Category: News

Los Angeles,CA — Sundance Institute today announced the 10 projects selected from more than 2,500 submissions for its second Episodic Story Lab, representing some of the most promising new writers creating TV and online series. The Lab supports first-time show creators and is one of 24 residency Labs the Institute hosts each year for independent artists in theatre, film, new media and episodic content.
Under the leadership of Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Sundance Institute Feature Film Program, with Jennifer Goyne Blake, Senior Manager of the Episodic Story Lab, Fellows will work with an accomplished group of showrunners, television executives and producers on developing their spec pilot and series overview.

You may be asking yourself, “What business does a film organization have meddling in a conversation about television awards shows?” Good question, loyal reader. One of the myriad benefits of living in this unofficial epoch of episodic television is that the crossover of talent between film and TV is stronger than ever. That means filmmakers like Cary Fukunaga can make a brilliant feature film debut with Sin Nombre, and a few years later helm an Emmy-winning investigative crime drama called True Detective (and yet all we can talk about are his debonair, man-braided ways).

New York, NY — Sundance Institute today announced a significant expansion of its international cultural exchange programs for independent artists with a new, multi-year initiative to support theatre-makers from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). With the goal of creating new opportunities for cross-cultural connectedness and in-depth mutual artistic reflection and exploration, the Institute will expand its existing international Labs to include a pilot Theatre Lab in MENA, to take place in May 2016. Theatre artists in the U.

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announced today that Sundance Film Forward will host free screenings of acclaimed independent films with moderated discussions in Kolkata, India October 5-8 in collaboration with the Documentary Resource Initiative (DRI). The screenings of films and guided discussions will take place at Rabindra Tirtha (HIDCO), Goethe Institute, Kolkata, Jadavpur University and Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute.
Sundance Film Forward is a touring program designed for 18 to 24 year olds, students and artists that offers film screenings and discussions to excite and cultivate new audiences for independent film.

(Hong Kong – 10 September, 2015)  With last year’s success of the Sundance Film Festival – Hong Kong Selects, Sundance Institute and The Metroplex will present the 2015 Sundance Film Festival: Hong Kong from September 17 to 27, hosting the Hong Kong premieres of 11 quality independent films featured in the 2015 Sundance Film Festival at Park City, Utah, U.S.A.

Picturehouse Central, London, 10 September 2015 — Sundance Institute and Picturehouse will host the Sundance Film Festival: London from 2 to 5 June 2016 at the recently launched Picturehouse Central. The festival will feature the international and UK premieres of films from the 2016 edition of the renowned Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, USA.John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival, comments: “Building on our 30-year legacy of discovery and creativity, the Sundance Film Festival: London gives us the opportunity to share new independent films we love with adventurous and engaged audiences in the UK.

It’s no secret that writers—and plenty of other creative disciplines—have some sort of congenital penchant for procrastination. Filing filmmakers into this same category seems apropos, which is why we at Sundance have not one, not two, but three filmmaker submission deadlines. If that makes us enablers, then so be it.

Park City, UT — Sundance Institute and the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities announced today that Sundance Film Forward will host free screenings of acclaimed independent films and moderated discussions with directors in Taiwan September 19-23 in collaboration with the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and CNEX.
Sundance Film Forward is a touring program designed for 18 to 24 year olds, students and artists that offers film screenings and discussions to excite and cultivate new audiences for independent film. It uses the power of cinema to promote broader cultural understanding, inspire curiosity and enhance awareness of shared stories and values across generations, religions, ethnicities and borders.

There is truth in the conviction that “time heals all wounds.” But in New Orleans, exactly 10 years after one of the deadliest natural disasters in U.S.

Sundance Institute’s president and founder—or, more suitably, the original creative heartbeat of this organization—turns 79 today. His wide-ranging accomplishments within the industry and beyond couldn’t possibly be embodied in a blog post, so we instead choose to celebrate with a more manageable, photo-driven trip down memory lane. Redford founded the Institute in 1981 and inaugurated what are now known as the Screenwriters and Directors Labs in the mountains of Utah, which to this day continue to expand to include even more creative disciplines.

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute and Time Warner Foundation announced today the ten artists selected for the 2015 Sundance Institute | Time Warner Foundation Fellowship Program, which recognizes and fosters the talent of diverse independent artists.  These Fellowships and accompanying grants are part of the Institute’s year-round artist programs, including 24 residency labs and more than $2.5 million in grants for independent artists each year.

Last night we wrapped up NEXT FEST with a one-of-a-kind dance party at the Theatre at Ace Hotel, as Neon Indian and Toro y Moi jointly sent LA film fans off into the sunset. The part-film, part-music, part-special guest medley was hosted at a veritable movie palace (a beautifully restored 1920s United Artists) and offered a perfect backdrop for everything from an oddball documentary about a missing mummified leg (Finders Keepers) to sweet serenades from Sharon Van Etten. Take a look at some of our highlights from a great weekend of film and music at NEXT FEST.