Dear friends,
I love this time of year because our transformative labs have just taken place, bringing together our Sundance Institute community. The artists we supported are now continuing the development of their ground-breaking projects that will become the culture-shifting films of tomorrow.
For more than 40 years, Sundance Institute has launched filmmaking careers, sparked creative partnerships, and nurtured a vibrant and connected community that has shaped independent film for generations. Our labs are the cornerstone of this essential year-round work.
As you know, this is an incredibly challenging moment for the arts and nonprofit organizations everywhere. In moments like these, supporting independence in storytelling becomes even more urgent, lest we miss out on a world of diverse perspectives, fierce creativity, and transformative visions.
Programs like our Sundance labs depend on the generous support of this community. If you are able, please consider making a donation to ensure that independent artists with bold visions can continue to gather each summer for this once-in-a-lifetime creative experience.
At the heart of everything we do is a belief that storytelling connects us to our shared humanity and why supporting the arts is crucial. That simple yet powerful idea was on full display at this year’s summer labs, beginning with the Native Lab in Santa Fe, which focuses on the unique voices of Indigenous storytellers working in features and episodic work.
Our Directors Lab, which took place this year at the historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, brought together nine wildly talented fellows to workshop pivotal scenes in their work. They had the opportunity to rehearse, shoot, and edit with the support of a stellar crew and actors. There were many unforgettable moments, but the screenings and conversations with creative advisors Siân Heder (CODA), Karyn Kusama (Girlfight), André Holland (Exhibiting Forgiveness), and Andrew Haigh (All of Us Strangers) were such intimate and inspired learning experiences.
It was wonderful having former fellows Miguel Arteta, Rick Famuyiwa, Siân Heder, and Reinaldo Marcus Green join artistic director Gyula Gazdag and our generous group of creative advisors, coming full circle to give back to a next generation of filmmakers. The lab culminated in a heartfelt closing circle where everyone shared their growth and profound insights. Fellow Casey Modderno put it beautifully: “I’m so endlessly grateful, and so inspired by the lab, and in awe of what Sundance has built out of pure love of our art.”
Our Screenwriters Lab (held online in early June) offered fellows the opportunity to engage in one-on-one sessions with advisors, which were crucial to the development of their scripts. Highlights included a master class on crafting powerful endings led by the lab’s artistic director, Howard Rodman, with Susannah Grant, Meg LeFauve, Jenny Lumet, Tamara Jenkins, and Reggie Rock Bythewood, as well as a special session with Cord Jefferson discussing his adaptation of the Academy Award–winning American Fiction.
Our Producers Lab took place in beautiful Ucross, Wyoming. We were overjoyed to be at this special artist retreat center to bring together an extraordinary group of 10 emerging producers with visionary industry leaders to find the most strategic ways to navigate the ever-changing independent film industry.
The summer labs continued with Ignite Lab at MASS MoCA, supporting 10 early-career creators between the ages of 18–25. We rounded out the summer with intensives: the Documentary Edit Intensive at the Jacob Burns Film Center, the Trans Possibilities Intensive online, and we have one to come, the Indigenous Intensive x Hawai‘i.
Sundance labs are sacred spaces for profound learning, confidence-building, and creative risk-taking. It meant so much to hear from participants that the labs continue to hold the magic and heart that are core to our mission. They are truly a labor of love and a direct product of the generosity of creative advisors, staff, crew, actors, volunteers, and all of the supporters who contribute to these programs. Fellow Keisha Rae Witherspoon summed up the experience of countless lab participants, saying: “I feel like a different person. I’ve undergone a personal and professional evolutionary leap. I won’t be going back to the same person I was when I got here.” This impact is exactly why we do this work each year, and it is
felt by all of us.
For me, each day I spent at the labs this summer was filled with immense gratitude to experience such meaningful change for artists, endless joy at witnessing the creative process unfold, and an overwhelming appreciation for the community we are all building together every day. The determination, resilience, and boundless creativity of artists in the face of many obstacles during critical times only underscore the urgency of our core mission: to uplift artists and ensure that storytellers can sustain themselves through their work. Please join us in supporting these artists and
programs!
Thank you for being part of this community — it means so much to share this work with you, and we hope that you’ll make time to go to watch movies at theaters this summer.
With gratitude,
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