Estes Valley Voice Podcast
Daily releases of the latest Estes Park news, commentary, interesting interviews, and stories for Estes Valley Voice readers and listeners.
Produced by Brett Wilson for the Estes Valley Voice
Estes Valley Voice Podcast
With Sundance Film Fest in Boulder, film institute programs coming to The Stanley Hotel
Story by Suzy Blackhurst
Twenty months after John Cullen, owner of The Stanley Hotel, and Donald Zuckerman, head of Colorado’s Film Commission, first suggested to the head of the Sundance Film Festival and Jeff Kraft, deputy director of the state’s Office of Economic Development that the Stanley Hotel would be the perfect location for institutes associated with the festival that could expand to Boulder, the concept has come to fruition.
They were among a small group of individuals who had gathered on the porch of the iconic Estes Park hotel to discuss the possibility of the festival moving to a location outside of Park City, Utah.
Thursday, the Sundance Film Festival group announced that the 2027 Sundance Film Festival’s inaugural Colorado event will be headquartered just an hour from Estes Park in Boulder.
“Over the next ten years, there will be $2.4 billion coming to the state of Colorado,” hotel owner John Cullen said Thursday morning in an interview with the Estes Valley Voice. Except for the institute operations, “I’ll get a pat on the back,” he said.
According to Cullen, Estes Park’s economy will flourish during the months when business is slow, a time of year with offshoot concerts, films, and art exhibitions. “This is a monster annual draw,” for the town and the state he predicted.
It’s not the first time the hotel has hosted the Institutes. Each year, a patch commemorating the experiences of the institutes is designed. Last year, the patch featured an image of The Stanley Hotel.