The Last Sundance (in Park City) and Why Boulder?

The Town with Matthew Belloni

The Ringer

Society & Culture

4.3 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 21 January 2026

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Matt is joined by Eugene Hernandez, director of the Sundance Film Festival, to discuss the last year in Park City, the decision to leave Utah, and what we can expect in Boulder, Colorado. Later, they share some of their favorite stories from their time at the festival over the years (01:30). Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the biggest acquisition at Sundance this year (25:38). For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Email us your thoughts! ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thetown@spotify.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Eugene Hernandez Producers: Craig Horlbeck and Jessie Lopez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Something unexpected has arrived in Happy Meal.
0:03.0	Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Hello Kitty and friends are teaming up for the Ultimate Collab.
0:08.0	Joining your little ones on a fun-fueled adventure.
0:11.0	Some fun, some food, it's all inside this Happy Meal.
0:16.0	Until the 2nd of February from 11 AM includes one pre-selected book or toy whilst it's last.
0:20.0	AI is incredible.
0:22.3	They can teach you how to fry an egg and even write a poem, pirate style.
0:27.2	GAR!
0:28.2	But it knows nothing about your work.
0:31.2	Slackbot is different.
0:32.5	It doesn't just know the facts.
0:34.4	It knows your schedule.
0:36.0	It can turn a brainstorm into a brief and it doesn't need to
0:39.6	be taught. Because Slackbot isn't just another AI. It's AI that knows your work as well as you
0:45.6	do. Visit Slack.com forward slash meet Slackbot to learn more. It is Wednesday, January 21st. It's
0:53.2	Sundance time. Festival kicks off on Thursday. Craig and I will be there, staying in the second worst hotel on Main Street. Say hello if you see us. It's a pretty monumental year for Sundance. The last in the Park City era of the festival. It's kind of hard to believe it's moving to Boulder next year. End of an era. This is also the first Sundance without its late founder, Robert
1:11.7	Redford, passed away in December. They're doing a big celebration of Redford and other stuff
1:15.9	is planned this year to commemorate the last go-round in Park City. Feels like more people in town
1:20.7	are going this year. Helps that this year's festival is kind of stacked. New films from Olivia Wild,
1:25.8	Gregor Rocky, was a John Wilson documentary, a Charlie X-C-X movie, a Duplas brother, got to have one of those. And new distributors looking to buy films, including Warner Brothers, which has a new indie label looking for titles. It'd be interesting to see if they're a buyer. Lots to discuss. So I asked Eugene Hernandez to come on the show. Eugene is the Sundance Festival director, which means he's in charge of everything that happens during the 10-day event and all hundred or so movies that are shown.
1:52.0	He's been in that job since 2022. Before that, he was at the New York Film Festival and Lincoln Center.
1:57.1	Before that, he was the co-founder of Indieire, the media outlet that covers festivals, including Sundance.
	...

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