Sundance: Last Minute Tickets
Navigating the world of ticketing at the Sundance Film Festival can seem a daunting enterprise. Fortunately, Sundance’s own expert in the field Linda Pfafflin knows the ins and outs better than anyone, and for the last few years she’s made herself a resource for audiences looking for seats. Below, she shares some of the lesser known avenues into both the films you’d never thought you had a chance at seeing, and those you’d never thought to try.
1. What’s the most common inquiry you receive regarding ticket sales?
Linda: After “how much are tickets?” ($20 each), the question is often “Do I have to be in the film industry to attend?” No! Only about 20% of our attendees are press or industry folks; the other people are film fans or aspiring filmmakers. We pride ourselves on being accessible to the public.
2. What’s the best tip you have for Festival goers who are purchasing Individual Tickets?
Linda: Be flexible. Choose films that might not come to your local art house or will take a long time to get to video on demand. See films in Salt Lake City where every film from every category is played.
The screening you think might be an “obscure” film could be an undiscovered film gem. Boyhood was one of our late additions last year and it never sold out. Now it’s at the top of dozens “Best of 2014” lists. New this year – we have the 1,100 seat Grand Theatre at Salt Lake Community College and we’ve programmed the biggest premieres and dramatics there that used to sell out at the Rose Wagner. We still have the Grand Pass available for sale. Ogden is also a magical theatre. One of those majestic “Egyptian style” grand halls of the Roaring Twenties that rarely sells out.
If you didn’t buy a ticket package or pass, all remaining tickets will be on sale both online and at the Main Box Offices on Tuesday, January 20th at 10:00 a.m. These will be the leftover tickets from ticket package selection, but they’ll be the ones that could expand your film going experience.
3. Which Festival category is typically the quickest to sell out?
Linda: Premieres, then Dramatic Competition films, sell out first. But the best attended categories last year were Shorts Programs and, surprisingly, the NEXT category.
4. What’s the biggest misconception about ticketing at the Sundance Film Festival?
Linda: That we are sold out. Beyond the first screenings of films in Park City on the first weekend, we only totally sell out about 30% of our 650+ public screenings. Most previously off sale films have new tickets released on the day of show and it’s very rare that no Waitlisters are admitted.
5. What’s the best ticketing option for attendees who are most interested in panels, music, and other Off Screen events?
Linda: If you haven’t already bought a ticket package or a pass (which automatically come with a credential), then purchase a credential for $200 to gain priority access to non-theatre events. Only two panels that occur in theatres are ticketed like films; other panels are free to credential holders at the Filmmaker Lodge. Come to our new space on Park City Main Street – the rehabbed, supposedly once haunted, Claim Jumper Restaurant – where New Frontier has resettled with a lot of virtual reality exhibits. I’m personally intrigued by the combination of VR and ghosts…
Plus, we have a special off-screen event in downtown Salt Lake this year – “The Way of Rain” by Sybille Szaggers Redford (yes, she might be a very close relative of you-know-who). That’ll happen on Monday and Tuesday night of the Festival at the Complex (just west of the SLC Gateway Mall). Tickets are the same as a screening, $20, there will be a wait list, and Salt Lake/Ogden Pass and Grand Pass holders can attend.
6. Is it worth it to try my hand at Waitlist Tickets, and what’s the story behind the eWaitlist system?
Linda: Absolutely. Fifteen percent of our audience is admitted by buying Waitlist tickets. Tickets are cheaper, only $15. The theater teams will inform Waitlisters of the average number of people admitted to that venue or if it looks hopeless, which rarely happens. The eWaitlist was one of our big success stories last year. It’s a mobile-enabled check-in system that allows Festival goers to reserve a line position over the internet. Remember to register in advance in January at our website. The eWaitlist allowed us to increase the number of last minute film goers admitted. And here’s an insider tip: don’t despair if your electronic waitlist number seems really high. We found out that only a third of the people who received electronic numbers actually checked in. So, if you received number 100, you might have actually been number 33 in line. We’re also improving the system this year, so you’ll get to see how many people in front of you cancel.
Another insider tip: Waitlist for Day One screenings in Park City or the SLC Gala on the first Friday: 350 people got into those screenings, but we could have admitted another thousand. We just didn’t have enough waitlist people for all the empty seats.
