Eco-friendly Hollywood legend Robert Redford is looking to expand the Sundance Film Festival, The Guardian reports. Its second location? None other than foggy London town.

Redford’s globally famous independent film festival began in 1978 as a relatively small affair in Park City, Utah, as an attempt to attract filmmakers to the somewhat remote state. Since then, it has led to the establishment of the Sundance Institute, a non-profit that supports emerging artists, and a premium TV channel that showcases independent films. Among those directors to garner fame from Sundance include Jim Jarmusch, Quentin Tarantino, Steven Soderbergh, and Darren Aronofsky.

The decision to add a second Sundance Festival in London is partially a response to recent cuts in UK’s funding of the arts, a budget-balancing tactic that Redford has actively opposed in the States. The Arts Council’s budget was recently cut by 30%, leaving public funding for the arts in the UK in dire straits.

According to Redford, the Sundance Festival in London will bring, above all, a much needed boost in the economy: “Look at the festival. It puts $70m into the local economy. You can’t, unless it is an ideological argument, classify the arts as a trivial pursuit.” Such a business-savvy, economically minded approach, combined with Redford’s relentless championing of the arts, is a chief component of the Sundance Festival’s success over the years.

Despite being in London, this smaller scale Sundance Festival will center on emerging American film, much like its parent festival in Utah. If this project seems rather ambitious amidst the economic recession in the UK, keep in mind the festival’s humble beginnings. Redford is not one to back down from a challenge, and the new Sundance is almost certain to revitalize London’s artistic community. The festival will make its initial run from April 26th through the 29th, 2012.