Sundance Director’s Lab
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“What If I Had the Baby on the Mountain?”: Livi Newman on the Sundance Directors Lab
Olivia Newman is at the Sundance Directors Lab with her feature First Match, the tale of “a teenage girl from Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood [who] decides that joining the all-boys high school wrestling team is the only way back to her estranged father.” She is also eight months pregnant. Below, she writes about that experience. “What are you afraid of?” A month before the Sundance Directors Lab began, this question was posed to us via email by artistic director, Gyula Gazdag. I hadn’t yet met Gyula, and had no idea that he would eventually impart some of the deepest insights to […]
by Livi Newman on Jun 17, 2015 -
Jordana Spiro at the Sundance Directors Lab, Part 2
[Jordana Spiro’s first blog post can be found here.] I was directing my last scene for the lab. It was set in a tiny bathroom and the only place to be out of the camera’s view was the small bedroom on the side with the equipment. After the actors finished a take, the bedroom door opened and Robert Redford asked if he could join me and watch for a while. Sure you can, Robert Redford. We settled in together on the twin bed to watch the small monitor as the actors went for another take and then we talked through […]
by Jordana Spiro on Jul 8, 2014 -
Johnny Ma at the Sundance Directors Lab, Part 2
[Johnny Ma’s first blog post can be found here.] The day after the Sundance Labs ended, a group of fellows, advisers, and Sundance staff all walked off the plane together at LAX. Instinctively, we kept close to each other as we edged toward baggage claim, as if trying to stay together a little longer before the real world pulled us apart. It felt strangely like reaching land after using sea legs for so long, but the big discovery being that the sea is actually our natural habitat. Walking through the airport, we couldn’t help but look around at the faces […]
by Johnny Ma on Jul 3, 2014 -
Jordana Spiro at the Sundance Directors Lab
A little while ago I was sent an email asking me to write this blog sharing my experience at the Sundance Directors Lab. I pretended I didn’t receive it. Communicating in first person without a script is not fun for me. As an actress, I am comfortable doing things in front of a crowd, and I ventured into writing/directing because my longing to express myself is strong. However, to do so without it being through something like the mechanism of film can turn me into a jumble of over-thinking nerves and desire to be liked. Fearlessness is a sexy, powerful […]
by Jordana Spiro on Jun 18, 2014 -
SUNDANCE ANNOUNCES PROJECTS FOR JUNE DIRECTORS AND SCREENWRITERS LABS
The Sundance Institute announced today the roster for its June Directors and Screenwriters Lab. The complete press release follows. Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced the 13 projects selected for its annual June Directors and Screenwriters Labs, taking place at the Sundance Resort in Utah from May 28 through June 28. Under the leadership of Michelle Satter, Founding Director of the Institute’s Feature Film Program, and the artistic direction of Gyula Gazdag, the projects selected for this year’s program include emerging filmmakers and projects from the United States, Italy, Romania, Australia, Algeria, France, Chile and the UK. Directors […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 8, 2012 -
SUNDANCE DIRECTOR’S LAB DIARY: SAODAT ISMAILOVA
The Sundance Director’s Lab is currently wrapping at the Sundance Institute in Utah, and we have two filmmakers blogging about their experience. First up is Uzbekistan writer/director Saodat Ismailova, whose project, 40 Days of Silence, is described like this: “Four generations of women under one roof in Uzbekistan look to each other for comfort as they try to overcome their destinies.” Yesterday, June 19th, the director’s lab came to the end. When I look back at the past three weeks of my life it already seems like it was more than a year ago… I will simply divide the process […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 24, 2010
