Los Angeles, CA – Sundance Institute and Time Warner Inc. (NYSE: TWX) today announced a major three-year partnership designed to nurture new works and new voices in feature film, documentary, Native and Indigenous filmmaking, film music and theater. An extension of Time Warner’s existing support for the nonprofit Sundance Institute, The Time Warner | Sundance Institute Power of Story Partnership includes artist support and fellowships as well as public programming at the Sundance Film Festival.

Over the past four years, Time Warner has supported 17 Sundance Institute artists. Among the Time Warner Storytelling Fellows to date have been: Annie Baker, Ritesh Batra, Tracey Scott Wilson, Cherien Dabis, Quincy Long, Patricia Benoit, John Kelly, John Magary and Kirsten Greenidge. Three previous Fellows have films screening at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival: Dee Rees (Pariah), Andrew Okpeaha MacLean (On the Ice) and Elgin James (Little Birds).

“Sundance Institute and Time Warner are of singular mind and purpose when it comes to nurturing, promoting and protecting original storytelling by diverse voices to connect us across boundaries,” said Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute. “The Power of Story Partnership provides us with the opportunity to expand on our existing work in feature film and theater to incorporate additional artists across all of our programs, and we are excited at the prospect of discovering hidden talents particularly from under-represented areas of the population.”

“Time Warner has been, and continues to be, a tremendous advocate of Sundance Institute’s work around the world,” said Lisa Garcia-Quiroz, Senior Vice President of Corporate Responsibility at Time Warner. “It is a special thrill to have several of our Time Warner Fellows screening their films in competition this year, and we’re looking forward to engaging Festival audiences in the larger discussion of how storytelling unites our global community.”

The Sundance Institute | Time Warner Power of Story Partnership expands the impact of the Time Warner Storytelling Advancement Fund established in 2007 by providing substantial support to Sundance Institute’s Feature Film and Theatre Programs as well as the Institute’s other programs. The Partnership supports Time Warner Storytelling Fellowships for Sundance Institute film and theatre artists (up to 24 Fellows over a three-year period). Fellows are chosen by the Institute for the uniqueness of their projects’ voice and narrative, and the particular timeliness of the story and perspective.

Another component of the Partnership is the Power of Story panel series at the Sundance Film Festival which, in addition to providing international visibility for the Partnership, will engage the public by exploring the impact of storytelling on our world, how stories are told today and how new storytellers are nurtured.

Both panels are ticketed events open to the public and will be streamed live from Park City to the Festival’s global audience.

Power of Story: Making Art Matter

3:00 PM, Saturday, Jan 22 Egyptian Theatre

Art can create real impact: alter lives, build communities, bridge cultures, and foster social change. What steps do we need to take to enhance the role of the arts in our country? With author and screenwriter Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius), Norman Lear, pioneering writer, producer, and director of groundbreaking television, John Podesta founder and president of the Center for American Progress, and Tony Award-winning theatre director, playwright, and filmmaker George C. Wolfe. Moderated by Rachel Goslins, Executive Director of the President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Power of Story: The Big Idea

3:00 PM, Friday, Jan 28 Egyptian Theatre

In gathering a writer, editor, director, and composer together, audiences will have the opportunity to peer behind the curtain of creativity. With four-time Oscar-nominated director Jason Reitman, writer Jill Bilcock, award-winning composer Thomas Newman and Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sam Shepard. Moderated by Caryn James, writer of the film and television blog James onscreenS for indieWIRE.com and New York Times contributor.

Time Warner Inc.

Time Warner Inc., a global leader in media and entertainment with businesses in television networks, filmed entertainment and publishing, uses its industry-leading operating scale and brands to create, package and deliver high-quality content worldwide through multiple distribution outlets.

Sundance Institute

Sundance Institute is a global nonprofit organization founded by Robert Redford in 1981. Through its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, composers and playwrights, the Institute seeks to discover and support independent film and theatre artists from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to inform, inspire, and unite diverse populations around the globe. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Son of Babylon, Amreeka, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. www.sundance.org