Sundance 2011: Robert Redford has no plans to retire

A dapper Robert Redford told a press conference today that he had no plans to retire.

"I'm gonna die, but I've not thought about retirement!" he told the media in Park City's Egyptian Theater - home to the first Sundance festival's opening night 30 years ago.

Redford reminisced about his inaugural year trying to get the fledging festival off the ground and said that his 'passion for documentary' and drive to create a platform for grassroots film fuelled his continued love of Sundance. "The point is creating opportunities for new artists," he said.

With the 10-day annual festival expanding over the years to include Sundance USA (showing content to nine cities nationally), the international Sundance TV channel, a new directive announced yesterday in India and Sundance selections uploaded to youtube, Redford dismissed accusations that the festival had become too commercial.

"We're just doing it the way we always have. The irony is that as the festival has become more successful, we're not programming for commerciality. Our job is to provide, not decide - that's up to the audience."

And the septuagenarian insisted that far from putting up his feet, he had his eye on the future, hinting at the possibility of Sundance expanding even further to become a distributor.

"The next venture may be to find films that did not get picked up and find a way we could put them out there."

Jane Crowther is a freelance writer and the Editor-in-Chief at Hollywood Authentic magazine, having formerly been the longtime Editor of Total Film magazine. Jane is also the Chair of The Critics' Circle and a BAFTA member. You'll find Jane on GamesRadar+ exploring the biggest movies in the world and living up to her reputation as one of the most authoritative voices on film in the industry.