2019 Sundance Institute | Photo by Carolina Lindsay
By Carrie Lozano, Director, Documentary Film and Artist Programs
Long before the COVID-19 pandemic upended life in general, and halted production and distribution for many creatives, the nonfiction field was plagued by issues of sustainability. For several years, sustainability has been an urgent and vigorous topic of study, debate, and organizing, as more and more filmmakers find it difficult, if not impossible, to make a living solely on the basis of their creative work.
Despite the proliferation of distribution platforms, nonfiction independents find themselves with shrinking revenue streams and a diminished pool of philanthropic funding. This reality has led to an ongoing discussion among the nonprofit artist support community about the value of project funding versus direct support of individual artists and mediamakers. As nonprofit organizations, we understand the immense value of unrestricted funding: What if under-resourced nonfiction storytellers had access to those resources too? We at the Sundance Institute are about to find out.
While project-based funding will always remain core to the Institute's work, we are honored and privileged to pilot direct individual support through the Sundance Institute | Humanities Sustainability Fellowship, with funding provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan, which is providing economic relief to a wide swath of Americans. Our colleagues at Firelight Media and the Independent Television Service are also launching humanities initiatives as a result that will greatly expand the nonfiction field's humanities-based work.
Led by Hajnal Molnar-Szakacs, Director of Institute Granting, in collaboration with humanities experts, the Sundance Institute | Humanities Sustainability Fellowship will be open to individuals at all phases of their careers producing and/or directing humanities-focused feature-length documentary films, nonfiction audio/podcast projects, and nonfiction emerging media. Selected mediamakers will receive monthly stipends of $5,000 per month over the course of 12 months. Grantees will be paired with paid humanities advisors to support them throughout the year with dedicated mentorship, project advice, and other tailored non-financial support. Applicants can apply between October 15 and December 1, 2021. Together, the Sundance Institute, ITVS, and Firelight Media will create opportunities for more than 75 humanities mediamakers.
While the Institute will consider all humanities-related projects that meet the fellowship criteria, the NEH's More Perfect Union initiative is timely and inspiring, as it encourages mediamakers to explore both the founding and ongoing transgressions of our nation, as well as the promise of its founding ideals. Applicants are welcome, but not required, to use it as a framework.
This partnership also reflects and builds on several Institute priorities: to develop and support underrepresented makers and stories; to elevate, explore, and protect democratic principles; and to harness the power of the Institute's commitment to creative mediamakers across disciplines.
We hope that this fellowship seeds powerful and resonant humanities-based projects that meaningfully contribute to the public record and discourse, but we also look forward to what we will learn and share with the field about the impact and durability of sustainability funding.
After 40 years, the Sundance Institute's commitment to independent storytellers is unwavering. During the pandemic, we reimagined much of our support to buttress the artist support ecosystem, as well as artists in distress. Our partnership with the NEH will purposefully expand our community and the focus of our work during a time of both historic challenges and extraordinary possibilities.
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Bitmovin, a leading provider of video streaming infrastructure, and Akamai, the cybersecurity and cloud computing company that powers and protects business onli...
04/06/2026
American Underground (AU), the Startup Hub of the South and a community of mor...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
04/06/2026
NVIDIA and Microsoft Reinvent Windows PCs for the Age of Personal AI
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
RTX Spark - a 1-Petaflop Superchip, the Full...
04/06/2026
Inside the Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man Grade
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Simone Grattarola discusses shaping the look in DaVinci Resolve...
04/06/2026
Cine Gear Expo Announces 2026 Awards of Excellence Recipients
Brie Clayton June 3, 2026
0 Comments
Ed Lachman ASC, Caleb Deschanel ASC, and M. David M...
04/06/2026
St. Vincents Live with Orchestra Tour to Feature Berklee Alum Ruby Plume Berklee alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume will appear on the same bill across seven d...
04/06/2026
BackStory follows four Irish young people as they travel back to their parents' homelands
Modern Irish identity is enriched by cultures and influences from...
04/06/2026
June's forecast with GeForce NOW: 100% chance of gaming.
GeForce NOW is lining up new adventures for the month, from big-name blockbusters to quirky indies...
03/06/2026
SES and Viva, Mexico's ultra low-cost airline, have launched multi-orbit satellite inflight connectivity on Viva's Airbus aircraft. A total of 60 A320s ...
03/06/2026
The College Football Playoff, ESPN, and TNT Sports have announced kick times and...
03/06/2026
RED Digital Cinema will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 (Booth 33, June 5-6, Universal Studios Lot), hosting three panels and hands-on product demonstrations.
P...
03/06/2026
Roku has announced the Soccer Zone, a dedicated hub for FIFA World Cup 2026 content available across the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Argent...
03/06/2026
Liverpool FC and Wasabi Technologies have announced a multi-year extension of their partnership, with Wasabi continuing as the club's official cloud storage...
03/06/2026
Grass Valley has announced that Australian News Channel (ANC), operator of Sky News Australia, has deployed Grass Valley AMPP as part of the relocation of its n...
03/06/2026
The Riedel Group has announced the appointment of Gudrun Scharler as CEO of Riedel Networks. She succeeds Michael Martens, who has led Riedel Networks since 201...
03/06/2026
Clear-Com has announced the deployment of its intercom solutions at Itaka Arena ...
03/06/2026
Scott Coker has announced six senior executive appointments for his new global MMA promotion, which launched earlier this year with $60 million in financing. Ad...
03/06/2026
Telemundo, the exclusive Spanish-language home of the FIFA World Cup 2026, has announced its digital and social media programming for the tournament, running Ju...
03/06/2026
The Bundesliga has announced the launch of Captain, an AI assistant built into t...
03/06/2026
Anthony James Partners (AJP) is serving as technology consultant for a moderniza...
03/06/2026
Audio-Technica has announced the recipients of its annual sales rep firm awards for the 2025-26 fiscal year. The awards were presented by Jim Schanz, Executive ...
03/06/2026
iodyne will exhibit at Cine Gear Expo 2026 alongside RED Digital Cinema and Adob...
03/06/2026
The broadcaster will deploy 39 cameras for game coverage, six cameras for studio...
03/06/2026
The 2026 FIFA World Cup is providing a great opportunity for not only Fox Sports...
03/06/2026
Sony Electronics is introducing the SRG-AS10, a 4K 60p compatible PTZ Auto Framing camera that uses Sony's proprietary AI to automatically recognize and tra...
03/06/2026
Game Creek Video's Flagship A, B, C, and D unit will wind up its first year ...
03/06/2026
According to Caretta Research, the sports-rights market may be hitting the brake...
03/06/2026
Retrieval still courtesy of Tribeca.
By Jessica Herndon
This year, the Tribeca...
03/06/2026
Step sequencer-style panning tool revealed
Alongside their flagship self-titled sound-design platform, Sound Particles offer an array of creative effects an...
03/06/2026
Now features full H90 algorithm library
Eventide have announced the upcoming launch of the H9 Harmonizer Gen 2, a new and improved version of their hugely p...
03/06/2026
Significant discount available until 1 October 2026
Aim Audio have just announced a promotion that sees a significant discount applied to their Essence micr...
03/06/2026
Clarification: SBS's position on definitions of antisemitism
3 June, 2026
Media releases
Statement by Mandi Wicks, SBS Director of News and Current Aff...
03/06/2026
Rohde & Schwarz to supply CERTIUM advanced communications system to Memmingen Ai...
03/06/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
2019 Sundance Institute | Photo by Carolina Lindsay
