Sundance Institute + HP

Since 1981, the Sundance Institute has been dedicated to the development of artists of independent vision and the exhibition of their bravest work. For ten days every January, proof of that dedication takes center stage at the world famous Sundance Film Festival.

But the real work of the Sundance Institute takes place on the other 355 days, in the form of year-round filmmaker workshops and programs that help nurture the creation of stories that live far beyond the movie screen. And much of that nurturing is made possible by HP.

As the official information technology provider of the Sundance Film Festival and Sundance Institute, HP technology, services and people play important roles in practically every aspect of the organization's internal and external operations.

In addition to providing the infrastructure technology for the institute's eight festival venues, official Web site (www.sundance.org) and Online Film Festival, HP recently implemented an easy-to-use wireless platform that radically simplifies the way festival attendees communicate with the institute—and each other.

The 2003 Sundance Film Festival featured two HP-enabled wireless "hotspots" that allowed festival attendees with wireless-enabled devices to quickly access the Internet for both Festival and personal use. Convenient wireless access not only provided a viable alternative to the festival's legendary phonebook-sized film catalogs, but it also granted users instant access to the information they needed to enhance their festival experience.

In addition, HP created special Internet cafés at convenient locations throughout Park City, providing comfortable places for laptop- or PC-equipped filmmakers to extend the spirit of collaboration and community for which the Sundance Film festival is famous.

A major component of HP's three-year sponsorship of the Sundance Film Festival and Sundance Institute takes place away from the Festival limelight. As part of its year-round effort to support the creation of independent filmmaking, the Sundance Institute hosts a variety of Sundance Institute Labs. These collaborative summer workshops, where aspiring artists gather from all over the world to hone their craft, will rely on donated HP digital cameras, printers and laptops to help transform today's inspired ideas into tomorrow's Sundance premieres.

This behind-the-screen collaboration between HP and the Sundance Institute is just one more example of how technology is enhancing the way today's most inventive stories are created, told and shared.