Sundance London: a festival designed in Dropbox Paper

“If a writer sits down in front of a blank page, they can create any world they imagine. Dropbox Paper is the digital version of that typewriter. I can imagine not just films but new festivals and new ideas for the way we see films, being created through Dropbox Paper.” – Jon Barrenechea, Festival Producer, Sundance London.

There’s no feeling quite like it, buying tickets to a hotly anticipated film, settling in the dark in front of the silver screen, ready to immerse yourself in a make-believe world. It’s an emotional journey, one of escapism and excitement.

This is what the Sundance Film Festival seeks to enhance, with the goal of taking viewers on a journey that brings them out of their comfort zones through the art of storytelling. Speaking to Sundance London’s Festival Producer, Jon Barrenechea, he says it’s this ‘challenging the norm’ approach that makes Sundance so unique: “Sundance to most film lovers around the world represents distinct, unique, challenging voices that can make us feel uncomfortable, makes us think, but also make us laugh and cry. And for that, Sundance has always stood the test of time as an independent film festival.”

But what does it take to organise a world-renowned film festival? Jon explains they work not unlike the very films they showcase: “I would liken the production of a film festival to the production of a feature film in that it requires multiple talents, multiple departments, people with different skill sets, different resources and tools, and bringing all those people together towards a single vision which is putting on the film festival, or making a film.”

This means working collaboratively and using the technology and tools available to do it seamlessly. For Jon and his Sundance London team, this meant using Dropbox Paper: “We use Dropbox Paper not only to work with our US-based team, but to collaborate internally here in London with all of our teams,” he explains. “Whether its creating schedules of events or even playlists for what kind of music we’re going to play inside the building, it’s exciting because we can drop almost anything into it. It becomes a freer working environment, a place where you can drop all your ideas, refine them as a team and then turn them into actions – and that is quite unique.”

To hear more from Jon on how Sundance London uses Dropbox Paper, watch the video above.