The Latest
How a Convening in Utah Can Spark Ecological Change 8,000 Miles Away
Three-and-a-half days in the mountains of Utah exploring big ideas with documentary filmmakers and change-makers I deeply respect. What could be better?
I was there as a Storytelling Fellow at the Sundance Institute | Skoll Foundation Stories of Change Convening, a three-day immersive storytelling workshop focused on introducing Skoll Foundation-Awarded Social Entrepreneurs (SASEs) to effective storytelling strategies. This was my introduction to the program, but I soon realized this moment was giving shape and definition to something I have been engaged with since my first film.
6 Sundance Films to Watch for Native American Heritage Month
In 1990, November was officially recognized as National American Indian Heritage Month. The years since have proven to be both a political and artistic resurgence for Native Peoples. From the early support of Greg Sarris’s (Coast Miwok) Grand Avenue at Sundance Institute’s 1992 June Screenwriters Lab to the premiere of Chris Eyre’s (Cheyenne/Arapaho) Smoke Signals in 1998, supporting and celebrating Indigenous creativity has been a longtime mission of Sundance Institute.
Meet the 2015-2016 Women at Sundance Fellows and Their Mentors
Sundance Institute is delighted to introduce our six new Women at Sundance Fellows, a diverse group of filmmakers working as producers and directors in the documentary and narrative fields. Though they are at various stages in their careers, all are actively attempting to fulfill their potential and create sustainable careers in a highly competitive environment.
The Fellowship Program matches women filmmakers from Sundance Institute’s acclaimed programs with industry leaders and decision makers for a yearlong, individualized fellowship program.
Sundance Institute And Jaunt Studios Launch Sundance Institute New Frontier | Jaunt Vr Residency
Los Angeles, CA – Sundance Institute and Jaunt Studios announced today their collaboration to launch a groundbreaking cinematic virtual reality residency program designed to empower artists on the cutting edge of storytelling. The first artist selected to participate in the six-month Sundance Institute New Frontier | Jaunt VR Residency Program is Lynette Wallworth, and three additional artists will be selected to participate in the coming months. Through this collaboration, Sundance Institute’s New Frontier program will continue a long tradition of cultivating new voices and innovative stories from the independent storytelling community, with Jaunt providing resident artists with the most advanced resources in cinematic virtual reality production.
An Indie Distro Journey, Part I: ‘Western’ Comes to iTunes
It’s the beginning of a very fitting final chapter for the Western team. Our movie was as independent as it gets, made by two guys in a desert at the edge of the country, and it’s about to be made available to the entire country in exactly as grassroots a way as it was created. You can preorder Western on iTunes here.
Sundance Institute Selects Four NextGen Native American Filmmakers for 2016 Full Circle Fellowships
Four 18-to-24-year-old Native Artists will Attend 2016 Sundance Film Festival, Develop Storytelling Skills and New Film Projects Throughout the Year
Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute announced today the four 18-to-24-year-old Native American filmmakers — three from the Southwest and one from Michigan — selected for the 2016 Full Circle Fellowships. Following Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford’s original vision and commitment to supporting Native American artists, the Full Circle Fellowship program develops and supports young Native filmmakers and is part of the Institute’s year-round support offerings for Native artists at all stages of their careers.
The Full Circle Fellowship Program, launched last year with support from the W.
Person to Know: Vimeo’s Peter Gerard Is Helping Filmmakers Find Their Audience
Last week, Sundance Institute’s Artist Services program joined with Festival Internacional de Cine en Morelia to host an international workshop designed to give emerging independent filmmakers and producers a chance to interact and learn from industry experts in creative funding, digital distribution and marketing of their work. As part of the day’s slate, Vimeo Director of VOD Peter Gerard was on hand to share insights from his world in a presentation on marketing direct to fans with Vimeo in order to drive an audience to discover an artist’s work.Gerard, who previously founded Accidental Media and the distribution platform Distrify, joined Vimeo in 2014 and is helping filmmakers find their audience in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
Sundance Selections: 6 Real Life Horror Stories for Halloween
You know that feeling of deliverance that arrives as the credits roll to a gripping horror film? It summons you out of the story, offering salvation from the dread. Yeah, you can forget about that relief when it comes to these films. Frankly, it’s hard to find refuge in reality when the stories themselves are real.
Tips for Finding the Story in Your Next Documentary Film
Sundance Institute’s first-ever workshop at IFP-Minnesota in St. Paul drew more than 40 emerging and experienced documentarians to a daylong series of instructional sessions last weekend.
As participants, some pitching projects, were treated to presentations on nonfiction storytelling structure and how to make regional stories relevant to larger audiences, running themes included the importance of preparedness and the need, according to Twin Cities native Annie Sundberg, to “keep your key audience in mind” at every stage of production.
Insider Ticketing Tips and FAQs for the Sundance Film Festival
As we prepare for yet another Sundance Film Festival, we thought we’d take some time to update you on everything you need to know about our ticketing system. Thank you for your continued interest in seeing world-class
independent films, panels, music, and New Frontier installations at the
2021 Festival. We look forward to seeing you in January!Through small (but important!) modifications to our system and extensive testing, we’re confident you’ll have a seamless experience this year.
Where Stand-Up Meets Story: Hasan Minhaj On the Future of Comedy and ‘Homecoming King’
This interview was originally published following Hasan Minhaj’s fellowship at the 2014 New Frontier Story Lab with “Homecoming King” (FKA “Sakoon). It is updated below to coincide with the premiere of “Homecoming King” at New York’s Cherry Lane Theatre. Comedian Hasan Minhaj has an infectious X-factor.
Carin Besser on Writing for TV: “You’re Going to Say the Dumb Things Out Loud”
In my short career as a co-writer of pilot scripts, I have struggled to explain the importance of “not-writing” to the writing process. Especially to my writing partner and husband, Matt Berninger. He is somehow always writing when he writes, by which I mean (and he does too), typing out scenes.
Yoav Potash on Using Film to Create Justice for Victims of Domestic Abuse
Editor’s Note: October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month, and as Yoav Potash’s work with Crime After Crime continues
to inspire elected officials to push new legislation and rectify
misguided American policies surrounding victims of domestic abuse,
another project that made waves at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014 is
challenging the widespread public perception of these victims. Private Violence intimately
places viewers in the shoes of two domestic violence survivors and
explores why the option—and all too common refrain—to “just leave,” is
often not one. I am not sure which is harder: making a documentary feature film or passing new laws to improve our justice system.
Sundance Institute Announces Artists and Projects for Two Fall Theatre Labs
New York, NY — Sundance Institute today announced the projects and artists participating in its two Fall artist development programs: the Alumni Writers Studio at Flying Point in Water Mill, NY, which ran October 4-11, as well as the two-week Theatre Lab for musical theatre, ensemble-generated projects and solo work at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA), taking place November 8-22. Under the supervision of Artistic Director Philip Himberg and Producing Director Christopher Hibma, the initiatives are among the 24 residency Labs the Institute hosts each year for independent artists in theatre, film, new media and episodic content.
The Alumni Writers Studio at Flying Point offers four invited Theatre Program alumni and one Feature Film Program Alum an uninterrupted period of time and the space to work on their projects in a studio setting.
A Personal Note About Today’s Ticketing Issue
First and foremost, we’re sincerely sorry for the inconvenience you experienced with our ticketing system today. We’ve spent the last few weeks preparing for ticket sales to start today but experienced some very unfortunate (to put it mildly) technical issues beyond anything we could have anticipated. So we made the very difficult decision to stop the sale of passes and packages for the day so we can rectify the problems and restart the sale next week.