The Latest
“You Can Lie Down or Get Up and Play”: My Experience at Taylor Mac’s 24-Hour Concert
An hour and a half into Taylor Mac’s A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, the audience members orchestrated the removal of about half the chairs we were sitting on. Blindfolds were passed out by the “dandy minions” and we found our way to various seating positions ranging from sitting cross-legged on the floor to holding tight to a chair that was now claimed. Next, came the grapes.
When Leaving Distribution Offers On the Table Is Your Film’s Best Bet
‘First Girl I Loved’ is now available on iTunes and all other digital platforms. Below, director Kerem Sanga tracks the film’s creative distribution journey since premiering at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. November, 2015.
Native Intelligence: Beau Bassett on Why We Need Native Producers
To coincide with Indigenous People’s Day, we’re opening submissions to the Time Warner Native Producers Fellowship to support U.S.-based Native producers in their professional development and the advancement of their projects.
A VR Project That’s All About Getting Out of the Dumps
When I was 9, I took a computer coding class. We all worked on monochromatic monitors – the instructor explained that computers would someday show us more colors. He was describing monitors with a more robust color profile, but I naively thought he meant that computers would allow us to see more colors than are in our current rainbow.
Sundance Institute Unveils Latest Episodic Story Lab Fellows
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the 11 original projects selected for its third annual Episodic Story Lab. The spec pilots, which range from dystopian sci-fi to historical comedy, explore themes of personal and social identity, family dysfunction, political extremism, and the limits of human understanding. The Episodic Story Lab is the centerpiece of the Institute’s year-round support program for emerging television writers.
Film Producers on the First Films That Blew Their Minds
“The film that blew your mind isn’t necessarily the best film,” Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper said slyly at the closing night of the Creative Producing Summit. Apparently that declaration was intended to curtail the evening’s presenters—a who’s-who of the film-producing world—from shying away from candor. In fairness, how many of us are wont to divulge our earliest, innocent artistic predilections? Not I, says this sheepish fan of Waterworld.
Calling Young Filmmakers: 4 Reasons to Submit to the “What’s Next?” Short Film Challenge
Kevin Brooks was one of five winners of the 2015 “What’s Next?” Short Film Challenge, in partnership with Adobe Project 1324, and a Sundance Ignite Fellow who received year-round mentorship and networking opportunities, including a trip to the 2016 Sundance Film Festival. Below he shares insights gained from his past year as an Ignite Fellow and calls on filmmakers between the ages of 18 and 24 to submit their projects by September 26 for a chance to be one of the winners of the 2016 “What’s Next?” Short Film Challenge. Click here to learn more.
‘Cartel Land’ and ‘Miss Simone’ Lead Emmy Nominees (Updated with Winners)
This post was originally published July 14 and has been updated with Emmy winners in bold.The 2016 Emmy Award nominees were announced today and honored a number of Sundance-supported films, including five nominations for Matthew Heineman’s perilous journey exploring Mexican drugs lords in Cartel Land, and six nominations for the sweeping portrait of Nina Simone in Liz Garbus’ What Happened, Miss Simone? Outstanding Cinematography For A Nonfiction ProgramCartel Land (winner)Mapplethorpe: Look At The PictureWhat Happened, Miss Simone? Outstanding Directing For A Nonfiction ProgramMatthew Heineman, Cartel LandLiz Garbus, What Happened, Miss Simone? Outstanding Picture Editing For A Nonfiction Program Cartel Land What Happened, Miss Simone? Outstanding Sound Editing For A Nonfiction Program (Single Or Multi-Camera)Cartel Land (winner)What Happened, Miss Simone? Outstanding Documentary Or Nonfiction Special Becoming Mike NicholsListen To Me MarlonMapplethorpe: Look At The PicturesWhat Happened, Miss Simone? (winner) Exceptional Merit In Documentary Filmmaking (two winners)The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the RevolutionCartel Land (winner)Jim: The James Foley Story (winner)Racing Extinction Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Nonfiction Program (Single or Multi-Camera)What Happened, Miss Simone? Outstanding Special Visual Effects In A Supporting Role11.22.
A Message from Native Filmmakers Fighting the Dakota Pipeline at Standing Rock
Heather Rae, a Sundance-supported producer and the director of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival documentary selection “Trudell,” was recently on the ground with other Native filmmakers, Cody Lucich and Ben Dupris, at Standing Rock in North Dakota telling their story of the fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline. The following is an account of their time protecting Native lands.
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Since April of this year, Native people from all over North America have been gathering on the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota in support of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and their fight against a pipeline proposed to traverse treaty land and impede their water source, the Missouri River.
Why We Chose to Self-Release ‘NUTS!,’ a Film About Goat Testicles and So Much More
NUTS!, a documentary directed by Penny Lane, is currently available on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, BitTorrent NOW, and Vimeo On-Demand. Theatrical screenings are still being held through October. For more information, visit nutsthefilm.
Q&A: Jeff Feuerzeig on JT LeRoy, “The Literary Hoax of the Century”
If you followed pop
culture in the late ’90s, the name JT LeRoy was inescapable and in many ways
inscrutable. Thought to be a 15 year-old, drug-abusing transgender prostitute
from rural West Virginia, LeRoy’s byline began to appear in magazines. Soon,
two novels,
Sarah and The
Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things
, were published to great acclaim and
even greater fanfare.
‘Possibilia’: The Daniels’ Interactive “Non-Breakup Breakup Story”
The self-proclaimed “non-breakup breakup story” Possibilia is an interactive experience that’s “set in the multiverse … whatever that means.” In a choose-your-own-adventure–like encounter, the viewer takes an active role in the story of a young couple as they contemplate breaking up.
Alex Karpovsky and Zoe Jarman star as Rick and Pollie, who, depending on the scenes you choose, are found either fighting on the front lawn to stay together or resignedly discussing the inevitable at the kitchen table.
Robert Redford Turns 80: Revisit His Words of Wisdom
To much of the world Robert Redford is Roy Hobbs, Bill McKay, Jeremiah Johnson, or invariably, The Sundance Kid. He is an artist, an activist, and a creative leader. But Robert Redford also inhabits another world, one where he’s known simply as “Bob.
Sundance Institute And Jaunt Studios Announce Latest Additions To VR Residency Program
Suggested Release: #NewFrontier: @SundanceLabs and @JauntVR Announce Latest Additions to VR Residency Program bit.ly/SI-news
Los Angeles, CA – Sundance Institute and Jaunt Studios announced today their latest class of creatives, at the forefront of innovation in media and entertainment, to join the Sundance Institute New Frontier | Jaunt VR Residency Program. Daniel Arsham, Yung Jake, and Lily Baldwin & Saschka Unseld will participate in the six-month program designed to empower artists on the cutting edge of storytelling.
The Metroplex and Sundance Institute Proudly Present 2016 Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong September 22 to October 2, 2016
(Hong Kong – 18 August, 2016) Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong returns for the third time in September, with a delegation of independent filmmakers presenting a line-up that includes premieres of award-winning films direct from this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, U.S.A.