Category: News

New York, NY — Sundance Institute is preparing to launch its inaugural Sundance Institute Theatre Lab in East Africa, taking place July 9-29, 2010 on the island of Manda off the coast of Kenya. Under the supervision of Philip Himberg, Producing Artistic Director of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, the Lab will provide artists with guidance in their creative development toward final production. Modeled on the annual Sundance Institute Theatre Labs, Sundance Institute East Africa is an exchange and development program, and participants will share training and mentorship techniques.

Park City, UT – The 2010 Sundance Film Festival generated an overall economic impact of $62.7 million for the state of Utah, supported over 1,500 jobs, generated over $18 million in media exposure and provided millions in tax revenue, according to the annual economic and demographic study conducted by the University of Utah’s Bureau of Economic and Business Research at the David Eccles School of Business (BEBR). The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced the findings today, which were generated using an economic impact model known as RIMS II, developed by the U.

I have devoted a significant part of my life’s work in support of the independent artist — independent referring not to the size of a project, its funding or subject matter; rather, to the singular vision and voice of that artist. I founded Sundance Institute 30 years ago out of the belief that it is vital to ensure that the artist’s voice remains vibrant, valued and heard in civil society at large.
It is with this in mind that I ask you to join me in bringing wider attention and broader support to a critically important case currently in play in U.

Park City, UT– Sundance Institute announced today that Sydney Freeland, with her project, Drunktown’s Finest, has been named the 2010 George S. and Dolores Doré Eccles Foundation Directors Lab Fellow. Freeland is attending the 2010 Sundance Institute June Directors Lab at the Sundance Resort, June 1 – 12, 2010.

Los Angeles, CA – Sundance Institute announced today the acting company for its 2010 Theatre Lab on Governors Island, which begins today, June 1 and runs through June 12. Under the artistic direction of Philip Himberg, Producing Artistic Director of the Sundance Institute Theatre Program, the Lab will provide these projects with guidance in the development of new work for the stage. The 2010 ensemble company includes: Wade Allain-Marcus, Vanessa Aspillaga (Anna in the Tropics), Aya Cash, Caroline Clay (Doubt), Shana Dowdeswell, Jan Leslie Harding (The Green Bird), Daoud Heidami (Aftermath), Neal Huff (Take Me Out), Jake Lacy, January LaVoy (ENRON), Christopher Larkin, Rory Lipede, Maryann Plunkett (Me and My Girl), Hubert Point-Du Jour, Karen Pittman (Passing Strange), Karen Young (A Lie of the Mind), and Laurie Williams (Sight Unseen).

Free Screening of Boy to Showcase Institute’s Spectrum of Support for Native and Indigenous Filmmaking at Santa Fe’s Lensic Performing Arts Center on May 22
Los Angeles, CA – Sundance Institute today announced four fellows and projects selected for the 2010 Sundance Institute-Ford Foundation Fellowship. The Sundance Institute’s Native American and Indigenous Program created the fellowship with support from the Ford Foundation to provide direct support to emerging Native American and Indigenous film artists working in the U.S.

Park City, UT – Sundance Institute announced today its summer screening schedule and unique collaborations with local cultural organizations, expanding the reach of the year-round Film Series and its showcasing of innovative works supported by the Sundance Institute. With a strong history of serving as a cultural catalyst by bringing films and artists to the area, the Sundance Institute is joining forces with organizations to create memorable Film Series screenings and events while strengthening community engagement.
“This season we wanted to recognize that the Sundance Institute shares similar objectives with our vibrant arts and culture neighbors in delivering an innovative and exciting summer film series.

Outside the handful of cities with thriving film industries, there are cultural hot spots where artists are actively creating, but their locations may lack a formal support system for filmmaking. Take Tel Aviv: a complex history, rich culture, city blocks ripe with cafes, galleries, and shops. There is clearly an artistic pulse thumping through Tel Aviv, but like in many places there are also challenges to advancing the work of filmmakers who live there.

Earlier this month, Sundance Institute’s Theatre Program temporarily moved one of its labs from the Sundance Resort to Massachusetts at the creative haven of MASS MoCA. This crossover setting was the perfect backdrop for slam-poet turned playwright, Kenyan-born now Berkeley resident Shailja Patel to burrow into two weeks of deep revision. Patel, along with fellows Adam Bock and Jennifer Maisel, took her script through intensive workshops to get ready for the stage.

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the 13 projects selected for its annual June Directors and Screenwriters Labs, taking place at the Sundance Resort in Utah June 1-25, 2010.  Under the leadership of Michelle Satter, Director of the Sundance Feature Film Program, and the artistic direction of Gyula Gazdag, the projects selected for this year’s program include emerging filmmakers and projects from the United States,  Ireland, the Middle East, Romania, Spain and Uzbekistan. The core of the Feature Film Program, these Labs provide an opportunity for filmmakers to develop distinctive new work under the guidance of accomplished Creative Advisors in an environment that encourages innovation, collaboration and risk-taking.

PARK CITY, UT — Sundance Institute Film Series presents a free screening of Samson & Delilah, the engrossing, award-winning film directed by first-time feature filmmaker Warwick Thornton. A project supported by Sundance Institute Native American and Indigenous Program and its international work with indigenous directors, screenwriters and producers, Samson & Delilah will screen for the first time in Utah on Thursday, May 6 at 7 p.m.

From making my first film, The Cove, to winning the Academy Award for Best Documentary, the past year has been a dream. I often joke that film is a “weapon of mass construction,” and in order to construct a film and have it seen, a filmmaker needs many allies. For The Cove, Sundance has been the best ally possible.