In 1969,

Robert Redford Charles Robert Redford Jr. (born August 18, 1936) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous accolades such as an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards, as well as the Cecil B. DeMille Award in 1994, the ...

purchased at the base of Mount Timpanogos in Utah's Wasatch Mountains. He named this land Sundance (after his character in the 1969 film ''

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' is a 1969 American Western (genre), Western buddy film directed by George Roy Hill and written by William Goldman. Based loosely on fact, the film tells the story of Wild West outlaws Robert LeRoy Parker, k ...

''). The Sundance Group is a listing of all the businesses that run under the Sundance corporate umbrella started by and run by actor Robert Redford.

Institute

The

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by actor Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and compo ...

is a non-profit organization founded in 1981. Through its programs, the Institute seeks to discover, support, and inspire

independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film production, produced outside the Major film studios, major film studio system in addition to being produced and distributed by independ ...

and theatre artists from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work.

Film festival

The

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

is a

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

in the United States that began in 1985 and ranks alongside the Cannes, Venice, Berlin and Toronto film festivals as one of the most prestigious in the world. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the US. Held in January in Park City,

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

, and Ogden,

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

as well as at the

Sundance Resort Sundance Resort, also known as Sundance Mountain Resort, is a ski resort located northeast of Provo, Utah. It includes more than on the slopes of Mount Timpanogos in Utah's Wasatch Range. Alpine skiing began on the site in 1944. Actor Robert ...

, the festival is the premier showcase for new work from American and international

makers. The festival comprises competitive sections for American and international dramatic and documentary films, and a group of non-competitive showcase sections, including the Sundance Online Film Festival.

Catalog

In the Sundance Resort was a tiny store which guests would frequently write to, requesting special items they had seen while visiting Sundance. Twenty years had passed since the beginning of Sundance and requests for the store's unique offerings spread beyond the box canyon. People who had visited Sundance began to write back to the store from all over the country. Robert Redford called together a few of his colleagues to discuss starting a mail-order catalog to fill these requests and to make Sundance's unique items available to a wider audience. It started small, four employees, Harry Rosenthal and Brent Beck as CEO and VP Merchant, working from the old Sundance Village firehouse put together the first Sundance Catalog, which mailed in the fall of 1989 to a relatively small group of general store customers and friends. The Sundance Catalog is now issued seasonally, and has been augmented by a separate jewelry catalog. The Sundance Catalog Company, based in

West Valley City, Utah West Valley City is a city in Salt Lake County and an inner suburb of Salt Lake City in the U.S. state of Utah. The population was 140,230 at the 2020 census, making it the second-most populous city in Utah after Salt Lake City. The city inco ...

, has since grown to reach an international clientele. Catalog offerings are also offered at “Sundance the Store”, retail outlets in Corte Madera, California,

Lone Tree, Colorado The City of Lone Tree is a home rule municipality located in northern Douglas County, Colorado, United States. The population was 14,253 at the 2020 census, and was estimated to be 14,061 in 2024. Lone Tree is a part of the Denver metropol ...

, and

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

TV

SundanceTV Sundance TV (formerly known as Sundance Channel) is an American pay television channel owned by AMC Networks that launched on February 1, 1996. The channel is named after Robert Redford's character in ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' and, w ...

was launched in 1996 as Sundance Channel and is a venture of

AMC Networks AMC Networks Inc. is an American mass media and entertainment corporation headquartered in 11 Penn Plaza, New York City. The company owns and operates the AMC cable channel, BBC America, IFC, Sundance TV, and We TV. It also owns the art ho ...

and Redford. SundanceTV offers viewers films, documentaries, and original programs. SundanceTV operates independently of the non-profit Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, but shares the overall Sundance mission of encouraging artistic freedom of expression.

Film distribution

Sundance Selects is a label of AMC Networks'

IFC Films Independent Film Company (formerly IFC Films) is an American film production and distribution company based in New York City, New York. It is an offshoot of IFC (U.S. TV channel), IFC, owned by AMC Networks. It mainly distributes independent fil ...

specializing in foreign films and documentaries for theatrical release in North America.

Cinemas

Sundance Cinemas LLC was a movie theatre chain founded by

's Sundance Group that aimed to showcase independent, documentary and foreign-language films as well as some studio projects. Its headquarters was in

Westlake Village, California Westlake Village is a city in Los Angeles County, California, on its western border with Ventura County. Upon its incorporation in 1981, Westlake Village became the 82nd municipality of Los Angeles County.Baker, Pam (2002). ''Thousand Oaks We ...

. The first cinema, Sundance 608, opened May 11, 2007 at the Hilldale Shopping Center in

Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population, second-most populous city in the state, with a population of 269,840 at the 2020 Uni ...

, and contained six stadium-seated auditoriums, along with a cafe, bistro, bar, rooftop bar, and ''Gallery 608'', which sold local and Sundance-related arts and merchandise. A second cinema, the Sundance Kabuki located in Japantown in

San Francisco, California San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

, re-opened on December 14, 2007 after being an AMC theater. Sundance Cinema's third theater, Sundance Cinemas Houston, was located within the

Bayou Place Bayou Place is a 130,000 square foot entertainment complex that houses multiple theaters, bars, and restaurants located in Downtown Houston, Downtown Houston, Texas, Houston, Texas, United States. The complex was the former Albert Thomas conven ...

development in downtown

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. The new 8-screen theater opened in November 2011 after a $2.25 million renovation. Additional locations opened in

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

in 2012 and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

in 2013. On October 6, 2015, it was announced that

Carmike Cinemas Carmike Cinemas, Inc. was an American motion picture exhibitor headquartered in Columbus, Georgia. As of March 2016, the company had 276 theaters with 2,954 screens in 41 states, and was the fourth largest movie theater chain in the United State ...

had acquired Sundance Cinemas for $36 million. In 2016, Carmike was purchased by

AMC Theatres AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (doing business as AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC) is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and now headquartered ...

, who proceeded to phase out the Sundance Cinemas name by converting all locations into the AMC Dine-In brand the following year.

AMC Madison 6

AMC Madison 6 is a movie theater in

owned by

. Originally the first of the

Sundance Cinemas In 1969, Robert Redford purchased at the base of Mount Timpanogos in Utah, Utah's Wasatch Mountains. He named this land Sundance (after his character in the 1969 film ''Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid''). The Sundance Group is a listing of al ...

in the

, the theater opened as the Sundance 608 on May 11, 2007. The theater is located in the Hilldale Shopping Center, where it replaced the Hilldale Theater. The "608" was a reference to the telephone

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

for the region. Madison was selected as the first location for Sundance Cinemas because of the level of interest in independent film in the region. Sundance Cinemas was purchased by

in 2015. In 2016, Carmike was purchased by AMC Theatres, who converted the theater to the AMC Dine-In brand the following year. AMC Madison 6 contains six stadium-seated auditoriums, a cafe, and a MacGuffins rooftop bar.

References

;Sources * * * *{{cite web , last = Patel , first = Purva , title = Sundance Cinemas to move into Angelika's old digs , publisher =

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Houston, Texas, United States. it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. ...

, date = 2011-03-31 , url =http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/2011/03/sundance_cinemas_to_move_into.html , access-date = 2011-03-31

External links

Sundance Institute Official SiteSundance Film Festival Official SiteSundance Channel Official SiteSundance Resort Official Site Sundance Catalog Official Site
Entertainment companies of the United States