Recession Be Damned—Sundance Prevails!

By Kyle Rupprecht
URL: http://www.moviemaker.com/festivals/article/sundance_film_festival_recession_economic_impact_20090618/
The recession didn't greatly impact this year's Sundance Film Festival, which (economically speaking) did incredibly well. A recent study by the University of Utah's Bureau of Economic and Business Research (BEBR) reveals the 2009 Sundance Film Festival generated an overall economic impact of a record $91.2 million for the state of Utah, supported close to 2,000 jobs, generated more than $18 million in media exposure and provided millions in tax revenues. These findings, announced by the nonprofit Sundance Institute, were generated using an economic impact model known as RIMS II, developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce's Bureau of Economic Analysis.