Dear Sundance Community,
Here at the Sundance Institute, this time of year is always a period of reflection. As we prepare for the Festival and January Screenwriters Lab, we want to take a moment to look back on some of our latest efforts to amplify and advocate for independent storytelling.
Over the last year, Sundance's founding mission - to support artists - has taken on new urgency. The impact of the pandemic continues to reverberate around the globe. Rising costs are affecting every facet of production. Cuts and consolidation are shaping our industry. In short: The world has changed, and so has the media landscape. In these tumultuous times, we look to artists to inspire and inform, to spark conversation and foster dialogue, to reflect the world around us and bring new perspectives to light.
Because of these extraordinary circumstances, earlier this year we made the difficult but crucial decision to focus our immediate work on film and episodic storytelling. This has allowed us to deepen our support for artists in those spaces, particularly those from underrepresented communities. We are proud of the fact that we have been able to respond to this trying moment for our artist community with new funding opportunities, increased intensive offerings, exciting pilot programs, a return to in-person collaboration, and opportunities for artists to connect directly with the industry.
All told, 1,089 artists received support this year through Sundance Labs, artist granting, fellowships, intensives, and the Festival, with thousands more emerging artists taking part in workshops, webinars and courses through Sundance Collab, our digital destination for learning and community. We are proud to let you know that, of Sundance-supported directors and producers who voluntarily shared their backgrounds, 66 percent are artists of color, 55 percent are women, 36 percent identify as LGBTQIA, and 8 percent have a disability. We also take seriously our responsibility to cultivate a diverse team of curators, programmers, screeners, and readers. Of the 277 people who make up our year-round staff curatorial team and the community of independent contractors who participate in the selection processes, 222 have shared their ethnic and racial background, and 185 (67 percent) identify as people of color. As we look ahead to the next year, we remain committed to transparency and equity, and will continue to share these metrics with our community and the industry.
In listening to artists about their needs and experiences, it has become abundantly clear that while the pandemic and economic downturn have been challenging for everyone, they have taken a particular toll on artists of color. This year saw the launch of several new initiatives, including many that mark the first time we have created programs for specific communities. For example, the Latine Fellowship and Collab Scholarship, designed in partnership with the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Sundance Institute board members Lyn Lear and Cindy Horn, provides support and professional development opportunities to emerging Latinx artists. While Latinx talent has always been part of the Sundance Institute, bringing these cross-disciplinary storytellers together is a chance to invest in artists who are telling valuable stories, build community, and increase Latinx representation at Sundance and across our industry.
We were equally thrilled to partner with The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to create a new fellowship and scholarship for Asian American and Pacific Islander artists. The experiences of Asian American and Pacific Islanders are part of the fabric of our country, and their stories - in all their diversity and multifacetedness - should be celebrated in film and television. We welcome this opportunity to cultivate AAPI talent and support these gifted storytellers in becoming leaders in their fields. In the coming months, we will be announcing similar programs for underrepresented artists, including a program for Muslim artists. Elevating and empowering storytellers from underrepresented communities is part of the DNA of the Sundance Institute and will continue to be a core priority across all of our programs.
The last year has sparked an important dialogue about the challenges facing nonfiction filmmakers in particular, who are increasingly finding it difficult (if not impossible) to make a living solely from their creative work. As a step toward addressing these issues of sustainability, we partnered with the National Endowment for the Humanities to create the Humanities Sustainability Fellowship. Together, we provided 20 stipends to non-fiction mediamakers and are providing these artists with mentorship and professional opportunities. We hope this will seed powerful, resonant projects that will elevate, explore, and protect democratic principles; contribute to the public discourse; and lead to new learnings about the potential of this type of funding.
In addition to funding, we've heard from artists that they are hungry for more opportunities to connect with the industry. Building these relationships is an important component of Sundance's commitment to investing in artists for the long-term. This year saw the launch of the Pitch Parlor, a new forum for creators to share Episodic Lab projects with industry professionals and audiences alike. We also launched ELEVATE, consolidating our work across programs to provide professional development, career strategies, and connections to industry for all current Sundance-selected artists.
Happily, this year also marked the return of many of our in-person initiatives. And, of course, we are overjoyed to bring the 2023 Festival back to Park City once again. There is nothing quite like the joy of coming together to disc
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
In a live broadcast from the Reagan National Defense Forum, L3Harris Chair and CEO Christopher Kubasik joined Morgan Brennan on CNBCs Closing Bell: Overtime. Ku...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Introducing New Perks to Help You Get Even More from LinkedIn Premium Published on Dec 5, 2025 Categories: Company News, Product News
LinkedIn Corporate Co...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
Dear Sundance Community,
