Tuesday, January 16, 2007

I got an interesting response to my Sunday column about my favorite Sundance Film Festival memories.

Mike Calder wrote in with this comment: "My memories of the Sundance Film Festival do not include $15 admission tickets. If you are from out of town and there are various expenses such as transportation, lodging, food, car rental, etc. that are associated with attending the festival, then $5 more for a ticket compared to other expenses of attending the festival is minor. When you live in this area a movie price of $15 hits you hard."

The new ticket price, $15 instead of the $10 charge of last year, is the biggest complaint I've heard from Utah festival patrons in the run-up to Sundance.

I've talked to Sundance organizers about this, and they swear that they tried to hold down prices for years - but the expenses of running a world-class movie event dictated the price increase.

Organizers also defend the increase a few other ways:

• It's not just a movie, it's a cultural event with Q-and-A's and chances to see the stars and directors.
• Ticket prices in parts of L.A. and New York are already nearing $15, and that's for boring Hollywood fare.
• The $15 charge is still comparable to ticket prices at other festivals, like Toronto or New York. (Cannes? Forget it. You couldn't even get a French usher to slap your face for $15.)
• The wait-list ticket price is still $10, so if you're persistent you'll save money.
• They hope the $5 hike now will mean they won't have to raise it again for years.

The sad part is that the industry people attending Sundance scarcely notice price changes, because they all buy passes or ticket packages on somebody's expense account - and members of the press get accreditation that allows them into most things free.

It's the true movie fan, the one that comes to Sundance on his/her own dime, that has to suck it up and pay more.