The set change on Main Street during the Sundance Film Festival will include the temporary arrival of corporate interests, state film commissions, media outlets and universities.
But one longtime figure in short-term commercial rental dealmaking during Sundance predicts a reduction in the amount of activity in the niche market in 2023 as the festival returns to Park City after two consecutive years of pandemic-forced cancellations of the in-person event.
Businessman Mike Sweeney over the years has been involved in numerous negotiations between property owners, year-round commercial tenants and firms seeking short-term leases in the Main Street core during Sundance. He has traditionally led efforts for the Sweeney family’s own space at the bottom of the Town Lift and been tapped by others to negotiate deals for their individual properties.
Sweeney early in the week said the market for short-term festival commercial rentals will not resemble the pre-pandemic era. Sweeney said he is aware of event planners, instrumental in creating the temporary spaces, opting not to return to Sundance in 2023. Sweeney said he has been involved in the negotiations for one location, at the Utah Film Studios. He typically was involved in multiple deals annually prior to the pandemic.
“The reason is it takes time to build back” after the consecutive cancellations of the in-person festivals, Sweeney said, adding, “What we did two, three, four years ago . . . not all of them are going to come back.”
The corporate and other temporary setups made possible through the short-term deals help create the festival atmosphere, particularly along Main Street. The corporations turn the spaces into showcases for their brands. In many cases, the year-round tenant effectively moves out in the days before the festival, allowing the space to be transformed into venues for dining, entertainment and brand awareness. Some of them offer times when the space is open to the public in addition to private events while others are generally open to invited guests only.
The deals are negotiated in private, but it is believed the largest of them were lucrative in the pre-pandemic era. Some of the earlier ones were thought to involve dollar amounts that climbed into the six figures. The short-term agreements provide the year-round tenants and building owners an option during Sundance, a time when Main Street tends to cater to festival crowds rather than regular customers. Some see a temporary rental as the preferred alternative to remaining open amid the festival hubbub. Main Street draws a combination of official Sundance sponsors and others without direct links to the festival that want to have a presence in Park City amid the publicity of one of the top festivals on the international circuit.
Sweeney said the locations this year are generally not expected to be as ambitious in scale as those before and the deals may involve fewer days.
“They downsized, and they might not be here as long,” he said.
The festival is slated to run from Jan. 19 until Jan. 29. The temporary setups usually move in around the opening day, with the largest of them beginning construction several days prior to the start of the festival. Trucks arrive on Main Street as the year-round businesses move out and the temporary tenants move in. Some of the deals involve just a few days at the celebrity-heavy start of the festival while others cover the entire 11 days. The trucks return to Main Street as the temporary setups are dismantled and the businesses reclaim their spaces.
The preparations for the festival in the Main Street core and elsewhere in Park City, including Sundance’s own work, are expected to steadily increase through the weekend, followed by an intense final few days before the opening.
The Park City Council on Thursday is expected to approve additional licenses that cover the activities of the temporary locations. There was a significant jump in the number between the approvals at a City Council meeting on Jan. 5 and the ones on the agenda on Thursday.