This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Sundance Film Festival isn't just a big party, it's a big moneymaker for the state of Utah.
The 2011 edition of the annual Park City extravaganza generated $70.8 million in economic impact for the state of Utah, according to a new economic and demographic study conducted by the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the David Eccles School of Business.
The festival supported more than 1,600 jobs, generated $27 million in media exposure, and brought in nearly $6 million in tax revenue, the study found.
In the last 10 years, the Sundance Institute touted today, the festival has brought in about half a billion dollars in economic activity.
Besides the tangible benefits - hotel rooms reserved, cars rented, dinners served, etc. - the study counted up the publicity Sundance generated before, during and after its run in Park City.
The festival generated 39,224 print and online articles between December 2010 and February 2011, and 1,691 broadcast stories from Jan. 15 to Feb. 15. More than 950 registered press from 24 countries covered the event.
Online, the festival's impact was also huge. The Sundance Institute's website, Sundance.org, had 961,730 unique visitors from 210 countries. The festival also had 236,000 Facebook fans and more than 60,000 Twitter followers. During the festival's 10 days, 108,555 tweets mentioning Sundance were posted by 44,778 unique users.
For the complete study, click here.