The Sundance Film Festival, the largest indie film festival in the United States, made a big stride forward in making their experience accessible for more audience members this year by offering digital tickets.
The Sundance Festival is hosted every year by the Sundance Institute. According to their website, they are passionate about bringing more awareness to independent filmmaking, as well as preserving these films for future generations to enjoy.
According to the BBC, this festival was started in Salt Lake City in 1978 under the name Utah/United States Film Festival. It was renamed in 1991, and it persists to this day as an important event for aspiring filmmakers. The 2025 Sundance Festival was held from Jan. 23-Feb. 2. They gave a total of 38 awards. Though the festival was held in Utah, viewers were able to buy digital tickets that granted them access to online screenings of the films that premiered at the festival.
According to the Sundance Institute’s website, one of their goals for the festival is to make both in-person and online experiences as accessible as they can for their filmmakers and viewers.
Mike White, a film professor at WSC, said the digital ticket was a cost-effective way for audience members to be a part of the Sundance Festival.
“As a fan, if you want to have access to a lot of films, the virtual ticket is very smart,” White said.
While the digital ticket is a good idea for people who are only interested in viewing the films, White said he recommended that the filmmakers try to attend in person if they can. He said that one of the biggest upsides to attending festivals as a filmmaker is getting to meet other industry professionals and make connections by networking. The digital ticket is a good idea for viewers, but not the creators of the films.
“As a fan, it’s all pros,” White said. “As a filmmaker, it’s all cons.”
The Sundance Festival isn’t the only part of the film industry that’s going digital. White said this has been a trend in many aspects of the industry over the last few years. He said the film industry is rapidly becoming decentralized from California, partially due to the wildfires in Los Angeles. This shift could make it easier for people from rural areas to pursue a career in film in the future.
“What you’re starting to see is production companies in other parts of the country,” White said. “The film industry’s going to spread out, whether it goes virtual or not.”
