CINCINNATI — Weeks after Cincinnati was selected to host the Sundance Film Festival, starting in 2027, the City Council is considering offering $2.5 million to the festival “to show our commitment.”

Council member Jeff Cramerding made a motion Oct. 23 suggesting the city allocate funds of an estimated $14,859,008 remaining in the capital project reserve.

The motion suggests providing this fund as payment for the 10-year commitment that would be made by the festival if it were to move to Cincinnati. After that, the city council will discuss the possibility of shelling out an additional $2.5 million for operating costs, meaning winning the event would cost $5 million for a festival that would span a decade.

According to the festival’s economic impact report for 2023, the event is expected to create dozens of new jobs in the city and generate at least $120 million per year in economic impact, for a total of $1.2 billion over the 10 years during which the festival will take place here.

“This allocation is a 10-year commitment, allocated from the start to show our commitment to the festival and to partner with the broader community to raise the funds needed to make the Sundance Film Festival a reality in Cincinnati,” can we read in the motion.

The Sundance Institute announced on September 12 that Cincinnati was one of three cities still in the running to host the festival in the future. Cities initially considered this not to be in the top three were: Atlanta, Georgia; Louisville, Kentucky; Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Today, Cincinnati takes on Salt Lake City/Park City, Utah, and Boulder, Colorado, the festival’s current home.

The festival’s final decision will be announced sometime after the festival, held in January, ends in 2025 – in late winter or early spring, the Sundance Institute said.

According to the release, the Sundance Institute evaluated each candidate city’s infrastructure, philosophy and equity values, its event planning capabilities and how each finalist city could sustainably serve and support the festival at as it develops.

Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval and Kristen Schlotman, president and CEO of Film Cincinnati, issued a joint statement in the Sundance Institute announcement:

For 2025 and 2026, the festival is already scheduled to be held in Park City/Salt Lake City, Utah, where it has been held since its inception more than 40 years ago.

In April, WCPO 9’s sister station in Salt Lake City reported that the film festival has announced that it may vacate its longtime home.

“We are experiencing a unique moment for our Festival and our global film community, and with the renewal of the contract, this exploration allows us to think responsibly about how best to continue to sustainably serve our community while preserving the essence of the “Festival experience,” said Eugene Hernandez, director of the Sundance Film Festival and public programming, in a statement released by the Sundance Institute.

When Cincinnati made the initial list of six cities being considered, Mayor Aftab Pureval told the Sundance Institution that Film Cincinnati, a nonprofit organization dedicated to cultivating film and television production in the region, was uniquely positioned to be able to host Sundance. Festival.

“For more than a generation, with the continued support of the City of Cincinnati, Film Cincinnati has positioned the Cincinnati region as a premier community for film,” Pureval said in the press release. “We know how to nurture creative talent and skilled workers behind the scenes, and we know how to celebrate them when they’re on the big screen. Easily accessible to much of the American population, the Queen City is also a premier city plan for broader tourism, managing major events with professionalism and capacity. Both Cincinnati and the Sundance Film Festival are on the verge of big changes and we look forward to collaborating and evolving together.

The Sundance Film Festival is part of the Sundance Institute, founded by Robert Redford in 1981 to nurture, support and discover independent filmmakers and storytellers. The festival just celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2023. The festival took over what was then known as the Utah/US Film Festival.

The Sundance Film Festival usually takes place every year in January. The festival featured films and episodic works like “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” », “Little Miss Sunshine”, “Reservoir Dogs”, “Hereditary” and much more.