Sundance Film Festival: Powered by Passion, Creativity, and Lots of Technology

During this season, nowhere is the vibrancy and impact of storytelling felt more than through the work of the Sundance Institute and onsite at the Sundance Film Festival, happening in Park City, Utah from January 23 until February 2. Last year more than 120,000 film and technology enthusiasts attended as Sundance helped to bring independent artists in a variety of mediums to the forefront, showcasing their passion for creativity and storytelling.

Dell Technologies is proud to partner with the Sundance Institute to provide technology that drives the institute year-round and empowers these cutting-edge storytellers with the tools they need to bring their ideas to life. Dell and the Sundance Institute are aligned in our aim to support filmmakers, editors, and others in the media and entertainment industry, and we are excited to be the Official Technology Sponsor of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival for the third consecutive year.

The Sundance Film Festival is considered the premier film festival in the country, with over 900 screenings across 10 days. To continue to evolve and uplift the experience for attendees, creators and the organization, technology has become an increasingly critical component in the overall event.

Sundance Institute is looking to modernize the film festival. That means moving away from film and hard drives going to venues instead going to servers and networks and transferring these files and daily content in real time. In media and entertainment, technology is crucial and it’s accelerating very quickly. As a non-profit organization, we really rely on partners like Dell Technologies to help us keep up.” – Justin Simmons, Director of Technology Services, Sundance Institute

Behind the scenes, Dell Technologies helps power the festival. DellEMC vSAN Ready Nodes built on R740XD PowerEdge servers will power the process and storage at the institute headquarters, which ensures ticket sales run smoothly. Dell Precision Workstations will be used to create, edit and disseminate daily content seen on the big screens throughout the event. Dell displays and all-in-one desktops will be used for box office signage and way finders. Dell Latitude and XPS 2-in-1s are used by the office staff for maximum productivity.

The New Frontier exhibit, which showcases work in AR, VR, and MR, highlights the inextricable link between technology and groundbreaking works of art. Since 2007, the New Frontier has provided the highest level of curation in these emerging fields, incorporating fiction, nonfiction, and hybrid projects to showcase new and creative ways of storytelling.

Technology infuses most aspects of modern life — and is evolving at a historic pace. The New Frontier artists that we showcase are taking completely fresh and thoughtful approaches to how the newest technological formats engage with the ancient art of storytelling.” – Robert Redford, President and Founder of Sundance.

To help bring this to life, Dell Technologies provides Dell Precision workstations and Alienware systems, ideal for creation of AR, VR, and MR applications, where processing power and intensive graphic capabilities are essential.

Finally, our mission to support this community has expanded beyond technology. As of 2018, Dell Technologies is also the official sustainability partner of the festival, with a mission to minimize negative environmental impact onsite and support infrastructure that both enables and raises awareness for the importance of sustainable practices across industries. In partnership with RecycleUtah, a local non-profit recycling center, last year Dell Technologies covered the cost of recycling 30,000 pounds of e-waste. There will also be additional recycling facilities set up around the festival, as well as metal straws handed out to all attendees. While no single effort will lead to the imperative change alone, we are committed to being part of the solution and working hand-in-hand with our partners who share our vision for our 2030 Social Impact goals.

To learn more about how Dell Technologies, together with Intel®, are powering the Sundance Film Festival and our commitment to maintaining a beautiful Park City, check out the video above. Follow Dell Tech on Twitter for updates from Park City, for what promises to be an incredible 2020 Sundance Film Festival. We’ll see you there!