making movies in the state. On the walls are posters of films shot in Utah, including 127 Hours and the upcoming reboot of The Lone Ranger.
The state invested $300,000 in the festival this year. In exchange, Utah's tourism logo is branded on everything from signs to brochures to lanyards. And the logo is on screen credits before each film, says Marshall Moore, director of the Utah Film Commission.
"We were a significant contributor in terms of sponsorship, but it's something we build into our budget every year, and [something] that allows Sundance to realize that the festival is important to the state," Moore says.
Moore says the festival introduces many filmmakers to Utah. "When we make trips to Los Angeles to promote Utah, we talk to 20 filmmakers in a week," Moore says. "We're getting hundreds of people through our hub every day. And it's not just film — it's tourism, and it's business, and it's new businesses considering moving their companies here."
Moore says if Utah lost Sundance, it would be devastating to the state. But it doesn't look like Robert Redford is ready to leave yet. During a press conference on the festival's opening day, he said he's not swayed by Sutherland.
"If they'd like us to go away, we'd probably take, what, $70 [million], $80 million with us — $80 million comes to the local economy in 10 days," Redford said. "Pretty good."
And for the Utah Film Commission, $80 million is an excellent return on that $300,000 investment.
9(MDE1MTIxMDg0MDE0MDQ3NTY3MzkzMzY1NA001))
Transcript
MELISSA BLOCK, HOST:
This is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED from NPR News. I'm Melissa Block.
ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:
And I'm Robert Siegel.
The slate at this year's Sundance Film Festival in Utah is raising some eyebrows. The Sutherland Institute, a conservative think-tank, says some of the films do not reflect Utah values. And they're raising questions about the tax dollars that go to support the festival.
More from Terry Gildea of member station KUER in Salt Lake City.
TERRY GILDEA, BYLINE: The controversy began with a blog post on the Sutherland Institute's website. Writer Derek Monson called on Utah to end its sponsorship of Sundance because some of the movies shown there portrayed sexual promiscuity.
Paul Mero is the president of the Sutherland, based in Salt Lake City. He says the state should spend money on other priorities. Mero says it should not subsidize the financially successful film festival founded by actor Robert Redford.
PAUL MERO: So it's almost like we're buying a friendship that doesn't naturally exist between Mr. Redford and the state of Utah. If that's the case, that's pretty pathetic.
GILDEA: Mero says his organization is uniformly opposed to any kind of business subsidy, and that some of the films screened this year - like a bio-pic of the late porn star Linda Lovelace - cast an immoral shadow over the festival no matter how much money it brings in.
MERO: A lot of these film festivals are held in major cities and elite enclaves. In those circles, maybe it complements their values. But these highly sexualized films don't complement the values of most Americans, let alone Utahans.
GILDEA: On Main Street in Park City this weekend, festival-goers visited the Hub, a state office set up to act as an information center about making movies here. On the walls are posters of films shot in Utah, including "127 Hours" and the upcoming rendition of "The Lone Ranger." The state invested $300,000 in the festival this year. For that commitment, Utah's tourism logo is branded on everything, from signs to brochures to lanyards.
And Marshall Moore, director of the Utah Film Commission, says the logo is on screen credits before each film.
MARSHALL MOORE: We were a significant contributor in terms of sponsorship. But it's, you know, something that we build into our budget every year and that allows Sundance to realize that the festival is important to the state.
GILDEA: Moore says the festival introduces many filmmakers to Utah.
MOORE: We maybe, when we make trips to Los Angeles to promote Utah, talk to 20 filmmakers in a week. We're getting hundreds of people through our Hub every day. And it's not just film. It's tourism and it's business, and it's new businesses considering moving their companies here.
GILDEA: Moore says if Utah lost the Sundance Film Festival it would be devastating to the state, but it doesn't look like Robert Redford is ready to leave yet. During a press conference on the opening day of Sundance, he said he's not swayed by Sutherland.
ROBERT REDFORD: If they'd like us to go away, we'd probably take, what, 70, $80 million with us. Eighty million dollars comes to the local economy in 10 days - pretty good.
GILDEA: And for the Utah's Film Commission, $80 million is an excellent return on that $300,000 investment.
For NPR News, I'm Terry Gildea in Salt Lake City. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
300x250 Ad
300x250 Ad