Sundance volunteer, former employee reflect on their experience working the film festival

PARK CITY — As Utah comes to terms with the Sundance Institute’s decision to move to Colorado, some of the main folks who keep the festival running are sharing their experiences.

Native New Yorker Hilary Reiter Azzaretti came to Utah in 2001 for a PR job for the Sundance Film Festival.

“The plan was three months,” she said. “I was just going to do the film thing and ski and then go back to New York.”

24 years later, she’s built a life and launched her own company, Redhead Marketing & PR in Utah, all thanks to Sundance.

“It’s really changed the trajectory of my life in so many unexpected ways, and I’m very grateful,” Reiter Azzaretti said.

She said Park City gets a special spark when the crowds arrive in January for screenings and Q&As.

“To hear about their blood, sweat and tears that goes into making some of these lower budget films and how long it takes to make them, how they go about casting for the films, or if it’s a documentary in a war zone, hearing those stories are just so inspiring,” Reiter Azzaretti said.

Some Utah natives make the annual event part of their lives, too. Many of them work for the festival and aren’t paid, including Weber State University student Rachel DeHerrera. She’s volunteered at Sundance the past two years.

“There’s so many different positions,” DeHerrera said. “In fact, it’s almost overwhelming how many things go into this festival. There’s everything from you’re carrying stamps and putting tape down for people to know which directions the feet should be pointing, to shoveling snow, to driving, to dealing with talent and meeting other filmmaking team members.”

Sometimes, they get to work inside of the theater. DeHerrera said that’s when they can see some of the films. She said some of those movies have brought her to tears.

“You understand yourself a little bit better watching somebody else go through that, we’re driven to be the hero,” DeHerrera said. “We want to emulate those characters we see, or we can finally resonate with somebody who has gone through an experience that we can feel connected to. Yes, they’ve all been very, very meaningful to me.”

DeHerrera said she’s seen the impact the art has on audiences. She’s devastated to see it go. She calls it the lifeblood of Park City.

“I think Sundance has always been known for kind of having this innovative thought process about creativity and pushing some boundaries, or at least doing something technically different, and especially to get unheard voices or less represented voices out there,” she said.

The festival volunteer hopes Utah can find a way to fill the void when Sundance ends its run here.

“We have to keep in mind why this festival meant so much to people in the first place and try to recapture that,” DeHerrera said.

Reiter Azzaretti hopes the support for independent film carries on.

“It has to be organic the way Sundance was when they started showing films in people’s garages back in the day,” she said. “I don’t think you can force it.”

They said, logistically, Utah has proved it can handle large-scale events.

The Sundance fans hope Park City and the state can continue to be hubs of creativity and conversation.

“We have a lot of visionary people in this community, and if anyone can do it, we can,” Reiter Azzaretti said. “It was like losing a friend. It was real. I seriously had a pit in my stomach. It’s just so ingrained in the fabric of our community in Park City, and it’s hard for me to really even process what Park City will be like without Sundance. But that being said, I understood why they chose to move.”

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