Sundance Institute
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Quick Takeaways from Sundance Artist Services Distribution Workshop in Seattle
Launched in 2011, the Sundance Institute’s Artist Services program was initially designed to help Sundance alumni filmmakers get their work in front of audiences in a shifting industry environment in which DIY distribution strategies were increasingly an option. While digital distribution opportunities continue to be offered to Institute alumni, Artist Services has expanded its educational initiatives and online resources to include all indie filmmakers, not just ones who have screened at Sundance. Through online resources, live workshops, and a network of allied organizations, the program provides support and insights on creative funding, marketing, and distribution. Artist Services also holds daylong events around the […]
by Paula Bernstein on Oct 11, 2016 -
Attention, Young Filmmakers: This Could Be Your Chance to Go to Sundance
For the second year in a row, Adobe Project 1324 and Sundance Institute are teaming up for a short film challenge to find bold new voices in the next generation of filmmakers. If you’re a filmmaker between the ages of 18 and 24, you can create and submit an original one to eight minute film exploring the theme “What’s Next?” “We encourage you to respond as broadly or specifically to the prompt as possible,” advises the Adobe Project 1324 web site. According to the Sundance Institute, films will be evaluated for technical excellence, demonstration of an original voice, innovative storytelling and strong […]
by Paula Bernstein on Sep 7, 2016 -
Sundance Institute New Frontier / Jaunt VR Residency Program Inducts Three New Projects
Sundance Institute and Jaunt Studios have announced their latest class of creatives to join the Sundance Institute New Frontier | Jaunt VR Residency Program. Daniel Arsham, Yung Jake, and Lily Baldwin & Saschka Unseld will participate in the six-month immersive residency. During the program, the artists will experiment with new ways of delivering narrative through cinematic virtual reality. They will also receive a grant to make their virtual reality short films. In addition, they will receive post-production support and access to Jaunt’s professional cinematic VR camera, Jaunt ONE, as well as its suite of production pipeline tools, and Jaunt Cloud Services (JCS), which include […]
by Paula Bernstein on Aug 18, 2016 -
Sundance Labs Announce 25 Film and Theater Projects and New “Multi-Lab” Setting
The Sundance Institute today announced the anticipated rosters for its Screenwriters Lab, Documentary Edit and Story Lab and new Theatre-Makers Residency as well as a major now presentation change. For the first time, these labs will run concurrently in a “multi-Lab” format at the Sundance Resort in Utah. But the format is not just an alteration of the calendar. Individual Lab Fellows will participate in portions of the other labs, giving these Sundance programs an interdisciplinary flavor. Said Keri Putnam, Sundance Executive Director, in a statement, “The unique gathering of independent voices, for the first time in a multi-Lab setting, […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 8, 2016 -
Sundance Institute Launches FilmTwo Initiative to Support Second Features
While making a first film is notoriously difficult, making a second film can often be even more challenging. To help a talented crop of filmmakers avoid the dreaded “sophomore slump,” the Sundance Institute today unveiled the FilmTwo Initiative. Led by the Institute’s Feature Film Program, with support from Founding Partner NBCUniversal, the FilmTwo Initiative will offer 13 directors creative and strategic guidance in navigating the unique challenges of making their second feature films. The inaugural FilmTwo Fellows are Andrew Ahn (Spa Night), Shaz Bennett (Alaska is a Drag), Bernardo Britto (Jacqueline (Argentine)), Steven Caple Jr. (The Land), Jonas Carpignano (Mediterranea), Marta Cunningham […]
by Paula Bernstein on May 17, 2016 -
Long-Term Care: How to Archive Your Film
Your film is done. Audiences have laughed and cried while watching it. You got a week-long run in New York and Los Angeles. Soon your aunt in Springfield will be able to watch it on Netflix and have a strained telephone conversation about how “interesting” it is. On to the next project! Not so fast. You need to archive your film now. Put down your storyboard for your next picture and help preserve your old one first. The Film Foundation estimates that “one half of all films made before 1950, and over 80 percent made before 1929 are lost forever.” […]
by Sergio Andrés Lobo-Navia on Jan 20, 2016 -
Sundance Institute Announces Eight Projects for Documentary Edit and Story Labs
The Sundance Institute has announced the eight projects that will take part in their Documentary Edit and Story lab at the Sundance Resort in June and July. All participating projects are in the advanced stages of post-production and will work on their rough cuts in the two-part lab. This year’s Creative Advisors include Marshall Curry (Point and Shoot), Geoffrey Richman (Racing Extinction), Kate Amend (The Case Against 8), Richard Hankin (God Loves Uganda), Victor Livingston (The Queen of Versailles) and more. The full list of projects and synopses is below. The Bad Kids Director: Keith Fulton & Lou Pepe Editor: Jacob Bricca At […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Jun 15, 2015 -
At Sundance Producers Brunch, Mark and Jay Duplass Offer Ten Pieces of Advice for Making Movies Today
Keynote speakers at today’s Producers Brunch at the Sundance Film Festival, independent powerhouses Jay and Mark Duplass issued a passionate and witty call to all the producers in the jam-packed house: keep making small movies. At an event that saw their own producing partner, Stephanie Langhoff, receive the Sundance Institute Red Crown Producers Award, they told producers to learn from their own decision to stay invested in the independent sector after receiving a measure of larger Hollywood success. Along with Sundance Dramatic Competition entry The Bronze, which Langhoff produced, the Duplass Brothers have, as executive producers,two other productions at the […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 25, 2015 -
Sundance Institute Announces 2014 New Frontier Story Lab Participants
The Sundance Institute has announced the six projects set for this year’s New Frontier Story Lab, a hands-on initiative for developing content that converges at the intersection of “film, visual art, media, live performance, music and technology.” The 2014 creative teams and projects are Karim Ben Khelifa and Chloé Jarry (The Enemy), Dandypunk and Darin Basile (Heart Corps), Tracy Fullerton and Lucas Peterson (Walden, A Game), Braden King and Matthew Moore (Weather), Hasan Minhaj and Greg Walloch (Sakoon/Paint The Town) and Navid and Vassiliki Khonsari (1979 Revolution). Previously supported projects include #PostModem (from 25 New Faces Jillian Mayer and Lucas Leyva), Kill […]
by Sarah Salovaara on Oct 6, 2014 -
43 Takeaways from Sundance Artist Services Day at the IFP Filmmaker Conference
“The most important task is to make great movies,” said Sundance Institute Executive Director Keri Putnam at the start of Thursday’s Artist Services Workshop at IFP’s Filmmaker Conference. “All this talk about audiences is meaningless unless you have something in your heart you want to get out there.” However, Putnam’s comments were not to construe that filmmakers shouldn’t think about the rapidly changing world of distribution, marketing and audience building. As Putnam went on to say, it is “easier, less expensive to make a movie, but no easier to find an audience. There is a volume of movies and a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Sep 22, 2014
