{"id":114502,"date":"2026-01-20T19:55:05","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T02:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=114502"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:15:55","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T22:15:55","slug":"media-matters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2026\/01\/media-matters.html","title":{"rendered":"Media Matters"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Park<\/a>
Park City, Utah, where the late Robert Redford\u2019s Sundance Film Festival will be held once more \u2014 beginning this Thursday \u2014 \u00a0before it moves to Colorado. (Wikimedia Commons public domain photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the Deseret News<\/em>: \u00a0\u201cSundance rise, Sundance set:\u00a0The independent film festival that Robert Redford built changed the industry and its host state. What does it mean now that it\u2019s gone?\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

I was deeply disappointed and quite sad when the news broke that the Sundance Film Festival was leaving the state of Utah for Boulder, Colorado. \u00a0To the very, very limited degree that my adopted state enjoys any cultural cachet with opinion makers and culture generators, the Sundance Film Festival was a significant contributor. \u00a0Each year, it drew the attention of powerful, well-connected people to Park City and immediately surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

That said, frankly, the fit between Sundance and surrounding, culturally-conservative Utah was, umm, neither very great nor very obvious. \u00a0I don\u2019t find it at all difficult to understand those here who will be glad to see the back of it after this year\u2019s instantiation.<\/p>\n

But I wonder if anything might ever be found, or created, to replace it. \u00a0I enjoyed seeing Utah as a place in which creativity and artistry are celebrated. \u00a0Can we continue to do so? \u00a0Can we perhaps continue to do so in a way that might conform a bit better to the values on which Utah was built and which, to a large extent, still inform, motivate, and mold its population?<\/p>\n

When Sundance first announced its departure for the other side of the Rocky Mountains, Ryan Smith<\/a>, who has invested a very great deal of money in Utah\u2019s athletic scene, was quoted in the Deseret News<\/em> (I think) as vowing that, yes, something would be built to replace Sundance. \u00a0I hope that he still has such an intention, but I\u2019ve seen nothing from him on the subject for quite a while.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s one idea: \u00a0Angel Studios, Inc.<\/a>, an American independent media company and film distribution studio based in Provo, Utah \u2014 near Brigham Young University, about a half-hour from Sundance Ski Resort, and a further half-hour from Park City \u2014 has enjoyed remarkable success with family-friendly, occasionally religious, morally serious movies. \u00a0Could a film festival be built around such movies? \u00a0Perhaps in league with Angel Studios? \u00a0It would be a much better fit with the culture of Utah than Sundance ever was.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/a>
From left to right: Brigham Young, an unnamed man, and an admiring ox. (Still photograph taken on the set of Six Days in August<\/em> by Russell D. Richins)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This afternoon, I recorded an interview with Greg Matsen<\/a> on Cw\u00edc Show<\/a>. \u00a0The focus was on Brigham Young, and I, at least, had a good time during our conversation. \u00a0I think that the interview may go up online \u00a0on Monday next.<\/p>\n

In the meantime, here are a couple of short video trailers for Becoming Brigham<\/em>. \u00a0They\u2019ll give you a taste of the way the series will look:<\/p>\n