There are exciting things afoot in the creative community in Colorado that will take creative collaboration from communities, cohorts and cowboys. Well, maybe not cowboys … I may have gotten a little carried away with the alliteration there. You may or may not know that Boulder is one of the final three cities being considered as a new home for the Sundance Film Festival and, if selected, the opportunities for local filmmakers, creatives and Coloradans will expand in unexpected ways. Our film community will have the opportunity to form connections and learn from the best in the business. You may not know a lot about the film industry here in Colorado and may even be thinking, “Do we have a film industry here?” The answer is yes.

Last September, while filming a scene for “Welcome to the Fishbowl,” a Colorado-based independent film directed by Sheryl Glubok and produced by Iana Dontcheva, I found myself standing on a street corner in Golden making sure people didn’t walk into an ongoing scene.

Crowds stopped to watch and folks at the restaurant across the street enjoyed a free show with their dinner. A hush came over the crowd as the crew yelled “Rolling!” and the director followed with “Action!”

A funny little car flew through the intersection and screeched to a halt. A stunt driver got out and the actress got in and continued the scene with her co-star. When the director and the crew yelled cut, everyone burst into applause. For a few hours, the city of Golden got to experience the magic of filmmaking.

This isn’t a scene you would expect to see in Colorado. In fact, I didn’t, either. Born and raised in Pueblo, I got my undergraduate degree at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley and promptly moved to Hollywood to chase my dreams of being an actor in film and television. I took a leap and a risk at the age of 21, moving to L.A. with under $2,000 in savings. In a way, moving back to Colorado in 2021 at the age of 41 seemed like an even bigger risk. I felt the pull to be closer to family and called it a creative sabbatical, insisting it would be for six months.

It’s now been 3½ years, and I don’t have plans to leave anytime soon. The film community in Colorado is incredible. There are brilliant, creative and hardworking folks in the film and television community. I have had the pleasure of working on five feature films, a handful of commercials, and produced inspiring shows like “Project Kaboom” and “Sounds on 29th” for PBS12. I’ve also been able to connect with like-minded creatives.

In my experience as a line producer, I’ve seen firsthand how these projects benefit the local economy. “Welcome to the Fishbowl” employed more than 75 Colorado cast and crew. Visiting actors, producers and crew members rented places to stay and shopped in local stores and restaurants. Plus, we needed locations, parking for those locations, food to feed crew two to three meals a day, gas for all our production vehicles, wardrobe, grip and lighting rentals, furniture and art purchased for the sets, and so on.

I know that hosting the Sundance Film Festival in Boulder would impact our local filmmaking community. Throughout their history, the Sundance Institute has demonstrated a commitment to including the local filmmaking community, as well as the local community and young people. For young filmmakers in Colorado, the opportunity to attend one of the most prestigious festivals in the world could be the chance of a lifetime.

I also believe the Festival would support efforts to lift up diverse voices. As the programming chair for Women in Film and Media Colorado, I am part of our efforts to improve gender parity in film and media through professional development, advocacy and community for women, transgender and non-binary filmmakers. I have seen that the Sundance institute is also dedicated to the discovery of independent artists and seeks to discover, support and inspire independent filmmakers around the world.

If the Sundance Institute chooses Colorado to host the Sundance Film Festival, I believe they will discover something about our state that isn’t always common in the film industry. The crews in Colorado are not only talented, good at their jobs and capable, but they are also nice. They are a delight to work with. Film is one of the most collaborative art forms out there — it’s my favorite thing about making movies. You simply can’t make a movie without every single person contributing their part. Plus, working on a film often involves 12—14-hour days so why would you choose to work with someone that you don’t like? I imagine the same is true for putting on the Sundance Film Festival, and believe that in Colorado, the Sundance institute would find a welcoming, collaborative community excited to celebrate storytelling. And I believe that Coloradans will find that the Sundance Film Festival brings a little more magic to our state.

I’m incredibly hopeful that Sundance will choose Boulder as its next home and that they will collaborate with the existing film community here. Whether they’re inspiring new filmmakers, potentially working with organizations such as Women in Film and Media Colorado, creating educational workshops and panels, or providing new opportunities for the professionals that call Colorado home, the film community is excited and ready to collaborate. We’re all just waiting to hear, “Action!”

Elizabeth Mihelich is a Colorado producer, actor and programming chair of Women in Film and Media Colorado. She can be reached at elizabeth@nocofi.co.

This article was first published by BizWest, an independent news organization, and is published under a license agreement. © 2025 BizWest Media LLC. You can view the original here: Mihelich: Colorado’s creative collaboration a great fit for Sundance Film Festival