Eighteen months into this pandemic, we struggle still to regain our lives and livelihoods. Society seeks to “get back to normal” by any means necessary, and meanwhile, many opportunities for fieldwide reform that the pandemic presented to us one year ago still remain largely unaddressed. In the last year, the longstanding extractive practices of so many of our societal structures have been laid bare, and our media arts system is no exception.

The Sundance Institute has been hosting its labs since the summer of 1981, when its inaugural class of fellows arrived at the Sundance Mountain Resort to workshop their independent features. This year, we celebrate our 40th anniversary with an all-new group of artists in our Directors and Screenwriters Labs, our Episodic Lab, our Native Lab, our Producers Lab, and our Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship. See each program’s list of fellows below, and click the links to learn more about them all.

Through our #Sundance40th series, we’re offering a decade-by-decade look back at the Sundance Institute’s first 40 years, celebrating the artists and projects that have been such a vital part of our history. And our story doesn’t end here: We need your help in supporting the storytellers of tomorrow. Donate now.

Through our #Sundance40th series, we’re offering a decade-by-decade look back at the Sundance Institute’s first 40 years, celebrating the artists and projects that have been such a vital part of our history. And our story doesn’t end here: We need your help in supporting the storytellers of tomorrow. Donate now.

Through our #Sundance40th series, we’re offering a decade-by-decade look back at the Sundance Institute’s first 40 years, celebrating the artists and projects that have been such a vital part of our history. And our story doesn’t end here: We need your help in supporting the storytellers of tomorrow. Donate now.

Through our #Sundance40th series, we’re offering a decade-by-decade look back at the Sundance Institute’s first 40 years, celebrating the artists and projects that have been such a vital part of our history. And our story doesn’t end here: We need your help in supporting the storytellers of tomorrow. Donate now.

Through our #Sundance40th series, we’re offering a decade-by-decade look back at the Sundance Institute’s first 40 years, celebrating the artists and projects that have been such a vital part of our history. And our story doesn’t end here: We need your help in supporting the storytellers of tomorrow. Donate now.

Los Angeles, CA, August 4, 2021—In early 2021, nearly a year into a global pandemic, Sundance Institute commissioned Jesse Cameron Alick, the newly-appointed Associate Artistic Director for the Vineyard Theater in New York and past creator advisor to the Institute’s Theater Program, to launch an in-depth field study to hear directly from theater makers about the most urgent needs of artists and the field. The commission began as part of the Institute’s effort to re-imagine its own work in the field of theater and live performance. The report that resulted yielded the work published today: Emerging from the Cave: Reimagining Our Future in Theater and Live Performance, available at emergingfromthecave.

A message from Festival Director Tabitha Jackson on the upcoming Sundance Film Festival, scheduled for January 20–30, 2022.
Dear Friends,
This time last year, I wrote to share some early thoughts about how we were approaching my first Sundance Film Festival as director — and the first Sundance to be held in the midst of a pandemic.
Since 1985, artists and audiences have gathered at the Festival to affirm the transformative power of independent film and media.

LOS ANGELES — The Sundance Institute Board of Trustees today announced that Ebs Burnough will serve as the nonprofit’s next Chair, Board of Trustees, starting in October 2021. Ebs was appointed as the Board’s Vice Chair in 2020, and he will succeed Pat Mitchell when her term as Chair expires in October 2021. She will continue on as a Trustee when Ebs assumes the role of Chair.

It’s here — your chance to get up close and personal with some of the visionary storytellers behind your favorite Sundance Film Festival releases!
Earlier this month, we launched the first edition of Club Cinema, our Clubhouse conversation series with our friends at TheFutureParty, a daily newsletter that brings you the most meaningful business and culture news. Join us every week (usually at 10 a.m.

LOS ANGELES — As part of the nonprofit Sundance Institute’s continued commitment to supporting artists from historically excluded communities, the Institute announced today its latest grantees for both the Uprise Grant Fund and Arts Organization Grants. The Uprise Grant Fund supports BIPOC artists whose careers and creative development have been harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thirty-eight U.