The Latest
Sundance Institute Names 2017 Episodic Lab Fellows
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute has selected 10 original independent pilots for holistic support at its fourth annual Episodic Lab. With topics ranging from awkward family dynamics to the rippling-effect of crime on a community, the scope of this year’s projects, and the diverse backgrounds of their creators, speaks to the Institute’s broad and visionary support of the episodic format; the Episodic Lab is the centerpiece of the Institute’s year-round support program for emerging television writers.Beginning with the Lab, Fellows will benefit from 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 Senior Manager of the Episodic Program, Jennifer Goyne Blake.
Designing the Future of Work: New Frontier World Building Residency in Los Angeles
Three artists created a future Los Angeles as part of the Sundance Institute New Frontier World Building Residency. Join the artists for a presentation of their project on Wednesday, October 4, 2017, at 1:30 p.m.
Documentary Filmmakers: Does this story want to be a film?
Before you decide to embark on making a documentary — a process that often takes years, drains your savings, and tries the patience of your friends and family — ask yourself this simple not-so-simple question: Does your film want to get made?
That’s one of the questions filmmaker and Stanford professor Jan Krawitz urged the crowd of would-be filmmakers to consider at the Sundance Institute/Knight Foundation Documentary Workshop at the Hammer Theatre in San Jose, CA, this past August.
Before you shoot even a minute of film, consider, Krowitz suggested, “Does this want to be a film? Not an article? A dance? A painting?”
Krowitz was onstage having a conversation with Richard Ray Perez, the Sundance Institute’s Director of Creative Partnerships, Documentary Film Program before a screening of Perez’s 2014 film Cesar’s Last Fast. The hundred or so guests at the Hammer listened in and asked questions as Perez explained how he discovered that Last Fast, the dramatic story of Latino labor rights activist Cesar Chavez’s dramatic final act of consciousness-raising, was, most definitely, a film.
More than $1.9 Million to Nonfiction Storytellers: Sundance Institute Announces Documentary Fund Grants Across Nonfiction Formats
Los Angeles, CA — A diverse range of projects and artists on the frontlines of nonfiction storytelling received nearly $2 million in grants from Sundance Institute, furthering their work across a broad array of subjects and forms.
Works originate in 26 countries and six continents, and teams include Academy Award© nominees (Julia Reichert, Steven Bognar, Richard Rowley, Jon Else and David France), and first-time feature filmmakers (Cody Lucich, Sushmit Ghosh, Rintu Thomas, Nadia Shihab, Bing Liu, T Cooper, Sandi Tan, Hana Mire, Jon Kasbe, Jonathan Bogarín, Elan Bogarín and Paula Eiselt). Funding for audience engagement goes to series including The Keepers and films such as The Force, Sembene! and The Death and Life of Marsha P.
When “It’s All In Your Head” Is The Diagnosis: Jennifer Brea and Laura Poitras on Portraying Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
There are few attacks on the human psyche more disempowering than being told that your experience is invalid.
That’s where filmmaker Jennifer Brea found herself time and time again amid a desperate search for medical truths as she gradually fell more incapacitated by the symptoms of a mysterious illness. An active Harvard PhD student at the time, Brea was eventually rendered bedridden and motionless, an official diagnosis proving frustratingly elusive.
How Collaboration—Not Isolation—Leads to Creative Breakthroughs
Filmmaker Grace Lee (“American Revolutionary: The Evolution of Grace Lee Boggs”) participated as a creative advisor at the Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program | CNEX Workshop and Documentary Summit in Beijing earlier this year. Below she shares learnings gleaned from working collaboratively with filmmaking teams on their rough cuts.
I arrived in Beijing after a 13-hour flight from New York, jetlagged but thrilled to be a creative advisor at the Sundance / CNEX Documentary Story and Edit Lab.
Clea DuVall: Pulling My Script from the River
I started writing my script Layne about a year ago. When I sat down, the story flowed. I was feeling very confident, and had a good handle on where I was going and how to get there.
How Being Open to Change Can Maximize Your Film’s Reach
In our last article, we discussed the importance of data for filmmakers and provided some key analysis and digital marketing terms to know. Now I’d like to contextualize these terms by explaining the practice of analyzing data through the use of feedback loops and providing examples of these systems found in the independent film industry. Let’s start with a production feedback loop example: Dailies.
Conversations We Want to Have with Ourselves: Reflections from the New Frontier Story Lab
The public call for submissions is now open for the 2018 New Frontier Story Lab! Apply here or visit our FAQ.
I am a technologist, but my son says I can’t tweet properly. So here is some advice distilled from my time with my and Callum Cooper’s project Porton Down at the the 2017 New Frontier Story Lab, in tweet form:
If you want money: look for a community.
A Question Every Screenwriter and Director Should Ask Themselves: “Whose Story Is This?”
Hannah Pearl Utt (co-writer/director) and Jen Tullock(co-writer) attended the 2017 Directors and Screenwriters Labs with their project “Stupid Happy,” which follows dysfunctional, codependent sisters Rachel and Jackie who believe they are orphans after the death of their father, only to find out the mother they thought died when they were young is not just alive, but the star of their favorite soap.“Whose story is this?”
Hannah: That was the first thing Joan Tewkesbury asked me when I sat down for my first advisor meeting of the first week of the Sundance Institute Directors Lab, and I promptly burst into tears. If you’re interested in participating in the Labs, there’s something you should know upfront: everything you’ve heard about them is true; “it’s really hard to explain the experience,” “they can be terrifying,” “totally transformative,” “once-in-a-lifetime experience,” “not a lot of time to sleep,” and because of all that, “lots of crying.
Sundance Institute and Time Warner Fellows
Tearrance Chisholm
Chico Colvard
Lyle Mitchell Corbine Jr.
Reinaldo Marcus Green
Paola Lázaro
Jhane Myers
Jesi Nelson
Shawn Peters
Tayarisha Poe
Sharyn Steele
Amelia Winger-Bearskin
Los Angeles, CA — Eleven diverse independent artists have been selected to receive support
from the 2017
Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellowship. These Fellowships and
accompanying grants are part of the non-profit Institute’s year-round efforts to discover and support
independent artists from diverse backgrounds in getting their work made and seen by a wide audience.
Sundance Institute and Luma Foundation: Theatre Director Retreat in Arles
New York, NY — Five theatre directors are slated for the fifth Sundance Institute | LUMA
Foundation Theatre
Directors Retreat
, which convenes in Arles, France, August 25 through September 7. The Retreat is one
of 24
residencies and Labs the Institute hosts annually across the world, and is an integral part of the Theatre
Program’s ongoing engagement with global theatremakers.
The retreat, the only director-centered residency of its kind, comprises 14 days of rigorous creative
interchange.
Dee Rees: ‘Our History Is Perpetually Being Rewritten as We Live It’
In recognition of her singular filmmaking vision, Dee Rees accepted the Sundance Institute Vanguard Award presented by Acura last night to round out the weekend at NEXT FEST. An alumni of the Screenwriters and Directors Labs, Rees made her directorial debut with “Pariah” at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and returned this year with “Mudbound,” arriving in theaters later this year. With last week’s tragedy in Charlottesville providing yet another glaring reminder of our country’s ongoing fight against hate and discrimination, Rees powerfully and poignantly reminded us that we have work to do, and that we’re more than capable of it.
No Pain, No Gain: What Goes Down in the Editing Room
Each year The Feature Film Program (FFP) supports more than 50 new projects across various stages of development, production, and post-production. This month, we’re highlighting the ways in which the FFP supports the crucial creative collaboration between directors and editors through the Sally Menke Memorial Editing Fellowship and the Editing Intensive, which took place earlier this summer in conjunction with our annual Directors Lab.Honoring the memory of beloved Sundance Institute mentor and esteemed editor Sally Menke (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Inglorious Basterds), the annual Sally Menke Memorial Editing Fellowship supports an emerging narrative editor in advancing their craft and building their career.
Sleigh Bells’ Derek Miller On Film, Music, and Sliding Into Alex Ross Perry’s DMs
It’s kind of fun to envision a band like Sleigh Bells scoring a film: Alexis Krauss’ teasing, silky vocals strewn across Derek Miller’s shattering guitar riffs and a barrage of beats. The duo’s penchant for pitting seductive melodies against hardcore arrangements often conjures its own powerful, albeit chaotic, imagery. With last year’s music video for “I Can Only Stare,” off their LP Jessica Rabbit, we got a feel for what that film and music pairing might look like.