Annual Report Fiscal Year 2015 Our Work 08
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
ANNUAL REPORT FISCAL YEAR 2015 OUR WORK 08 ARTIST SUPPORT 11 PUBLIC PROGRAMS 35 TRANSFORMATIVE SUPPORT 42 INSTITUTIONAL HEALTH 44 FOCUS ON THE ARTIST 45 2 “ There will always be new terrain to explore as long as there are artists willing to take risks, who tell their stories without compromise. And Sundance will be here - to provide a range of support and a creative community in which a new idea or distinctive view is championed.” ROBERT REDFORD PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER Nia DaCosta and Robert Redford, Little Woods, 2015 Directors Lab, Photo by Brandon Cruz SUNDANCE INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT 2015 3 WELCOME ROBERT REDFORD PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER PAT MITCHELL CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES KERI PUTNAM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR I also want to thank the nearly 750 independent artists who As we close another year spent supporting extraordinary shared their work with us last year. We supported them Sundance Institute offers an environment and opportunities The health, vitality, and diversity of the Institute’s year-round artists and sharing their work with audiences around the through our 25 residency Labs, provided direct grants for artists to take risks, experiment, and fail without fear. programs are a testament to both the independent artists world, it is my pleasure to share with you the Sundance of nearly $3 million, awarded fellowships and structured We see failure not as an end but as an essential step in the who are inspired to tell their unique stories as well as the Institute Annual Report — filled with insight into the nature mentorship, and of course celebrated and launched their road. The original idea of taking storytellers away from the many partners and supporters who make our work possible. and impact of our work, and standout projects and moments new work through the platform of the Sundance Film Festival. distractions of daily life and inviting them into a setting of Because of your generosity, we are able to provide a safe from the past 12 months. Your support as a member of our community, whether as an natural beauty and a place where they can develop their work harbor for artists developing new and daring work, and to artist alumni, member, donor, foundation, or partner, enabled continues to yield remarkable creativity. share that work with audiences around the world. Sundance Institute is dedicated to supporting the creation this work and allows it to continue. We are grateful to you for We are grateful for the generosity of a community that has As we look ahead, your creative and financial support is of independent stories for screen and stage that speak to supporting independent artists whose stories have the power given their time and resources along the way. Their reward as important as ever. It allows us to continue building our our shared humanity. Our mission to discover, develop, and to shift perspectives and transform culture. It is their drive to is no more than knowing they have helped an artist find their programs and seeking out new and diverse independent support independent artists is seen not just in our programs create, to observe, to inform, and to ask the tough questions, voice who in turn may show us a new way of looking at the voices that illuminate our culture and deepen our but also in the quality and originality of the resulting work — that in turn drives our work at Sundance Institute. world. understanding of the world we live in. This is an exhilarating stories that delight and entertain, challenge preconceived time for us, and working with Bob Redford, Keri Putnam and views, elicit compassion, provide new perspectives, push KERI PUTNAM We constantly challenge ourselves to remain open to change the rest of the Board and Institute leadership, we see a future creative boundaries, and ignite passions. and surprise. When we started this we did not know how long with exciting opportunities for independent storytellers and it would last. At the 35-year mark, I am proud that Sundance adventurous audiences. I want to recognize both our wonderful Board of Trustees and Institute continues to explore new ideas and new ways of our talented staff for their rigor, passion, and creativity, which working. PAT MITCHELL contribute immeasurably to making Sundance Institute the With all of the rapid changes over the past three decades, it dynamic, responsive, and constantly evolving organization it is. turns out that a place, surrounded by nature, uninterrupted, where artists can push themselves and their work, away from distractions and market pressures, is just as important now as it was when we started. ROBERT REDFORD SUNDANCE INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT 2015 4 TODAY the Institute supports storytellers working in film, theatre, film music, new media, episodic storytelling, and more. Many of today’s most creative and daring artists are counted among the 10,627 Institute alumni. Each year the Sundance Film Festival introduces groundbreaking new work and emerging talent to OUR STORY Robert Redford founded the Institute in 1981 to foster a global audience. And a independence, risk-taking, and new host of public programs voices in American film. That year, ten emerging filmmakers were invited connect artists with to Sundance Resort in the mountains of audiences to share fresh Utah, where they worked with leading writers, directors, and actors to develop voices and inspire new ideas their original independent projects. throughout the year. SUNDANCE INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT 2015 5 OUR OUR MISSION VISION Sundance Institute is a nonprofit As the leading champion and curator organization dedicated to the of independent stories, Sundance discovery and development of Institute provides and preserves the independent artists and audiences. space for artists to create and thrive, Through its programs, the Institute inspiring audiences to join them seeks to discover, support, and inspire in igniting new ideas that have the independent film and theatre artists power to transform culture. from the United States and around the world, and to introduce audiences to their new work. Ed Harris and Robert Redford, Eggplant, 2015 Directors Lab, Photo by Brandon Cruz SUNDANCE INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT 2015 6 OUR GOALS 1. 3. Discover and support the most Grow and inspire exciting independent storytelling our community artists throughout the world 4. 2. Maintain financial discipline, Introduce and connect audiences organizational excellence, and a to the best new independent work culture that reflects our values 2015 Sundance Institute Music And Sound Design Lab At Skywalker Sound: Documentary, Photo by Lauren Janney SUNDANCE INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT 2015 7 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL OUR WORK LABS & RETREATS The premier showcase for Creative Producing the best independent films Directors Documentary Edit Episodic ADVOCACY & RESEARCH SUNDANCE NEXT FEST Film Music and Sound Design Field Diversity Research Native Filmmakers A four-day film GRANTS, FELLOWSHIPS National Arts Policy Round Table New Frontier and music festival & AWARDS Transparency Project Screenwriters in downtown L.A. Artist Services Grants Theatre DEEPEN OUR Creative Producing Fellowship Theatre Directors Retreat SHORTS TOUR UNDERSTANDING Documentary Fund Theatre Playwrights Retreat Traveling films to 59 cities Feature Film Fund across the country Knight Fellowship DELIGHT Native American and Indigenous Program Fellowship & ENTERTAIN Time Warner Fellowship with aud Women at Sundance Fellowship is shared iences aw ork and akenin /her w g new his SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: id ites eas gn HONG KONG SELECTS wit t i h tis A line up of films and conversations th CREATE ar e p he that takes a slice of the Sundance DISTRIBUTION ON ow EMPATHY n t er hi Film Festival to Hong Kong. DIGITAL PLATFORMS to it tr y w EXTENDED SUPPORT PUSH CREATIVE an or Artist Services BOUNDARIES sf st SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL: or e Catalyst Forum m h LONDON c T New Frontier Residency u . A three-day music and lt re Screenwriting Intensive u tu film festival at The O2 re ul Theatre Post-Lab Support . T c Women at Sundance Finance Intensive h m FILM FORWARD e r st fo Taking independent films LEAD TO or s PUBLIC WORKSHOPS on the road, to eight SOCIAL CHANGE y n a INTERNATIONAL LABS Artist Services Workshops locations around the Good Pitch w r CHALLENGE t & FELLOWSHIPS Documentary Editing Workshop it o world, in partnership Impact Initiative OUR BELIEFS h t !F-Sundance Screenwriters Lab: Turkey i r Film Music Program Workshop with U.S. Federal Skoll Foundation Stories of Change n e ChileDoc: Outreach and Engagement Workshop Native Filmmakers Workshop Cultural Agencies Sundance Institute Short Film Challenge th w CNEX Documentary Workshop and Summit: China New Frontier Workshop e o p Drishyam Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab: India Native Filmmakers + New Frontier Workshops a e rt h Greenhouse Pitching Forum and Workshop Shorts Labs i t s Italy Screenwriters Workshop t th ig i LUMA Theatre Directors Retreat: France n w NHK Sundance Screenwriters Workshop SUNDANCE INSTITUTE ANNUAL REPORT 2015 8 i s te a Rawi Middle East Screenwriters Lab:Jordan s e h d i is / w h e e n r g w n o i r n k e k a a n d w i a s s s e h c a n r e e d d u w a i t h t PROGRAM STATS ARTISTS SUPPORTED IN 2015, THE INSTITUTE SUPPORTED HUNDREDS OF 747 ARTISTS. AUDIENCES FOR OUR PUBLIC PROGRAMS FROM COUNTRIES EXCEEDED 100,000. AND MILLIONS OF PEOPLE 48 EXPERIENCED THE 155 SUNDANCE-SUPPORTED FILMS AND PLAYS THAT MADE THEIR WAY TO SCREENS AND STAGES AROUND THE WORLD. HERE IS A SNAPSHOT OF THE YEAR - BY THE NUMBERS. 25X RESIDENCY LABS PUBLIC EVENTS INCLUDING ARTIST