Are Sundance Film Festival "Festival Credentials" worth buying for $200?

January 10, 2014 9:55 PM

We are attending Sundance to see my niece's film. We don't have festival passes or ticket packages so will be hoping to buy tickets on the day of each film. Any advice on the best way to get tickets for the popular films would be a big help. We are also wondering if we should spend $200 each for Festival Passes which provide access to the Filmmakers Lodge and some other venues, but don't help at all as far as getting into films. Since we've never been to the festival before we don't have any idea what we will find ourselves wanting to do. Any suggestions from Sundance veterans on how best to have a good time without pre-purchased tickets?
posted by ridingtheranges to Media & Arts (1 answer total)

I went to Sundance once years ago, in similar circumstances (was on the confirmed list for one movie through a work thing, and was on my own/on vacation for the rest of the trip). My only advice would be to forget about trying to score popular tickets -- anything that gains a lot of Sundance buzz is going to end up getting a distribution deal anyway. I think you'll have more fun if you just embrace the randomness of it all, and just go see whatever you can get into. Good or bad, you're bound to see something memorable.

I think it was about 10 years ago that I went, so, my memory of the details of how I got tickets is very hazy. I think maybe I had some kind of pass from the office (I work for a film/tv distributor), that let me line up for things that had seats available? With the logistics of how crowded things are and how long it took to get from one place to another, I only saw one movie each day. But, I didn't have access to a car, maybe it's easier if you can drive away somewhere for meals & things.
posted by oh yeah! at 7:40 AM on January 11, 2014