Los Angeles, CA —Sundance Institute renewed agreements with six non-profit organizations as collaborators with the Institute’s Artist Services program – which provides filmmakers with exclusive opportunities for digital distribution, marketing and financing solutions for their work. The Austin Film Society has been added as a new collaborator, and together with Britdoc, The Bertha Foundation, San Francisco Film Society, IFP, Film Independent and Cinereach will consult with the Institute to continue to shape the Artist Services program and its offerings to filmmakers.
“We’re very proud of the Artist Services program we’ve built in the last three years, and to be collaborating with these top film organizations to provide access to distribution for great independent films, evolve strategies to meet the demands of a shifting distribution landscape and ensure the long-term sustainability of the field,” stated Keri Putnam, Executive Director of Sundance Institute. “Adding Austin Film Society means more filmmakers can reach audiences in the coming year through multiple platforms and on their own terms.”
Each of the collaborating organizations can provide films they have supported with access to digital distribution offered through Sundance Institute’s Artist Services program. Chris Horton and Joe Beyer, who lead Sundance Institute’s Artist Services team, will work closely with each organization, the filmmakers, and exclusive aggregation partner Cinedigm to develop and execute independent distribution strategies as well as expand strategic consulting opportunities to their alumni.
To kick off the new partnership, Austin Film Society will present a Sundance Institute Artist Services Workshop on May 10 in Austin, TX. The day-long event will feature a line up of industry experts who will discuss the latest technology and trends in creative financing, digital distribution, guerilla marketing and independent theatrical distribution. For tickets and a full line up of speakers go to www.austinfilm.org.
Since the Artist Services program launched in January 2011, more than 100 projects have been distributed through the network, including Upstream Color, Detropia and Burn, and more than $7.3 million has been raised for nearly 220 Institute artists’ projects via Kickstarter. Cinedigm is the exclusive aggregation partner for distribution across all portals participating in the Artist Services program. These deals were brokered via pro bono legal services generously provided by law firm O’Melveny & Myers, which has built the legal framework for the Artist Services program and participating filmmakers since its inception.
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 Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
