When Sundance vacates its Salt Lake City headquarters next fall, it no longer will qualify for Zoo, Arts & Parks (ZAP) money, even though it will expand its capital city showings, said institute managing director Jill Miller.

This year, Sundance will pocket about $555,000 from ZAP.

But the funding loss was anticipated, Miller said.

"We believe we can make up the difference," she said. "We don't have confirmed sources, but we're looking."

For starters, the Park City Council promised to pay Sundance $220,000 a year to move its year-round administrative offices to Thaynes Canyon. And the Park City Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau will kick up its $50,000 annual grant to $160,000 beginning in 2007.

That leaves a $225,000 gap to bridge.

Miller said the move to Park City is key to running the annual independent film extravaganza, which envelops Utah's premier ski town for 10 days every January.

"The big picture isn't [ZAP] funding," Miller noted. "But it's strategic to have our offices in Park City to continue to keep the film festival in Utah. It's important that we be there to work closely with Park City officials."

Even after its headquarters move to Park City, the film festival will continue - and even increase slightly - its presence in Salt Lake City, Miller said.

Planned activities include a "festival zone" along 300 South from the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center to the Broadway Centre Cinemas. The schedule includes two nightly screenings at the Jeanne Wagner Theater with a similar schedule at the Broadway theaters. Screenings also are scheduled at the Tower Theatre on 900 South near 900 East.

The Sundance Institute may seek grant money from Salt Lake City and other Salt Lake area-based organizations, Miller said.

The fact that there could be half-million dollars or more in the ZAP till without Sundance doesn't mean the other 24 organizations identified as large Tier 1 recipients will get more money, explained Denise Begue, development director for Ballet West.

ZAP's advisory board bases funding on complicated criteria, she said. Organizations applying for ZAP aid don't request an amount but rather define their proposed programs and budgets. The ZAP board then determines how much each entity receives.

"They make their decisions based on how much funding they have to pool and how many organizations are in the pool," Begue said.

csmart@sltrib.com

ZAPping your change

* Zoo, Arts & Parks funds come from a one-tenth of 1 percent of sales tax collected in Salt Lake County.

* In 2005, 25 large Tier 1 organizations - such as the Utah Symphony & Opera, Ballet West and the Children's Museum of Utah - received $8.7 million.