Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Sundance Institute Names 20 Fellows Across Feature Film Directors and Screenwriters Labs, Native Lab

11/05/2021

PARK CITY, UTAH - The Sundance Institute today named the artists and projects selected for the first group of the upcoming signature summer Labs including 12 fellows for the Directors and Screenwriters Labs and 9 fellows participating in the Native Lab (one fellow will participate in both Labs). The Labs provide a space for writers and directors to spend time developing their craft and selected projects. Elements of this year's Labs will take place digitally via Sundance Collab. At the heart of the Institute's commitment to supporting and cultivating artists, these Labs connect a curated selection of independent storytellers with the larger creative and artistic community, enabling fieldwide benefits as Creative Advisors and Industry Mentors generously give back, inspire, and learn from rising artists.

During the Directors Lab (June 1 - July 2, 2021), filmmakers will participate in a robust schedule of learning opportunities focusing on key areas of craft including directing actors, exploring the visual storytelling language of their films, and building a creatively rigorous pre-production process. They will engage with advisors through roundtable discussions, presentations, and one-on-one meetings and have the opportunity to rehearse, shoot, and edit a scene from their work-in-progress screenplays as an exercise in their home location. The Screenwriters Lab (July 6 - 9, 2021) will include one-on-one story sessions and customized support for the continued development of their original and timely screenplays.

The Native Lab (May 10 - 21, 2021) focuses on the specific development of storytellers from Native and Indigenous backgrounds, encompassing feature film, episodic work, and general cultivation of Artists-in-Residence. Participating are Native Lab Fellows, 2 Artists-in-Residence, and 3 Indigenous Program Full Circle Fellows, supported by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (U.S.-based Native artists, aged 18-24). During the Lab, Fellows will hone their storytelling and technical skills in a hands-on and supportive environment, including one-on-one feedback sessions with advisors and roundtable discussions. With Fellows working across both feature and episodic formats, they will also explore and discuss indigenizing their creative practices in regard to writing their scripts.

These Labs are organized under the aegis of Feature Film Program Founding Director Michelle Satter, FFP Deputy Director Ilyse McKimmie, and Indigenous Program Director N. Bird Runningwater, and are a key part of the Institute's year-round continuum of customized artist support, including creative mentorship, direct granting, and tactical advice from Institute staff and industry professionals.

We're thrilled to be launching such a visionary group of filmmakers who have met this years challenges with an unstoppable resilience and spirit of collaboration and creativity, said Satter. Their stories bear witness to the world were living in, and give voice to characters and worlds that are both deeply personal and universal. Were excited to provide meaningful and holistic mentorship and connections to these artists, and be part of their burgeoning creative and career development as writers and directors.

Support for Indigenous storytellers has been part of the Institute's mission since its founding, said Runningwater. We're excited to nurture this cohort of filmmakers and their stories, strengthening the Indigenous lens through which their stories are being told and supporting them along their creative journey to the screen and audiences.

Creative Advisors for the Native Lab include: James Ashcroft, Kat Candler, Aurora Guerrero, and Jennifer Reeder.

Creative Advisors for the Directors Lab include: Directors Miguel Arteta, Joan Darling, Rick Famuyiwa, Gyula Gazdag (Artistic Director, Directors Lab), Lesli Linka Glatter, Keith Gordon, Randa Haines, Kasi Lemmons, Ira Sachs, Walter Salles, Joan Tewkesbury; DP's Charlotte Bruus Christensen, Robert Elswit, Stephen Goldblatt, Bradford Young; Editors Joi McMillon, Michelle Tesoro and Dylan Tichenor, and Casting Directors Jodi Angstreich, Eyde Belasco, Maribeth Fox, Richard Hicks. Creative Advisors for the Screenwriters Lab include: Naomi Foner, John Gatins, Gyula Gazdag, Felicia Henderson, Amanda Idoko, Br ulio Mantovani, Malia Scotch Marmo, Tracy Oliver, Howard Rodman (Artistic Director, Screenwriters Lab), Tyger Williams, and Doug Wright.

The Sundance Institute Feature Film Program is supported by explore.org, a direct charitable activity of the Annenberg Foundation; Alfred P. Sloan Foundation; Will & Jada Smith Family Foundation; Maja Kristin; NBCUniversal; Hollywood Foreign Press Association; Karen Lauder; Ray and Dagmar Dolby Family Fund; Sandra and Malcolm Berman Charitable Foundation; Comedy Central; National Endowment for the Arts; NHK/NHK Enterprises, Inc.; Amazon Studios; Kimberly Steward-K Period Media; SAGindie; Philip Fung-A3 Foundation; Rosalie Swedlin and Robert Cort; Directors Guild of America; Deborah Reinisch and Michael Theodore Fund; and Writers Guild of America West.

The Sundance Institute Indigenous Program is supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, WarnerMedia, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Nia Tero Foundation, Indigenous Screen Office, SAGindie, New Zealand Film Commission, Jenifer and Jeffrey Westphal, Indigenous Media Initiatives, Felix Culpa, Sarah Luther, and Susan Shilliday.

Fellows and projects selected for the 2021 Native Lab:

Miciana Alise (Tlingit)

Mia, Too

In this life, a womans biggest challenges are the love she chooses to accept, the tough love of a well-meaning mother, and the absence of love that heartbreak leaves behind. Mia will have to face them all in order to find a way to finally love herself.

Miciana Al
LINK: http://www.sundance.org/blogs/news/2021-directors-screenwriters-labs-n...
See more stories from sundance

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

04/08/2026

Dalet Announces Commercial Availability of Dalia, Bringing Media-Aware Agentic AI to Enterprise Productions

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

04/07/2026

Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in Dolby Cinemas Across Japan, Presented in Dolby Atmos and Dolby ...

April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...

03/06/2026

Clear-Com Powers Itaka Arena with Arcadia Central Station and FreeSpeak II beltpacks

eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...

03/06/2026

Comcast Xfinity to Deliver 4K Coverage of FIFA World Cup 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Sony to Show New PTZ Cameras at InfoComm 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Oklahoma City Thunder Tops Nielsen Ranking of Most Viewed NBA Teams

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

SmallHD Introduces OLED 16 4K Production Monitor

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

ANDREW WILSON DELIVERS AUTHENTIC SOUND FOR FILM USING NU...

For more than three decades, Re-recording Mixer Andrew Wilson, AMPS, CAS, has helped bring the natural world to the screen with exceptional audio enjoyed by mil...

03/06/2026

From Stadiums to Campuses to Corporate Studios- Telestrea...

Telestream, a global leader in media workflow technologies, will showcase its latest innovations for modern AV production environments at InfoComm 2026 (Booth N...

03/06/2026

DPA ADVANCES INTEGRATED AUDIO SOLUTIONS FOR PRO AV ENVIR...

DPA Microphones will present a comprehensive portfolio of integrated audio solutions designed to meet the evolving needs of today's professional AV environm...

03/06/2026

Lightware Expands Gemini GVN With Full-Featured USB-C

Lightware announces the GVN-HC-TX220AP, a new transmitter in the Gemini GVN 1G AV-over-IP family that introduces full-featured USB-C for professional 1Gb AV-ove...

03/06/2026

Minno Teams with Evergent to Enhance Faith-Based Streamin...

Evergent, the customer management and monetization leader for streaming and digital subscription businesses, and Minno, the global leader in faith-based content...

03/06/2026

Alfalite brings its LED technology to RTVE iconic Teatro...

Alfalite, Europe's only LED display manufacturer, has completed a new broadcast installation with the deployment of two UHD Finepix 1.5 MATIX AlfaCOB LED di...

03/06/2026

Broadcast Solutions delivers new Ultra HD outside broadca...

Broadcast Solutions, a leading systems integrator and provider of innovative solutions for the broadcast media industry, is completing a contract to build eight...

03/06/2026

NAB Launches Merkhet Solutions to Advance Deployment of BPS

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

FCC Kicks Off First Spectrum Auction in Four Years

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Utopai Studios Launches Pai 2.0, Cinematic Storytelling AI System

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Roku Introduces NHL Zone

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Study: Record Revenue Expected for FIFA World Cup 2026

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Frequency Launches In-Scene Advertising

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

03/06/2026

Creamsource Introduces Vortex2 and Vortex2 Soft

Creamsource, known for its tried-and-true Vortex Series of cinematic lighting, has announced the Vortex2 (V2) and Vortex2 Soft (V2S), two compact additions to t...

03/06/2026

Do not read this media release! Andy Lee's smash-hit show returns to ABC this July

Do not read this media release! Andy Lee's smash-hit show returns to ABC thi...

03/06/2026

Faster, More Flexible AI Matting Fuels Boris FX Silhouette

Faster, More Flexible AI Matting Fuels Boris FX Silhouette Jessie Electa Petrov June 2, 2026 0 Comments The 2026 release helps artists tackle complex ...

03/06/2026

La Tl's National League Hockey Expansion Powered by Blackmagic Design

La T l 's National League Hockey Expansion Powered by Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton June 2, 2026 0 Comments Blackmagic Videohub 120 120 12G provi...

03/06/2026

ZY Optics to Offer Exclusive First Look at Zone T1 Cine Kit at Cine Gear Expo 2026

ZY Optics to Offer Exclusive First Look at Zone T1 Cine Kit at Cine Gear Expo 20...

03/06/2026

Berklee Alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume to Perform Together on St. Vincents 2026 Live with Orchestra Tour

Berklee Alumni St. Vincent and Ruby Plume to Perform Together on St. Vincents 20...

03/06/2026

Built Different: Inside Colossal Biosciences & the Big Bet ...

Built Different: Inside Colossal Biosciences & the Big Bet to Make Extinction Reversible Published on Jun 3, 2026 Categories: Featured News LinkedIn Corpor...

03/06/2026

NVIDIA Enables the Next Era Of Physical AI Research With Agent Skills For Autonomous Vehicles, Robotics And Vision AI

At CVPR, NVIDIA is unveiling new physical AI agent skills that help researchers ...

03/06/2026

NVIDIA Research Unlocks Advanced Grasping, Smarter Autonomous Driving and Agent Training at Scale

What makes a robot gripper useful isn't that it can pick up one object - it&...

03/06/2026

RT unveils Heineken 0.0 as broadcast sponsor of FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage

RT has today announced Heineken 0.0 as the broadcast sponsor of their FIFA World Cup 2026 coverage. The sponsorship, brokered by Dentsu, will see Heineken 0....

02/06/2026

Case Study: Tennis Channel Transitions From Satellite to IP Distribution With LTN

Tennis Channel has completed a transition from satellite-based distribution to a...

02/06/2026

Daktronics Announces 2026 High School Video Summit for June 23-24

Daktronics has announced the 2026 High School Video Summit, a two-day educational event for high school educators and student production teams, taking place Jun...

02/06/2026

Fandango to Screen Telemundos FIFA World Cup 2026 Coverage at 160 Theaters Nationwide

Fandango will bring Telemundo's live Spanish-language coverage of the FIFA W...

02/06/2026

AWSN Announces Broadcast Schedule for Inaugural Professional Softball League Season

All Women's Sports Network (AWSN) has announced the live television schedule...

02/06/2026

Spalk Announces Partnerships with Ligue 1, Euroleague, and LNB

Spalk, a cloud-based multilingual commentary and production platform, has announced three new partnerships: Ligue 1 (English and Portuguese highlights), Eurolea...

02/06/2026

NHL Network Announces Stanley Cup Final Programming Schedule

NHL Network's 2026 Stanley Cup Final coverage began June 1 with NHL Tonight: Stanley Cup Final Media Day from the Carolina Hurricanes' Lenovo Center at ...

02/06/2026

Matrox Video Launches Maevex MGX Series IPMX-Ready AV-over-IP Encoders and Decoders

Matrox Video has announced the Maevex MGX Series, a lineup of IPMX-ready video e...

02/06/2026

Marshall Electronics to Exhibit IP Camera Lineup at InfoComm 2026

Marshall Electronics will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C7521), showcasing a lineup of 4K and HD compact POV cameras for corporate, education, hospitality, wo...

02/06/2026

PAMA and Shure Extend Deadline for Mark Brunner Professional Audio Scholarship to June 15

The Professional Audio Manufacturers Alliance (PAMA) and Shure Incorporated have...

02/06/2026

MultiDyne To Debut FiberSaver-10G and New VersaBrix Frame Options at InfoComm 2026

MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will exhibit at InfoComm 2026 (Booth C50...

02/06/2026

Advanced Systems Group Promotes Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO

Advanced Systems Group (ASG) has announced the promotion of Joe Marchitto to Western Regional CTO. In his new role, Marchitto will oversee system design across ...

02/06/2026

Brothers Osborne To Perform Free Concert Outside Lenovo Center Before Stanley Cup Final Game 1

The NHL has announced that Brothers Osborne will headline a free outdoor concert...

02/06/2026

CP Communications Names First Female Executives in Company History

CP Communications has announced the appointment of its first two female executives in the company's 40-year history. Tabitha Coleman has been named Vice Pre...

02/06/2026

Lighting Design Group Designs Broadcast Studio for Yahoo at 770 Broadway

The Lighting Design Group (LDG) has announced the completion of Studio C at Yahoo's headquarters at 770 Broadway in Manhattan. The studio launched April 24 ...

02/06/2026

Zee Entertainment Acquires FIFA Media Rights for India Through 2034

Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (Z) has announced a partnership with FIFA to broadcast FIFA World Cup 2026, FIFA World Cup 2030, FIFA Women's World Cup 2...

02/06/2026

Behind The Mic: Prime Sports UK Shares On Air Roster for NBA Finals; and More

Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, including new deals, departures, and assignments compiled from press releases and repo...

02/06/2026

Auburn Universitys Parker Leppien on the Nonstop Growth of War Eagle Productions

The department is broadcasting NCAA Baseball Super Regionals at Plainsman Park this weekend Broadcast and production crews at Division I institutions are busy ...

02/06/2026

With Stanley Cup Final Set To Begin, NHL and Honeywell Lay Foundation for Energy-Efficient Venues

The initiative is extends beyond the league's arenas to team training rinks,...

02/06/2026

Release Rundown: What to Watch in June, From Leviticus to The Invite

Olivia Wilde, Seth Rogen, Pen lope Cruz, and Edward Norton appear in The Invite by Olivia Wilde, an official selection of the 2026 Sundance Film Festival. (Co...