The Change Mariner

Desperately Seeking Sundance Cool

Wired News:

PARK CITY, Utah -- Sundance is the Super Bowl of film festivals, at least in terms of advertising. During the 11 days of the Sundance Film Festival, held each January, this tiny ski town grows thick with corporate logos -- on banners, tote bags, vans, ski hats and, of course, on movie screens.

This year, tech companies are among the most prominent, with HP, Sony, Microsoft and LG Electronics each paying an undisclosed amount to sponsor the festival. Overall, about one-fourth of Sundance's official sponsors come from the tech industry.

HP set up Wi-Fi hot spots in six sites around town, so computer users can lounge and check their e-mail. Sony, no newcomer to Sundance, sneaked its name into the festival catalog about 80 times -- once for each film that was shown in digital form. And LG, an electronics company, placed plasma screens in every festival venue, and some unofficial ones, too, hanging about 50 of the super-thin monitors around town.

For Doug Cole, HP's director of entertainment marketing, Sundance is a chance to listen to independent filmmakers -- he said the company receives productive feedback from those who use HP technologies. And he described HP's marketing push at Sundance as "an incredible value," costing about the same as it does to produce a 30-second TV spot.

"We were attracted to the essence of what Sundance stands for -- empowering the creative thought process," Cole said. "That's a universal, whether it is helping your kids with homework or creating an independent film. The thought process should be supported and celebrated, and HP provides technology to make it simpler."