The Latest
Artists, Writers, Filmmakers Among Sundance Institute’s 2017 Art of Nonfiction Fellows and Grantees
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute’s Art of Nonfiction Initiative welcomes four Fellows and five Grantees, as well as three Nonfiction Critics Fellows, in its third year of granting key creative and financial support to inventive nonfiction storytellers working in the field today.
“This year’s Art of Nonfiction cohort, expanded to include writing fellows, signals our commitment to supporting artists in getting inventive nonfiction work made, seen and situated within the culture.” said Tabitha Jackson, Director of Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program.
Use These Data Transparent Companies to Amplify Your Film Distribution Strategy
Throughout the process of making a film it’s nearly impossible to do everything yourself. No matter how big or small, you assemble a team for every phase of production. The ability to assemble a hardworking, supportive team is crucial to the efficiency of making your art.
Lauren McBride: 5 Ways the Creative Producing Lab Will Change Your Career (and Your Life)
Lauren McBride is an independent film producer based in New York City and a 2017 producing fellow with her project “Selah and the Spades.” Learn more and apply for the Creative Producing Lab & Fellowship or the Documentary Creative Producing Lab & Fellowship. I nearly didn’t apply to the lab.
How Native and Indigenous Film Producers Can Help Hollywood Get it Right
Growing up in rural Oklahoma and raised as an elders’ child by my grandparents, I always went eagerly to see any movie that seemed to have something to do with Native people. And as I left the theater, my Comanche grandfather always said, disappointedly, the same remark: “Maybe someday they will get it right.” As a little Indian girl, I wondered if and how Hollywood would ever get the message.
Meet the 2017-2018 Women at Sundance Fellows
We are thrilled to announce our sixth annual class of Women at Sundance Fellows, a diverse group of women poised to take big leaps in their burgeoning careers during the coming fellowship year.
Women at Sundance offers a robust year-long fellowship that includes mentorship; professional coaching made possible by The Harnisch Foundation in partnership with Renee Freedman & Co; travel grants to the Sundance Film Festival to participate in curated activities; entree into branded and episodic content; and bespoke year-round support. Women at Sundance Fellows are a cohort of six emerging and mid-career narrative and documentary directors and producers, selected from a pool of recent Sundance Institute alumnae.
Sundance Institute Adds Charles D. King and Donna Gruneich to Board of Trustees
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute announced today that Charles D. King and Donna Gruneich will join the Institute’s Board of Trustees. Under the guidance of President & Founder Robert Redford and in close collaboration with Board Chair Pat Mitchell and Executive Director Keri Putnam, the new Trustees will bring deep experience in philanthropy, media strategy, finance and film production to the Institute’s governance.
Kawita Vatanayjankur Becomes the Machines Meant to Replace Us
Hussain Currimbhoy joined Sundance Institute in 2014 as a Festival programmer specializing in documentary feature films and New Frontier. He was previously the Director of Programming for the Sheffield Doc/Fest in the UK.
I always had a crush on the art, artists, and stories I encountered from South East Asia — especially during my years in Perth, Australia, where news about films and filmmakers from the region often entered my world.
Sundance Institute Deepens Artist Development Programs in Eight U.S. Cities With Renewed Knight Foundation Support
Los Angeles — Sundance Institute will continue producing artist development programs in eight U.S. cities, with funding from the John S.
Sundance Institute Preserves Early Independent Film Music History with GRAMMY Grant
With support from the GRAMMY Museum, Sundance Institute has digitized more than 700 audio and video recordings, pages of sheet music, photographs, and other documents from the early days of its Film Music Program—including seminal work in independent film composition from as early as the 1980s.
A few highlights of the catalogued items include a 1987 recording of a conversation with Brave Little Toaster composer David Newman and director Jerry Rees, and 1988 video of a panel on the philosophy and methods of composing for low-budget films, among many other gems. The project also uncovered correspondence with Robert Redford regarding the founding of the Film Music Program, as well as early newsletters and reports that give insight into the successes and challenges of the program’s beginnings.
Are You a Native Filmmaker in New Mexico or Michigan? Apply to the Full Circle Fellowship
Each year, Sundance Institute’s Native American and Indigenous Program aims to support the next generation of Native American storytellers through the Full Circle Fellowship. The fellowship provides opportunities to explore a career as a filmmaker, attendance at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, a set internship at the Native Filmmakers Lab to gain hands-on film production experience, and a trip to Los Angeles with a schedule of production facilities tours, meetings with industry mentors, and film screenings.
This fellowship selects four New Mexico- and Michigan-based applicants, ages 18 to 24.
‘Go Fish’ Director Rose Troche: Could a Simple Act of Love Change the Course of Violence?
Rose Troche is an alumni of the Sundance Film Festival and has served as a creative advisor at the Sundance Institute New Frontier Story Lab. Her virtual reality project IF NOT LOVE premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
Could a simple act of love change the course of violence? IF NOT LOVE is an exploration of this question.
One Year Later, What We’ve Learned From Creatively Distributing ‘First Girl I Loved’
It’s been nearly a year since First Girl I Loved hit theaters and we embarked on our journey into self-distribution. We’ve worked hard and learned a great deal — but having gone through it all now, I wouldn’t have done it any other way. The biggest takeaway is this: know what your rights are worth and do your best to maximize your return.
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.