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Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Bryn Chainey, the Writer-Director of “Rabbit Trap”
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Release Rundown: What to Watch in September, From “Twinless” to “Eleanor the Great”
June Squibb stars in Scarlett Johansson’s “Eleanor the Great,” which was supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program. By Lucy Spicer Fall is just around

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know James Sweeney, the Writer-Director of “Twinless”
By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Watch These 9 Sundance Institute–Supported Documentaries That Spotlight Workers’ Rights
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute–supported “American Factory” was named Best Documentary Feature at the 92nd Academy Awards. By Lucy Spicer As

Meet the 2025 Sundance Institute Documentary Edit Residency Artists
By Kristin Feeley, Director, Documentary Film & Artist Programs If you want to tell untold stories, if you want to give voice to the voiceless,

Inside the Archives: A Closer Look at the 2025 Spring and Summer Labs
Documentary Producers Lab fellows Wendy P. Espinal, Loi Ameera Almeron, Elijah Stevens, Crystal Isaac, and Nicole Tsien have a little fun for their group photo.
The Latest

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Bryn Chainey, the Writer-Director of “Rabbit Trap”
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Release Rundown: What to Watch in September, From “Twinless” to “Eleanor the Great”
June Squibb stars in Scarlett Johansson’s “Eleanor the Great,” which was supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program. By Lucy Spicer Fall is just around

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know James Sweeney, the Writer-Director of “Twinless”
By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent
Festival

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Bryn Chainey, the Writer-Director of “Rabbit Trap”
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know James Sweeney, the Writer-Director of “Twinless”
By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Kids Will Be Kids (Even When They’re Adults) in “A Little Prayer”
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 23: Actor Anna Camp attends the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “A Little Prayer” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January
Festival Highlights
News

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Bryn Chainey, the Writer-Director of “Rabbit Trap”
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Release Rundown: What to Watch in September, From “Twinless” to “Eleanor the Great”
June Squibb stars in Scarlett Johansson’s “Eleanor the Great,” which was supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program. By Lucy Spicer Fall is just around

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know James Sweeney, the Writer-Director of “Twinless”
By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent
Artist Spotlight

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Mathias Broe, the Director Behind “Sauna”
By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Shoshannah Stern, the Director of “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore”
By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez, the Co-Directors of “Sujo”
By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent
From the Labs

Inside the Archives: A Closer Look at the 2025 Spring and Summer Labs
Documentary Producers Lab fellows Wendy P. Espinal, Loi Ameera Almeron, Elijah Stevens, Crystal Isaac, and Nicole Tsien have a little fun for their group photo.

“The Diary of a Teenage Girl” Is 10! How One of Cinema’s Most Honest Coming-of-Age Films Came Together
By Jessica Herndon In writer-director Marielle Heller’s feature debut, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, a scene opens with titular teen Minnie (Bel Powley) and

Reflecting on the 2025 Summer Season of the Sundance Institute Labs
The 2025 Directors Lab fellows gather together for a group photo. Photo by Gabe Rovick Dear friends, As I sit outside in the long golden
Now Playing

Release Rundown: What to Watch in September, From “Twinless” to “Eleanor the Great”
June Squibb stars in Scarlett Johansson’s “Eleanor the Great,” which was supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program. By Lucy Spicer Fall is just around

Release Rundown: What to Watch in August, From “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley” to “A Little Prayer”
A still from Amy Berg’s documentary “It’s Never Over, Jeff Buckley,” which premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. By Lucy Spicer Devotees of independent

Release Rundown: What to Watch in July, From “FOLKTALES” to “Oh, Hi!”
Hege Wik and Odin appear in “FOLKTALES” by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, an official selection of the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. Courtesy of Sundance
Collab

Take 5: Sundance Collab Instructor Patrick Shen on What He Learned From His Biggest Failure
By Jessica Herndon Welcome to the first edition of Take 5, where we invite you to get familiar with the talented instructors behind our Sundance

Writer Veronica Reyes-How on Her Journey from the Sundance Institute to Premiering Her Series “Mother, May I Have a Kidney?” at Tribeca
By Jessica Herndon Veronica Reyes-How’s journey from stage to screen is a testament to the power of pivoting. A seasoned actor with Broadway credits, including

How “Hacks” Writers Jen Statsky and Lucia Aniello Shape the Show’s Iconic Characters
By Jessica Herndon Hacks is more than just a show — it’s a masterclass in creative collaboration, both in front of and behind the camera.
Creative Distribution

From the Archives: The 3 Things It Takes to Be an Independent Producer
As the spiritual closing of Sundance Institute’s Creative Producing Summit, Sundance Film Festival director John Cooper wrapped up the weekend with the “One Word Challenge.”Cooper’s challenge to his three keynote guests was simple: “It is 2011, and the most important thing a producer needs to survive is …” Panelists were given this one-word task by email before arriving in Utah and told to bring their best thinking to the audience of creative fellows and advisors. The experiment is both simple and profound, and audience members were invited to play along with cards of their own.

‘I Knew People Wanted to See It’: The ‘In Reality’ Team on Why and How They Self-Distributed
In part one of this interview, In Reality writer/director/star Ann Lupo and producer Holly Meehl shared how they got their anti-romantic comedy feature off the ground. In this second and final part, we explore how they navigated self-distribution.
Were you building an audience along the way? How did you keep people engaged?
AL: During post-production I took on a side project editing a short for Casey Neistat called “Filmmaking is a Sport,” and it completely changed my perspective on YouTube.

From Short Film to Unexpected Feature: How ‘In Reality’ Came to Life
Liz Manashil is a filmmaker and former manager of Sundance Institute’s Creative Distribution Initiative.
A few months ago, before I had a baby, I encountered the anti-romantic comedy feature film In Reality, which I immediately fell for. As I told the filmmakers later, it was the movie I needed when I was in my early 20s.
From the Archives

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Bryn Chainey, the Writer-Director of “Rabbit Trap”
By Bailey Pennick One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Release Rundown: What to Watch in September, From “Twinless” to “Eleanor the Great”
June Squibb stars in Scarlett Johansson’s “Eleanor the Great,” which was supported by Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program. By Lucy Spicer Fall is just around

Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know James Sweeney, the Writer-Director of “Twinless”
By Jessica Herndon One of the most exciting things about the Sundance Film Festival is having a front-row seat for the bright future of independent

Watch These 9 Sundance Institute–Supported Documentaries That Spotlight Workers’ Rights
Directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, Sundance Institute–supported “American Factory” was named Best Documentary Feature at the 92nd Academy Awards. By Lucy Spicer As