Festival Manager, Press Office - Sundance Institute

POSITION OVERVIEW

The Festival Manager, Press Office is charged with overseeing functions of the Sundance Film Festival Press Office and press team, including operational planning and overall implementation (leading up to and onsite). The position will have several direct reports that are key in running the public relations for the Festival, across areas such as accreditation, materials, press coverage, data, press line and event staffing. The role is an important leader in the critical areas of the work.

Working closely under the direction of the Manager, Communications, this temporary position works full time from Monday, October 28, 2024 through Friday, February 14, 2025 and will be required to work extended hours, including evenings and weekends to meet key deadlines and respond to on-call needs. This position must be based within a communicable distance to our Park City, UT office in order to work onsite in a hybrid capacity throughout its employment. There will be ample opportunity for remote work leading up to the Festival in January.

Top priorities include but are not limited to…

• Leading staff and volunteers, including selecting and training highly effective staff and volunteers, providing guidance, feedback, and support to ensure employees and volunteers understand responsibilities and are effective in their roles, meet timelines, and delegate appropriate and meaningful work.

• Updating and creating training manuals and imperative organizational documents for internal and external stakeholders, scheduling and conducting departmental training and meetings.

• Collaborating across departments to organize various elements of Press Office implementation at the Festival.

• Overseeing the physical press office by creating an operational plan and managing the setup and breakdown of the Festival Press Office located at the hub space, ordering signage, furniture, equipment, supplies, catering as needed and establishing timelines with other departments.

• Developing the screenings and events schedule, combining and tracking detailed information for the Press Office and various departments, and keeping it updated with changes and adjustments.

• Managing department calendars and stakeholders as well as deliverables to ensure departmental deadlines are met.

• Creating and maintaining Festival staffing schedules for volunteers and team members, including overseeing the transportation schedule for the full team during the Festival.

• Assisting the Publicist and Manager with various projects, such as supporting proactive pitching, materials coordination for the program announcements and during the Festival, data gathering and presentation, press clippings and overseeing reporting, supporting press as needed.

• Providing timely communication and Festival specific information to attending press and publicists, as well as coordinating information and items for press as applicable.

• Managing screening attendance reports, entailing creating and formatting data pulls, reviewing, and distributing daily during the Festival.

• Overseeing the departmental designated media space, including scheduling, communicating with external parties, and handling the set up.

• Scheduling wrap meetings with key departments.

• Contributing to other areas of the department as needed.

• Completing a comprehensive written wrap report as directed.

You have the following direct or transferable skill sets:

• Legal authorization to work in the United States.

• 3 years experience in public relations, media relations, communications, or event publicity.

• Leadership skills with a background that includes managing people.

• Outstanding verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills to work effectively with a variety of people.

• Excellent organizational skills, including self-management of work schedule.

• Ability to maintain confidential information.

• Working knowledge of databases along with proficiency in Google Products, familiar with project management software such as Airtable.

• Experience in facilitating training and coordination.

You will be successful in this role if you...

• Effectively contribute to the overall success of the team through support and collaboration.

• Facilitate a successful, functional, and proactive Press Office.

• Demonstrate an attentiveness to detail in your daily work with a focus on logistics.

• Exhibit the ability to manage many team members remotely, while maintaining productivity with minimal supervision.

• Demonstrate the ability to multitask and seamlessly manage priorities with strict time constraints.

In addition to a weekly pay of $1,069.62, this position is eligible for benefits & perks, highlights include:

• Paid sick leave and Institute holidays

• Employee assistance program

• Employee Wellness Initiatives

• Sundance Film Festival passes and benefits (varies each year)