The Latest
Storytelling, Amplified: Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound Announce Composers, Directors for 2017 Music and Sound Design Labs
Music and Sound Design Lab 2016
Credit Brandon Joseph Baker
Music and Sound Design Lab 2014
Credit Steve Jennings
Music and Sound Design Lab 2016
Credit Brandon Joseph Baker
Los Angeles and Marin, CA — Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound today announced the composers and directors selected for the Sundance Institute Music and Sound Design Labs, which return to the legendary Skywalker Sound Facilities for the fifth year.
At the Labs, composers, directors and sound designers will collaborate to develop music and sound for documentary and narrative film projects. Workshops and creative exercises, guided by leading film composers and sound designers acting as Creative Advisors, will mentor Fellows to explore sound and music’s crucial role in storytelling.
Catalyst Women: Putting Our Money on Women Filmmakers
This May in New York City, Sundance Institute and The Harnisch Foundation launched Catalyst Women, a new program connecting film financiers dedicated to women artists with highly anticipated Sundance Institute–supported feature and documentary projects. The day-and-a-half program, which took us from HBO headquarters in Bryant Park to Bloomberg Philanthropies on the upper east side, exposed creative investors to the world of independent storytelling through film presentations, case studies, panels, deep-dive roundtables, and artist spotlights.
We began the day by delving into the moral and economic incentives that drive financiers to invest in diverse and female filmmakers, inspiring us to do the same.
Why Angelenos Will Love (or Hate) NEXT FEST
Sundance NEXT FEST comes to LA this August for a summer celebration that brings you the LA premieres of films straight from the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. We’re breaking down the lineup to help you choose from our full weekend of movies, music, and mischief. See the full lineup.
Writers and Creative Advisors Selected for Faliro House | Sundance Institute Mediterranean Screenwriters Workshop in Greece, July 3-9
Athens, Greece: Christos V. Konstantakopoulos’ Faliro House Productions (The Founder, The Lobster), in collaboration with Sundance Institute, will host the second edition of the Faliro House | Sundance Institute Mediterranean Screenwriters Workshop in Costa Navarino, Greece July 3-9. The workshop is designed to support emerging filmmakers from Greece, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and this year will include filmmakers from Cyprus.
The Art of Pitching and Financing Your Film (And Finding Your Inner Ninja)
You know how we indie filmmakers are, right? We’re pessimistic, worst-case thinkers. When I saw the schedule for the 2017 Financing & Strategy Intensive, my eyes fixated on those dreaded words: “Pitching Workshop.” I thought, OK, I’m staying home with my cat.
Contemplating the Cut: Takeaways and Tips for Documentary Editors
This blog was first published on POV’s Documentary blog at PBS.org.
The task of the documentary editor can sound like folklore, even to someone who takes it on.
Esteban Cruz Orozco: “La Siembra”
As incoherent as it may sound, on September 8, 2016, I was fortunate enough to be sick at home. I was missing out on an important rehearsal for a live streaming (an assignment for college) because the doctor had given me a three-day order to stay at home, as I was on the border of getting pneumonia. I was feeling very badly.
Do You Have a Screenplay Exploring Science and Technology?
Darcy Brislin and Dyana Winkler attended the 2017 Screenwriters Lab as part of the Alfred P. Sloan Fellowship, established to support the development of screenplays with science and/or technology themes. Click here to apply for the 2018 Sloan Commissioning Grant & Fellowship,“But why on earth would she stay with him?”
Pencils poised, we sat across the table from writer Erin Cressida Wilson, wrapping our brains around the most profound, soul-searching question within our script.
In the Wake of ‘Julius Caesar’ Protests, We Must Prepare to Defend the Arts
“Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.”—John DeweyIn the wake of two corporations pulling their funding from the Public Theater’s free production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, like many of my artist colleagues I have been pondering the grave resonances.Let me be clear.
When Winning at Sundance Doesn’t Send the Distribution Cavalry
Here we are almost 90 days out from the initial theatrical release of As You Are, and wow, what a learning experience it has been. At this stage in our film’s life cycle, we have just launched our preorder on iTunes, are weeks away from our full domestic TVOD release, and about 30 days after that, we’ll be having our Amazon Prime SVOD release. This is all on the heels of our decision to self-release in theaters with only the assistance of a booking agent and a small press team.
BBC World Service and Sundance Institute launch new collaboration
15 June 2017The BBC World Service and Sundance Institute have announced a new collaboration to produce a series of radio documentaries and podcasts for launch in 2018. The partnership will allow for up to six new projects exploring the theme of ‘Neighbour’, with the resulting radio programmes airing on the BBC World Service, also available as podcasts, and accompanied by visual storytelling online.
Mary Hockaday, Controller of BBC World Service English said: “We’re very excited about collaborating with Sundance Institute who share our passion for the very best storytelling.
Sundance Institute Brings $151 Million in Economic Impact to Utah with 2017 Sundance Film Festival
Park City, Utah — The nonprofit Sundance Institute today announced that its 2017 Sundance Film Festival, which took place in Park City, Salt Lake City and Sundance, Utah in January, generated a total economic impact of $151.5 million. These numbers come from an independent economic and demographic study conducted by Y² Analytics,which used updated methodology and technology to give a more complete picture of the Festival’s impact on the state of Utah’s economy.
Sundance Ignite Filmmaker Leah Galant: “Putting the Fire Out”
At the end of the summer, my life was completely flipped upside down. I quit my job, broke up with my boyfriend, and moved back home in what seemed like a step backwards for a recent college graduate. Needless to say, I was feeling weird and creatively stuck.
Sundance Institute Presents 20th Anniversary of Free Outdoor Film Screenings in Salt Lake City, Park City, Ogden and Kamas
Photographer Credit: Jonathan Hickerson
Park City, UT — It’s a Utah summer tradition 20 years in the making: Sundance Institute will celebrate summer with free outdoor screenings of Sundance Film Festival favorites in Salt Lake City, Park City, Ogden and Kamas. These screenings will also feature food, special guests, fun activities and a few 20th anniversary surprises.
Betsy Wallace, CFO and Managing Director of Sundance Institute, said, “Enjoying these great films with friends, neighbors and colleagues, surrounded by Utah’s natural beauty, is a highlight of our year-round programming — and, now that we’re in our 20th year, it’s safe to say it’s a local tradition as well.
Nonfiction’s Cutting Edge: Sundance Institute Selects Eight Projects for Documentary Edit and Story Lab
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the eight projects selected for its annual Documentary Edit and Story Labs, taking place in two sessions at the Sundance Resort in Utah from June 23-July 1 and July 7-15. An anchor point of the nonprofit Institute’s year-round work with filmmakers, the Documentary Edit and Story Lab creates an incubation space for nonfiction storytellers to creatively interrogate their projects during the later stages of post-production. Among the breathtaking scenery of the Sundance Mountain Resort, filmmakers take advantage of the Lab’s creative environment to intensively explore story, dramatic structure and character development, centering their work around their own original motivation and intention.