The Latest
The Worldwide Movement Toward Gender Parity in Media
A worldwide movement towards gender parity in film is gaining momentum. Not only have at least 15 new digital platforms, production companies, artist collectives, and committees devoted solely to women-driven content cropped up in the last year, but a host of television showrunners and directors have committed to diversifying their teams. Ava DuVernay staffed all women directors on her OWN drama Queen Sugar, and Melissa Rosenberg did the same for Marvel’s second season of Jessica Jones.
Introducing the Class of 2017 Women at Sundance Fellows
Sundance Institute is thrilled to announce its fifth annual class of Women at Sundance fellows, a diverse group of filmmakers working as producers and directors in the documentary and narrative fields.This fellowship supports emerging and mid-career filmmakers as they strive to create sustainable careers in a highly competitive environment. Beginning with a daylong group orientation, Sundance Institute program staff work with fellows to help them define clear and realistic goals for the fellowship year.
A 5-Step Guide to Patrolling the Screenwriting Underworlds
Going into Sundance Institute’s Charlotte Screenwriters Intensive, I expected to receive general responsibilities and considerations of storytelling. Little did I know that advisor Joan Tewkesbury would take us on a journey through the center of the earth.The Fellows first shared names and loglines like a pack of speed daters milling about the earth’s surface.
The Power of Stories
Regardless of our political views, the results of this election rocked many of us, taking us by surprise. Win or lose, the rhetoric of divisiveness during the campaign was made manifest by a vote that tore our country in half, with each side barely recognizing the other.Let’s bravely stride into this breach to understand the anxiety and fear that have motivated both parts of our electorate this year — never to excuse hatred and bigotry, and always as allies with those whose voices are overlooked.
Inaugural Sundance Institute | YouTube New Voices Lab Incubates Next Generation of Digital Creativity
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute has selected 18 creators of short form digital series for its inaugural Sundance Institute | YouTube New Voices Lab, November 10-12 at YouTube Space Los Angeles. Through hands-on workshops and story meetings with showrunners and industry leaders, the New Voices Lab will cultivate a growing group of emerging creatives who are shaping the form and content of episodic storytelling. The New Voices Lab is part of Sundance Institute and YouTube’s ongoing commitment to supporting independent creators working in narrative forms.
“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.
5 Reasons Native Storytellers Should Apply to the Full Circle Fellowship
It’s been a year since I applied to Sundance Institute Full Circle Fellowship, which aims to support the next generation of Native American storytellers with attendance at the Sundance Film Festival, a set internship at the Native Filmmakers Lab, meetings with industry mentors, and other opportunities.
I was going through the application process and was stuck in a rut. Having recently graduated from college with a Film and Digital Media degree, I was feeling a lot of pressure to find a job and begin my career.
Over $1 Million to Nonfiction Storytellers: Sundance Institute Announces Documentary Fund Grantees and Art of Nonfiction Fellows, Projects
People’s Republic of Desire
Credit: Jinyang Cheng
Mudflow
Credit: Michael Crook
United Skates
Credit: Chris Vanderwall
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute has awarded over $1 million to documentary projects and artists at the forefront of global nonfiction storytelling, whose subjects and forms reflect the inclusive range of the Institute’s mission.
Subject matter ranges from police violence, natural disasters and income inequality to family legacy, trans rights and education in the developing world. Works originate in 10 countries on six continents, and teams include Academy Award® winners and nominees (Frederick Wiseman, Cynthia Wade, Rebecca Cammisa, David France, Matthew Heineman), a Guggenheim Fellow (Julia Bacha) and a MacArthur Fellow (James Longley) alongside first-time filmmakers and creators (including Tim Hawkins, Dyana Winkler, Yu Gu, Mike Milano,Sandra Salas, Hope Litoff, Damon Davis and Sabaah Jordan).
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.
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.