Sundance Institute Announces 2026 Producers Labs Fellows

LOS ANGELES, July 13, 2026 - Sundance Institute today announced the 10 producers selected to participate in its annual Producers Labs taking place July 13-18 for feature film producers and July 20-25 for documentary producers. For the third year, both labs will take place at Ucross Foundation in Clearmont, Wyoming. Since 2008, the Producers Program has been the Institute's mechanism for championing the crucial work done by independent producers, creating opportunities for support and increasing visibility for producers year-round. The annual Producers Labs are the focal point of the program.

The Producers Labs serve emerging independent film producers through project-specific support, including one-on-one meetings and curated group sessions with experienced producers and industry advisors. Fellows are encouraged to sharpen their problem-solving skills and expand their creative instincts as they refine strategies for pitching, financing, production, navigating the marketplace, and sustainability. The 2026 labs will include five fiction film and five nonfiction film producers, each working on their own project. Fellows in the Feature Film Producers Lab include Jaelyn Ellis with Likeness, Kara Grace Miller with Make Me a Pizza, Natalie Remplakowski with Sweetwater, Marie Alyse Rodriguez with How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water, and Sean Weiner with The End of All Rivers. Fellows in the Documentary Producers Lab include Chelsea Hernandez with The School of Hope, Vero Kompalic with Yosi, Hansen Lin with God Lives Here, Julia Pontecorvo with Unfiltered (working title), and Cherrelle Swain with Southmont Drive.

Advisors for the 2026 edition of the Feature Film Producers Lab are Allison Rose Carter (I Love Boosters), Deniese Davis (One of Them Days), Eugene Pikulin (Bruns Brennan Berry Pikulin & Jacobs PC), Lucas Joaquin (Death of a Unicorn), and Peter Saraf (The Farewell). The Documentary Producers Lab advisors are Andrea Meditch (Grizzly Man), Gema Ju rez Allen (The Castle), R mi Grellety (Soundtrack to a Coup d'Etat), Darcy McKinnon (Natchez), and Lance Kramer (Holding Liat).

This year's projects reflect extraordinary depth of vision, originality, and storytelling ambition, and we're proud to support the producers shepherding them, said Documentary Film Program and Artist Programs Director Kristin Feeley and Feature Film Program Producing and Artist Support Director Shira Rockowitz. Working in partnership with a remarkable network of accomplished producers and industry advisors, we look forward to working with these filmmakers from development through release, helping them navigate a dynamic landscape that necessitates curiosity, creativity, and grit.

After the lab concludes, producers engage in a yearlong fellowship that builds community, hones their entrepreneurial skills, broadens their network, and offers them the critical guidance and tools needed to lead a feature film from development through release. Sundance Institute support includes a yearlong mentorship from a dedicated advisor, industry connections, cohort gatherings, Sundance Collab benefits, and participation in Sundance Institute ELEVATE, the Institute's professional development track. Acknowledging the ever-evolving filmmaking landscape, the lab and fellowship include an additional emphasis on audience engagement strategy and innovative distribution models.

The Sundance Institute Producers Program proudly counts 185 fiction and nonfiction producer alumni, including Elijah Stevens, who produced the 2026 Sundance Film Festival premiere films Time and Water and Barbara Forever, the latter of which won the Jonathan Oppenheim Editing Award at the Festival and later the Best Documentary Film Teddy Award at the 2026 Berlinale; Dawne Langford, producer of Who Killed Alex Odeh?, which won the U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Journalistic Excellence at 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where Langford also won the Sundance Institute | Amazon MGM Studios Producers Award for Nonfiction; and Apoorva Charan, who produced the Tribeca Festival AT&T Untold Stories Award winner, Take Me Home, which played the 2026 Berlinale and Tribeca Festival after premiering at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, where Charan won the Sundance Institute | Amazon MGM Studios Producers Award for Fiction.

Other recent Producers Labs alumni include Pierre M. Coleman (Ricky), Deidre Backs (Fancy Dance), Keith Wilson (I Didn't See You There), and Kellen Quinn (Midnight Family). Producers Program alumni have also garnered Academy Award nominations and wins for All the Beauty and the Bloodshed, Beasts of the Southern Wild (win), Minding the Gap, Moonlight (win), Navalny (win), Nomadland (win), Sugarcane, and Time.

PROJECTS AND FELLOWS SELECTED FOR THE 2026 SUNDANCE INSTITUTE PRODUCERS LABS:

Feature Film Program

Jaelyn Ellis with Likeness (U.S.A.): When a Black San Francisco tech worker is laid off after AI replaces his job, he hires a white actor to impersonate him in job interviews, only to discover the stand-in has plans of his own.

Jaelyn Ellis, 2026 Mark Silverman Honor awardee, is an NYC-based producer. She has a proven record as a line producer and unit production manager. Under Craft House Pictures, she's produced shorts that have screened at ShortFest, HollyShorts, and NewFest, and is currently in post-production on her debut feature as a lead producer.

Kara Grace Miller with Make Me a Pizza (U.S.A.): After an affair with a pizza guy unleashes a Pizza Goddess, a hungry woman seizes a chance to escape her unfulfilling life. In this adaptation of the viral short film, she makes a pact to feed the deity more delivery men, until an unholy pregnancy threatens to expose her secret.

Kara Grace Miller has produced narrative work screened at SXSW, Beyond Fest, and Sitges Film Festival, as well as documentary work included i

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