By Jessica Herndon
As awards season heats up, a handful of celebrated filmmakers and artists are grabbing our attention, and many of them have shared their expertise with the next generation of storytellers through Sundance Collab, our online global artist community offering invaluable resources for filmmakers. By hosting everything from in-depth masterclasses to candid chats with some of the most respected names in the industry, we connect storytellers with high-profile experts eager to share their insights and equip creators with the tools to thrive in a competitive industry.
Among the standout talents featured in Sundance Collab sessions and this year’s awards race is Jarin Blaschke, whose stunning cinematography in Nosferatu has earned him an Academy Award nomination, and the visionary filmmakers behind Sing Sing, nominated for three Academy Awards and three Film Independent Spirit Awards. These artists, along with the team behind the Golden Globe–winning series Hacks, have played a role in the Sundance Collab community.
Below, check out 12 projects — and the artists behind them — with ties to Sundance Collab contributing to this year’s awards season buzz. Also scroll down to hear directly from the storytellers through their Sundance Collab courses and events.
Plus, explore online courses in screenwriting, TV writing, directing, producing, and documentary filmmaking; book a consultation with a Sundance Collab Advisor; and browse through our Video Library to find on-demand recordings. Sign up for a FREE Sundance Collab account and subscribe to our newsletter for the latest on courses and events.
FEATURES
Dìdi (弟弟) — Supported by the Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship, Sundance Institute | The Asian American Foundation Fellowship, and the Institute’s Directors and Screenwriters Labs and premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic and the U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Ensemble.
Sundance Collab Insider Session: Insider Session: Applying to the Sundance Feature Film Development Track with Sean Wang
For this Insider Session, join Feature Film Program Deputy Director Ilyse McKimmie and Sundance Lab alum Sean Wang (Dìdi (弟弟)) for an informational session about applying for Feature Film Development Track programs and fellowships. Get an inside look into the Sundance Lab experience from Wang’s personal experience attending the Screenwriters and Directors Labs before premiering Dìdi (弟弟) at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
Nominations: Critics Choice Awards: Best Young Actor/Actress (Izaac Wang); Film Independent Spirit Awards: Best First Feature/Best First Screenplay/Best Supporting Performance (Joan Chen)/Best Editing
FRIDA — Premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award: U.S. Documentary.
Sundance Collab Online Event: Creative Approaches to Editing with Carla Gutierrez and David Teague (FRIDA) | Presented by Adobe
Emmy-nominated editor Carla Gutierrez (Julia, RBG, When Two Worlds Collide) made her directorial debut with FRIDA. The documentary, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2024 and won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award, is an intimately raw and magical journey through the life, mind, and heart of iconic artist Frida Kahlo. Gutierrez and supervising editor David Teague discuss their collaborative process in the editing room, using Adobe’s tools to create their vision, and working with their team of sound designers, musicians, and animators to achieve their revolutionary portrait of the artist. They also cover the use of archival materials, giving and receiving notes, editing in multiple languages, bringing artwork to life with animation, and fostering a strong director/editor relationship.
Nominations: Film Independent Spirit Awards: Truer Than Fiction (Carla Gutiérrez)
Hit Man — 2024 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Collab Spotlight Event: Spotlight: A Cinematic Dialogue with Richard Linklater
Hit Man writer-director Richard Linklater has been nominated for five Academy Awards and won Best Director at the BAFTAs, Film Independent Spirit Awards, and Golden Globes for Boyhood. For this Spotlight Event, Linklater discusses working in his native state of Texas and his ability to innovate across format, genre and film directing styles.
Nominations: Golden Globes: Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy (Glen Powell); Critics Choice Awards: Best Comedy
My Old Ass — 2024 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Collab Spotlight Event: Spotlight: Megan Park on MY OLD ASS
Megan Park’s hilarious and touching second feature, My Old Ass, received rave reviews and was quickly acquired by Amazon Studios in a competitive bidding war. The film follows bright-yet-irreverent Elliott (Maisy Stella), an 18-year-old girl who comes face-to-face with her older self (Aubrey Plaza) during a mushroom trip the summer before college. Through Elliot’s funny and earnest journey of self-discovery and first love, she must decide if she’ll take her own advice to change her life before leaving her childhood home. In this Spotlight Event, Park discusses balancing comedy and tragedy, redefining the coming of age genre, creating a visual style that enhances your tone, and getting powerful performances.
Win: Critics Choice Awards: Best Young Actor/Actress (Maisy Stella)
Nominations: Gotham Awards: Breakthrough Performer (Maisy Stella); Critics Choice Awards: Best Comedy; Film Independent Spirit Awards: Best Screenplay/Best Breakthrough Performance (Maisy Stella)
Sugarcane — Supported by the 2022 Sundance Documentary Film Grant and 2022 Catalyst Forum and premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary.
Sundance Collab Filmmaker Meetup and Panel Presented by Canon U.S.A., Inc.: Making Your First Feature Film – A Conversation at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival
For this in-person meetup during the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Collab brings together Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie (Sugarcane), Josh Margolin (Thelma), and Sean Wang (Dìdi (弟弟)) for a candid conversation about the process of making their first feature film. The filmmakers — whose films all went through Sundance programs and premiered at Sundance ’24 — discuss their research and writing processes, casting their actors and selecting their documentary participants, and the journey to getting their first features made.
Wins: Critics Choice Documentary Awards: Best True Crime Documentary/Best Political Documentary
Nominations: Critics Choice Documentary Awards: Best Documentary Feature/Best Historical Documentary/Best Director/Best New Documentary Filmmaker(s)/Best Cinematography/Best Editing; Gotham Awards: Best Documentary Feature; Film Independent Spirit Awards: Truer Than Fiction (Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie)
Thelma — 2024 Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Collab Filmmaker Meetup and Panel Presented by Canon U.S.A., Inc.: Making Your First Feature Film – A Conversation at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival
Nominations: Critics Choice Awards: Best Comedy; Film Independent Spirit Awards: Best Lead Performance (June Squibb)
Nightbitch
Sundance Collab Spotlight Event: Spotlight Event: The Art of Adaptation with Writer/Director Marielle Heller (NIGHTBITCH)
Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch, which she wrote and directed, is her first adaptation of a work of fiction — Rachel Yoder’s acclaimed debut novel of the same name. Starring Amy Adams, Nightbitch tells the story of a woman thrown into the stay-at-home routine of raising a toddler in the suburbs. She slowly embraces the feral power deeply rooted in motherhood as she becomes increasingly aware of the bizarre and undeniable signs that she may be turning into a canine. For this Spotlight Event, Heller will discuss finding the line between truth and drama, writing compelling characters, and how her experience as an actor helps her craft strong performances.
Nomination: Golden Globes: Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy (Amy Adams); Film Independent Spirit Awards: Best Lead Performance (Amy Adams)/Best Editing
Nosferatu
Sundance Collab Online Event: Shadow and Light: Crafting the Look of NOSFERATU | Presented by the Dolby Creator Lab
Join Glenn Kiser, Director of Dolby Creator Lab, for a conversation with Nosferatu writer-director Robert Eggers and cinematographer Jarin Blaschke as they discuss what makes a lasting creative partnership, the collaborative process, and how they approached remaking a classic.
Nominations: Academy Awards: Cinematography/Costume Design/Production Design/Makeup and Hairstyling; Critics Choice Awards: Best Production Design/Best Costume Design/Best Hair and Makeup
Wins: Critics Choice Awards: Best Cinematography
Piece by Piece
Sundance Collab Spotlight Event: Spotlight: Creating Your Artistic Process with Morgan Neville (PIECE BY PIECE)
Join Academy Award, Grammy Award, and Emmy Award–winning director and producer Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?), as he discusses his creative process. The conversation focuses on how Neville works across formats, lessons learned in his career, and insights on finding inventive ways to tell stories as a cultural documentarian. He will also talk about his film Piece by Piece, a biographical documentary about the life of the prolific musical artist Pharrell Williams, which is told through Lego animation.
Nomination: Critics Choice Documentary Awards: Best Documentary Feature/Best Music Documentary
Sing Sing
Sundance Collab Spotlight Event: Spotlight: The Power of Collaboration on SING SING – A Conversation with the Filmmakers
Join director Greg Kwedar, co-writer Clint Bentley, and producer Monique Walton as they discuss their film Sing Sing, which premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and was released by A24. The film follows Divine G (Colman Domingo), a man imprisoned at Sing Sing for a crime he didn’t commit, who finds purpose by acting in a theatre group with other incarcerated men. Based on a true story, Sing Sing is a unique film that brings another layer of authenticity with its ensemble cast of formerly incarcerated actors.
Wins: Gotham Awards: Outstanding Lead Performance (Domingo)/Outstanding Supporting Performance (Clarence Maclin)
Nominations: Academy Awards: Actor in a Leading Role (Domingo)/Writing (Adapted Screenplay)/Music (Original Song); Critics Choice Awards: Best Picture/Best Actor (Domingo)/Best Supporting Actor (Maclin)/Best Acting Ensemble/Best Adapted Screenplay; Golden Globes: Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama (Domingo); Film Independent Spirit Awards: Best Feature; Best Lead Performance (Domingo); Best Supporting Performance (Maclin); Screen Actors Guild Awards: Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role (Domingo)
Twisters
Sundance Collab Advisor Studio: Advisor Studio: Terilyn A. Shropshire (THE OLD GUARD), ACE on the Art & Craft of Film Editing
For Twisters editor Terilyn A. Shropshire, storytelling is to dwell in the “what if.” As a film and television editor with nearly 40 credits behind her — including critically acclaimed projects such as Eve’s Bayou, Love & Basketball, When They See Us, and The Old Guard — Shropshire has helped shape some of the most treasured stories of our time. Join us for a very special conversation as Shropshire takes us inside the edit bay and into the creative process of feature film editing.
Nomination: Golden Globes: Cinematic and Box Office Achievement
SERIES
Hacks
Sundance Collab Spotlight Event: Spotlight: Crafting Complex Characters with the Creators of HACKS
Join creators and showrunners Jen Statsky and Lucia Aniello to discuss their Emmy– and Golden Globe–winning television show, Hacks, and how they approach writing compelling characters who often find themselves in moral gray areas.
Wins: Golden Globes: Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy/Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy (Jean Smart)
