First Substitute H.C.R. 12
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8 LONG TITLE
9 General Description:
10 This concurrent resolution of the Legislature and the Governor recognizes the 30th
11 anniversary of the Sundance Film Festival.
12 Highlighted Provisions:
13 This resolution:
14 . recognizes the 30th anniversary of the Sundance Film Festival and the impact the
15 festival has on Utah's economy.
16 Special Clauses:
17 None
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19 Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
20 WHEREAS, Sundance Film Festival, formerly known as the United States Film and
21 Video Festival, began in 1985;
22 WHEREAS, in that first year, the Sundance Film Festival utilized two theaters and
23 screened 86 films with a staff of 13;
24 WHEREAS, in 2014, the Sundance Film Festival utilized nine theaters and screened
25 186 films with a staff of 232;
26 WHEREAS, the Sundance Film Festival is the state's largest annual international event,
27 bolstering tourism and attracting worldwide media attention;
28 WHEREAS, the Sundance Film Festival has debuted numerous Academy Award
29 winning films, including Beasts of the Southern Wild, Hoop Dreams, The Usual Suspects,
30 Whale Rider, An Inconvenient Truth, and Twenty Feet From Stardom;
31 WHEREAS, during the past five years, the Sundance Film Festival has attracted more
32 than 219,987 attendees;
33 WHEREAS, at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, over 15,000 Utahns participated in
34 free community programs, including the High School Screening Program, Filmmakers in the
35 Classroom Program, a free screening for college students, Best of Fest screenings, Community
36 Screenings, and tickets to residents living in Utah, Salt Lake, Weber, and Summit counties;
37 WHEREAS, 1,830 volunteers, 970 of whom were local Utahns, helped to make the
38 festival a success;
39 WHEREAS, few festivals are tied to a city or a state as closely as the Sundance Film
40 Festival is associated with Park City and Utah, or provide the same visibility that the two-week
41 Sundance Film Festival provides Utah;
42 WHEREAS, according to the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business
43 Research (BEBR), over the last five years, the Sundance Film Festival has generated more than
44 $375.6 million in economic activity to Utah and in excess of $500 million in the last decade;
45 WHEREAS, the economic impact of the Sundance Film Festival over the past five
46 years is estimated to include $21.9 million in tax revenue;
47 WHEREAS, BEBR found that the 2013 Sundance Film Festival generated nearly $70
48 million in overall economic impact for the state of Utah, supported more than 1,407 jobs,
49 provided nearly $5.8 million in tax revenue, and was attended by nearly 46,000 people;
50 WHEREAS, according to the Cision Media Monitoring Service (CMMS), between the
51 announcement of the festival's film program in late November 2012 through wrap-up articles in
52 February 2013, the Sundance Institute and the 2013 Sundance Film Festival generated more
53 than 31,100 print and online articles, and that from January 15 to February 15, 2013, the
54 festival generated 11,900 television pieces;
55 WHEREAS, CMMS also confirms that the media value for the state of Utah generated
56 by the festival totaled more than $56.8 million with more than 900 individuals from 16
57 countries registered as members of the press in attendance;
58 WHEREAS, more than 65% of the 2013 festival attendees reside outside of Utah;
59 WHEREAS, for more than seven years, the Economic Development Corporation of
60 Utah has been leveraging the festival to introduce site selectors to Utah;
61 WHEREAS, as a direct result of these efforts, site selectors have brought a number of
62 projects to the state because they know that Utah can compete on projects of all sizes and
63 scope;
64 WHEREAS, like many festival attendees, many of the site selectors have never
65 previously visited Utah;
66 WHEREAS, according to BEBR, of the estimated 30,065 nonresident festival attendees
67 in 2013, approximately 36% responded that it was their first visit to Utah, 83% responded that
68 they traveled to Utah specifically to attend the festival, and 40% responded that they would
69 visit Utah again during the next year;
70 WHEREAS, nearly 40% of nonresident attendees, about 12,000 people, responded that
71 they intended to ski or snowboard in Utah during their stay;
72 WHEREAS, in addition to its cultural value and economic impact, the Sundance Film
73 Festival has become a powerful business recruitment tool for the Governor's Office of
74 Economic Development and the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, which focus on
75 chief executive officers and other top-level executives in fields such as technology, finance,
76 and sports, who visit Utah specifically to attend the festival; and
77 WHEREAS, the Sundance Film Festival demonstrates how the arts can support the
78 local economy, help grow local businesses, and highlight Utah as a great place for other
79 businesses to locate:
80 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
81 Governor concurring therein, recognizes the 30th anniversary of the Sundance Film Festival
82 and the impact the festival has on Utah's economy.
83 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this resolution be sent to the Sundance
84 Film Festival, the Sundance Institute, the Economic Development Corporation of Utah, the
85 Governor's Office of Economic Development, the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic
86 and Business Research, Cision Media Monitoring Service, and the members of Utah's
87 congressional delegation.
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