Category: News

Paola Mottura is the Sundance Institute’s Film Fund manager. Today she’s sharing details on a new partnership between the Institute, The Kendeda Fund, and TIME Studios.The past year has been a difficult one for most of us, between the sickness, isolation, anxiety, and crushing financial realities brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has disproportionately affected BIPOC communities across the country.

Ever wonder why certain older independent films are only available on blurry VHS, scratchy bootleg, or out-of-print (aka $$$) DVDs, if they’re available at all?

December 8th, 2020, Los Angeles, California – In collaboration with IllumiNative and Sundance Institute, The Black List today announced the nine scripts selected for the inaugural Indigneous List, highlighting the very best Indigenous film and television writers living and working within the United States.
Eligible writers were able to submit their scripts for consideration via blcklst.com from June 24th through September 27th, 2020.

LOS ANGELES — The Sundance Institute and Peter Luo’s Starlight Media (Crazy Rich Asians, Midway, Marshall, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark) have partnered to launch a new grant program, the Sundance Institute | Stars Collective Granting Fund, to support diverse filmmakers.Both Starlight and Sundance Institute share a deep commitment to supporting artists from historically marginalized communities. Tapping into an initial fund of $200,000 provided by Starlight, this new program will provide unrestricted grants, ranging from $1,500 to $10,000, to diverse filmmakers working in nonfiction and fiction.

New Collaboration with NBCUniversal to Support Underrepresented Filmmakers in Building Sustainable Careers
Los Angeles – Sundance Institute announced today the third class of the Momentum Fellowship, a full-year program of deep, customized creative and professional support for mid-career writers and directors from underrepresented communities who are poised to take the next step in their careers in fiction and documentary filmmaking.
The fellowship includes an unrestricted grant funding, industry mentorship, professional coaching offered by Renee Freedman & Company supported by The Harnisch Foundation, writing workshops and industry meetings in Spring 2021, and bespoke year-round support from Sundance Institute staff. Additionally, the FilmTwo Fellowship has merged into the Momentum Fellowship, and NBCUniversal will provide an opportunity for select Momentum fellows working on fiction projects to participate in the Universal Directors Initiative.

Los Angeles — The latest cohort of Sundance Institute Documentary Fund Grantees, announced today, comprise 23 nonfiction film projects from 21 countries of production. Unrestricted grant support, totaling $540,000, will benefit the projects across various production stages from development to post-production. Grants are made possible by The Open Society Foundations and the John D.

In June, the Sundance Institute publicly acknowledged that our Festival and Labs have not always been safe spaces for our BIPOC community members. We reaffirmed our commitment to the principles central to our mission: equity, inclusivity, and accessibility, and our commitment to reimagine the Sundance experience at our Festival and beyond. A critical part of this process is to engage more deeply with our community of artists, audiences, and staff to identify and understand past experiences so that we can use the information to shape safer and more inclusive spaces, especially in time for the 2021 Festival.

Last January, many of us were together in Park City, preparing ourselves for what we thought was already shaping up to be a tumultuous year. (Little did we know!)
As we kicked off the Festival, we reflected on the fact that, especially in volatile times, democracy and storytelling aren’t separate — they’re inextricably linked. And having a multiplicity of diverse voices telling independent, authentic stories is as critical to art and media as it is to politics and government.

The Institute Continues to Shape Board Leadership for Future
Los Angeles — The nonprofit Sundance Institute today announced the newly appointed and recent additions to the Institute’s Board of Trustees. Kimberlé Crenshaw, Ann Lewnes, Wonya Lucas join the board alongside Uzodinma Iweala, Amanda Kelso, William Plapinger, and Junaid Sarieddeen who joined over the last year. Together they add to the business, cultural, and philanthropic leaders who guide and steer the entire organization and also act in an advisory capacity.

Los Angeles — Sundance Institute announced today the 12 fellows chosen to participate in its first-ever Episodic: Pilot to Series Lab, designed as an immersive two-part experience hosted on Sundance Collab, where selected emerging TV writers will workshop an original pilot and develop a series overview.
Beginning with the Lab, Fellows will benefit from a full year of customized, ongoing support from Feature Film Program staff, Creative Advisors and Industry Mentors, led by Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, Michelle Satter and Director of the Episodic Program, Jennifer Goyne Blake. Working with accomplished showrunners, the Fellows will participate in one-on-one story meetings, craft workshops, and Writers’ Rooms, which together provide creative and strategic tools for success.

LOS ANGELES — The Sundance Institute today announced that Gina Duncan will join the Sundance Film Festival team in the newly created role of Producing Director, reporting to Festival Director Tabitha Jackson and working closely with Programming Director Kim Yutani.
As Producing Director, Duncan will integrate the artistic vision of the Festival with its practical, audience-facing elements. She’ll work with the programming team as they curate works for exhibition, and serve as a leader for creating strategic vision and decision-making on both the Sundance Film Festival and year-round public programs.

On Friday, news broke of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 87, who over the course of her lengthy career was a key figure in advancing women’s rights and gender equality. At the time of her death from complications of metastatic pancreatic cancer, Ginsburg—who was was the second woman ever to serve on the nation’s highest court—had held her post for 27 years.
The fiery yet soft-spoken jurist’s life and legacy were chronicled in Julie Cohen and Betsy West’s Oscar-nominated documentary, RBG, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival in Park City.