It was almost one year ago Cincinnati landed on the “final three” list of cities vying to host the venerable Sundance Film Festival. The announcement kicked of a six-month push to woo the Sundance selection committee.
Meetings. Site visits. Market tours. Dinners and cocktail receptions. At the center of it all was Kristen Schlotman, president and CEO of Film Cincinnati. So in March when the festival announced its new home would be Boulder, Colorado, you might think the leader of the region’s film commission would have felt defeated.
You would have been wrong.
“I’ve had people ask me recently, you know, what does it feel like to lose that?” Schlotman said on The Enquirer’s That’s So Cincinnati podcast. “I look at it like, in order to lose something, you had to own it to begin with, and I don’t feel like Cincinnati ever lost anything. I felt like Cincinnati was winning the whole time.”
The fact Cincinnati made it to the final round opened a lot eyes to Cincinnati’s vibrant arts scene, its reputation as a destination for filmmakers and its entertainment infrastructure, Schlotman said.
“So I don’t look at it like we lost something. I look at it like we won something, and we won the elevation of being in that final three. We certainly were disruptive in the sense that no one expected Cincinnati, or could see a Midwestern city participating in this.”
Schlotman, who has been part of Film Cincinnati since 1997, shared some behind-the-scenes moments of her crusade to land Sundance. She also talked about recent movies shot here and Cineposium 2025, an international conference of film commissioners and industry leaders that will take place in Cincinnati on Sept. 15-18. Cineposium events will be open to the public. For more information, go to FilmCincinnati.com.
That’s So Cincinnati, The Enquirer’s weekly podcast on what’s making news in our community, features a who’s who of special guests. Find it at Audioboom, Apple or your favorite podcast platform.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: ‘Winning the whole time.’ Kristen Schlotman reflects on Sundance bid | That’s So Cincinnati
Reporting by Beryl Love, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
