Starstruck: Why brands sponsor film festivals like Sundance

In January, the Sundance Film Festival took over Park City, Utah, for the final time before next year’s move to Boulder, Colorado. While locals and visitors alike might most lament the ability to no longer see celebrities walking down Main Street, they’ll also miss seeing activations and pop-ups from sponsors like Adobe, Canon, and Acura—brands that have aligned themselves for years with the annual celebration of indie filmmaking.

But why sponsor a film festival in the first place, let alone for upwards of a decade? While companies like Adobe and Canon can be integral to the filmmaking process, Acura isn’t exactly endemic to Hollywood, nor are sponsors like Casamigos, Chase Sapphire Reserve, and Patagonia. Yet, there’s a value alignment that brands can still tap into, which can make a Sundance sponsorship worth it, according to Jennifer Symington, assistant VP of marketing for American Honda Motor Co., Acura’s parent company.

“When we think about the independence and creativity and innovation of the independent artists that Sundance has gathered over the years, that focus on energy, innovation, and bringing a powerful voice to your audience…we see that values alignment there,” Symington said.

Movie star

While creatives might not necessarily need a car to make a movie, sometimes a set of wheels can be a pivotal feature, which is part of why Acura was involved at Sundance this year, Symington told us.

This year, the festival featured several tributes and connections to Sundance founder Robert Redford, including at Acura’s display and auction of its NSX Roadster, a vehicle featured in The Avengers. The auction was announced last August, and bidding will take place later this year, at which point Acura will make an additional donation to the Sundance Institute and use the auction proceeds to donate to the buyer’s charity of choice.

Symington said the brand prides itself on “the principle of precision-crafted performance,” an ideal that brought it to partner with Sundance 16 years ago. This year, its sponsorship included additional integrations with the Utah-based Team USA Bobsled/Skeleton, which Acura is also partnered with. Acura’s main activation, called the House of Energy, served as the brand’s 300-person base for panels and networking events before becoming a party hub at night. While it hosted plenty of industry insiders, it was important that it was accessible to the general public, too, Symington said.

“Part of our commitment and the way we’ve approached the activation in the marketing is by making sure we really have a spot for the folks from Park City and the folks who come in for the festival to be able to celebrate in a wide-open, comfortable, fun environment,” she said.

Other sponsors, though, take a slightly different approach. Canon, which has also sponsored Sundance for 16 years, does activate onsite—but its pop-up is only open to those in the film industry, since the brand’s cameras are often used by filmmakers, Alan Lewis, senior product marketing specialist at Canon, told us.

“We have taken part in documentary films that are based in all seven continents, and this is one of the few occasions where the people who make those films are all in the same place at the same time,” Lewis said. “For us, it’s very much about that industry connection and speaking to the filmmakers rather than the general attendees.”

At Sundance, Canon hosts its own panels while also conducting research with attending filmmakers to inform future Canon products.

“It helps to build brand loyalty,” he said. “It’s not just, ‘Thank you for buying our camera,’ but ‘Hey, not only did you buy our camera, but you’re one of the elite users. Tell us what you’d like to see in the next camera. ”

The team also uses the week to shoot promotional material, like interviews with creatives about their projects, which can pull double duty as marketing material after those films are (ideally) acquired, and for Canon, Craig said.

Stories never end

At its heart, Sundance is about empowering independent artists—a message that brands, including Adobe, have long resonated with, according to Amy White, global head of corporate social responsibility and social issues communications at Adobe. The software brand has sponsored the festival for 15 years, with this year’s Adobe House taking up residence on Main Street, and the team plans to follow the festival to its new home. (Neither Canon nor Acura has announced future plans with the festival.)

“We have seen the changing landscape of storytelling, both in film and television,” White said. “[There is] the monolith that is film, [so] how do you then create breakthrough moments for people who wouldn’t typically have those opportunities? Sundance has made that commitment right alongside us, so our continued or outsized investment is because of that. It’s a place where creators have an opportunity to interact, whether to sell their stories or be met and seen for the first time.”

Diversity in filmmaking experience at Sundance—from seasoned Hollywood talent to first-time festival submitters—is part of what keeps Adobe coming back, White said. After all, where else could you bump into Ethan Hawke at a Mexican restaurant on the same day as watching a series of short film debuts?

“I like the charm of it. You bump into, like, world-renowned actors who are screening an independent film that they funded, all the way to an editor who, it’s their very first time [with] a film that they pitched into the festival, made it, and they’re there,” White said. “It’s just this continuum of talent, and it’s all in one space.”