PARK CITY, UTAH, October 15, 2025 — The nonprofit Sundance Institute is pleased to announce Rolex as its Official Partner and Exclusive Timepiece. Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program will be in partnership with the Swiss watchmaking brand for multiple years providing direct support and granting.
For over 40 years, the Feature Film Program has been a cornerstone of Sundance Institute’s mission, nurturing many of the most groundbreaking and resonant voices in cinema. Through signature initiatives that include the January Screenwriters Lab, June Directors and Screenwriters Lab, and the Screenwriters Intensive, the program offers deep, sustained creative and strategic support from early development to distribution — empowering artists around the world to tell their most authentic stories. In addition, the partnership supports ELEVATE, the year-round career and professional development track providing resources and funding opportunities that advance their projects and careers, along with free access to Sundance Collab — the Institute’s digital platform for learning and connection with a global filmmaking community.
Rolex supports Sundance Institute through its Perpetual Arts Initiative. The brand is committed to promoting excellence and the transmission of artistic heritage to the next generation. The Institute’s programs provide emerging filmmakers with dynamic support at every step of the creative journey and champion unique storytelling.
“We are honored to continue the mission and inspiring vision of our Founder, Robert Redford, who redefined cinema and provided a nurturing place for independent storytellers to develop their projects through creating Sundance Institute,” said Michelle Satter, Sundance Institute Founding Senior Director, Artist Programs. “We are incredibly grateful to Rolex for collaborating with us to uplift artists and their stories. Their foundational support makes it possible for us to continue to empower a new generation of independent filmmakers to bring bold, original work to life. Together, we are creating space for emerging artists to thrive and evolve through the Institute’s artist-centered development process and continuum of creative and strategic support. We are excited to grow this partnership in the years ahead.”
Sundance Institute’s renowned labs offer filmmakers a nurturing, immersive environment to develop their projects and refine their artistic voice under the guidance of esteemed creative advisors. At the Directors Lab, celebrating its 45th year, the fellows rehearse, shoot, and edit scenes from their original screenplays in a dynamic, collaborative community. During the Screenwriters Lab, fellows refine their scripts through individual story sessions with advisors and group sessions on the craft of screenwriting. The Screenwriters Intensive provides emerging screenwriters with the opportunity to hone their writing in a concentrated workshop.
Alumni of Sundance Institute labs include some of the most influential voices in film: Paul Thomas Anderson, Gregg Araki, Darren Aronofsky, Lisa Cholodenko, Nia DaCosta, Ryan Coogler, The Daniels, Robert Eggers, Rick Famuyiwa, David Gordon Green, Sterlin Harjo, Marielle Heller, Miranda July, Nikyatu Jusu, James Mangold, John Cameron Mitchell, Kimberly Peirce, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Boots Riley, A.V. Rockwell, Ira Sachs, Walter Salles, Quentin Tarantino, Erica Tremblay, Taika Waititi, Lulu Wang, Sean Wang, and Chloé Zhao.
ABOUT ROLEX AND CINEMA
Rolex celebrates human achievement as a journey marked by milestones, emotions and defining moments. For more than half a century, the brand has partnered some of the world’s most talented artists and leading cultural institutions to promote excellence and the transmission of artistic heritage, creating a link between the past, present and future. Through the Perpetual Arts Initiative, a broad portfolio of arts that extends through architecture, cinema, dance, music, literature, theatre and visual arts, the brand confirms its long-term commitment to global culture.
The company has had close ties with the film industry for decades, its watches playing a role in numerous films, including Oscar®-winning masterpieces. Since 2017, Rolex has supported the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, serving as Proud Sponsor of the Oscars®, hosting the event’s Greenroom, as well as supporting the Governors Awards, which recognize lifetime achievement and humanitarian efforts in the film industry. Rolex also sponsors Film at Lincoln Center as Official Partner and Exclusive Timepiece. The company promotes achievement through Testimonees such as James Cameron, Leonardo DiCaprio, Martin Scorsese, Zendaya and Jia Zhang-Ke. It also assists in the preservation of film history for future generations as a Founding Supporter of the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, as a partner of The Film Foundation and through its support to The National Film and Television School.
TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT ROLEX AND CINEMA, GO TO
Sundance Institute
As a champion and curator of independent stories, the nonprofit Sundance Institute provides and preserves the space for artists across storytelling media to create and thrive. Founded in 1981 by Robert Redford, the Institute’s signature labs, granting, and mentorship programs, dedicated to developing new work, take place throughout the year in the U.S. and internationally. Sundance Institute Collab, a digital community platform, brings a global cohort of working artists together to learn from Sundance Institute advisors and connect with each other in a creative space, developing and sharing works in progress. The Sundance Film Festival and other public programs connect audiences and artists to ignite new ideas, discover original voices, and build a community dedicated to independent storytelling. Through the Sundance Institute artist programs, we have supported such projects as Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Big Sick, Bottle Rocket, Boys Don’t Cry, Boys State, Call Me by Your Name, Clemency, CODA, Dìdi (弟弟), Drunktown’s Finest, The Farewell, Fire of Love, Flee, Fruitvale Station, Half Nelson, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Hereditary, The Infiltrators, The Last Black Man in San Francisco, Little Woods, Love & Basketball, Me and You and Everyone We Know, Mudbound, Nanny, One Child Nation, Pariah, Raising Victor Vargas, RBG, Requiem for a Dream, Reservoir Dogs, Sin Nombre, Sorry to Bother You, Strong Island, Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised), Swiss Army Man, A Thousand and One, Top of the Lake, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, and Zola. Through year-round artist programs, the Institute also nurtured the early careers of such artists as Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, Gregg Araki, Darren Aronofsky, Lisa Cholodenko, Ryan Coogler, Nia DaCosta, The Daniels, David Gordon Green, Miranda July, James Mangold, John Cameron Mitchell, Kimberly Peirce, Boots Riley, Ira Sachs, Quentin Tarantino, Taika Waititi, Lulu Wang, and Chloé Zhao. Support Sundance Institute in our commitment to uplifting bold artists and powerful storytelling globally by making a donation at sundance.org/donate. Join Sundance Institute on TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, X, YouTube, and Bluesky.
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MEDIA CONTACTS: Tiffany Duersch, tiffany_duersch@sundance.org; Alex Courides, alex_courides@sundance.org
