The Latest
A Note to Screenwriters on Finding Their Story: “Comfort will kill you”
Filmmaker Meedo Taha participated in Sundance Institute’s annual Screenwriters Intensive with his project “Other People.” The Intensive provides emerging screenwriters the opportunity to hone their craft in a two-day workshop focused on the development of a fiction feature screenplay. Below he shares his insights and creative breakthroughs from that experience.
Native and Indigenous Storytellers: Apply for Grants Up to $25K Via the New Short Documentary Fund
In the early years of his work as a television actor, Robert Redford was asked to audition to play a Native character on TV. Appalled by this request, he went on a personal quest to find Native actors that broadened his quest of trying to locate Native filmmakers.
Through his early environmental work and his acquisition of land in Utah to create a preserve of pristine lands, Redford had built deep, lasting relationships with many different American Indian tribes.
Women Filmmakers Leading The Way At Sundance Film Festival: London
Sundance Film Festival: London Programme Announced – Picturehouse Central Hosts Feature Films, Short Films and Special Events from 31May – 3 June 2018
Tickets on sale Monday 30 April; priority booking from Monday 23 April
Find out more at
picturehouses.com/sundance
Picturehouse Central, 19 April 2018 — Sundance Institute and Picturehouseannounced today the programme of feature
films, short films and panel discussions for the
Sundance Film Festival: London 2018, taking place 31 May – 3 June at Picturehouse Central, presented in association
with Adobe. General ticket sales open at 9.
Filmmaker Beth de Araújo on “Making a Movie with Every Single Industry Faux Pas”
Beth de Araújo is a Los Angeles–based writer/director who was recently featured in Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. She was selected for the 2018 Asian American Fellowship, and attended both the Screenwriters Intensive and the Screenwriters Lab with her feature screenplay Josephine, which will mark her feature directorial debut.Trying to analyze what I wanted my first feature to be was a daunting task.
Sundance Institute Names 2018 Theatre Lab Fellows
19 Theatremakers from U.S., Middle East & North Africa Assemble for Customized Support & Development
Lab Théâtre du Sundance Institute / Annonce des Boursiers 2018
المختبر المسرحي في معهد ساندانس يسمي الحاصلين على الزمالة لعام
NEW YORK, NY — Sundance Institute announces the slate of theatremakers from the U.
Filmmaker Tips for Exploring Creative Distribution
After eschewing traditional distribution offers following their run at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, the team behind Columbus opted to self-release their feature film with the support of the Sundance Institute Creative Distribution Fellowship (more on that here). The ongoing shifts in distribution, including new digital opportunities for film and television, have led creators to take a closer look at their options before jumping at the first distribution offer. And where a traditional deal may lighten the load on the filmmaker, it also calls into doubt the team’s creative control with the film moving forward.
Launching the Sundance Institute Short Documentary Fund Focused on Native and Indigenous Storytellers
With the support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the partnership of the Guardian, Sundance Institute is excited to launch the Short Documentary Fund for Native and Indigenous voices from around the world.
Calling All Composers: Apply to the Film Music and Sound Design Lab
The line between documentary and narrative film continues to blur through boundary-pushing approaches to storytelling. Take for example the 2018 Sundance Film Festival selection Bisbee ’17, which revisits an Arizona town’s infamous 1917 mass deportation through conflicting accounts by current residents. In recent years, the Festival has awarded other such form-melding films as Kate Plays Christine, which follows an actress as she researches the story of real-life troubled television host Christine Chubbuck for a role in a soap opera, and the genre-bending Warsaw summer nightlife story All These Sleepless Nights, among many others.
Sundance Institute Announces Fellows for Two Focused Intensives
12 Fellows Join Screenwriters Intensive, Supported by the Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation;
10 Join FilmTwo, Supported by Universal Filmed Entertainment Group
LOS ANGELES — This spring, Sundance Institute advances the new work of writers and directors through two focused tracks
of support under the auspices of the Feature Film Program: the Screenwriters Intensive, taking place March 15-16, and the
FilmTwo Intensive, convening March 22-23.
“It’s imperative that we support storytellers at multiple points in their careers, and with tailored programs that address
specific challenges,” said
Michelle Satter, Founding Director, Sundance Institute Feature Film Program. These Fellows will advance the
art and craft of their work under the guidance of experienced filmmakers and industry leaders, while serving the Institute’s
commitment to introduce the industry to an inclusive pipeline of exciting new storytellers.
Filmmakers: We’ve Made It Easier for You to Apply for Feature Film Program Support
The Feature Film Program is making it easier for artists to simultaneously submit their feature projects for consideration for numerous avenues of support. We’ve streamlined the application process for filmmakers and consolidated our applications into two tracks:
Development TrackThe development track application allows writers, writer/directors, and writer/director teams to submit a fiction feature in the development phase to be considered for the following programs:
Screenwriters Lab (held annually in January)
Screenwriters Intensive (held annually in March)
FilmTwo Initiative (Intensive held annually in March; for filmmakers developing their second fiction feature)
Sundance Institute Asian American Fellowship
Sundance Institute Latinx Fellowship
Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship and Commissioning Grant (for projects with scientific and/or technological content)
Sundance Institute Open Borders Fellowship (for international directors based outside the U.
Meet the 2018 Knight Fellows
As part of our commitment to developing and nurturing the next generation of creative voices, Sundance Institute, with the support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation annually selects four Knight Fellows to attend the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
Robert Redford: “The NEA Must Survive—and Thrive”
Editor’s note: For the fourth consecutive year, the Trump Administration has proposed to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. This Arts Advocacy Day, we’re re-publishing a letter from president and founder Robert Redford recognizing the NEA’s formative role in developing Sundance Institute, as well as its continued importance today. If you’d like to join the conversation, please visit the Americans for the Arts’s Action Center to send a customizable message to your elected representatives.
Celebrating Women Cinematographers This March—and Also Forever
So far, 2018 has already brought us TIME’S UP, the Dora Milaje, and Chloe Kim. When it comes to celebrating women, we don’t necessarily need a designated month. But it doesn’t hurt.
“We Are Not Alone in Our Struggles”: A Call for Native Voices to Take Back Ownership of Their Stories
Erin Lau is a Native Hawaiian filmmaker and 2017 Sundance Institute Native Lab Fellow. She has written and directed multiple award-winning shorts that have screened at festivals around the world. Below she writes about her experience as a fellow and the importance of elevating Native voices.
‘Get Out’ and ‘Call Me By Your Name’ Lead the Way Among 16 Oscar Nominations for Sundance-Supported Films [Updated]
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published Tuesday, January 23. Award winners that received support through Sundance Institute’s artist programs and/or the Sundance Film Festival are updated below in bold.You could hardly map out more disparate trajectories for the three Sundance-supported films making the most Oscars noise this Tuesday.