Sundance Institute

For four decades, the Sundance name has been synonymous with championing independent cinema. Through the Sundance Institute, the Sundance Film Festival, and so many other programs, their bold, intersectional, inclusive leadership creates an exciting pipeline and a supportive home for original voices in storytelling.

Our core partnership with Sundance has supported the Women at Sundance Leadership Council which gathers major donors, the Women at Sundance program helping women filmmakers build their skills and resumes, the Momentum Fellowship program (formerly Women At Sundance Fellowship) that offers support to mid-career filmmakers from underrepresented groups, the Harnisch Coaching Program (in partnership with Renee Freedman & Co.) for filmmakers to help them overcome barriers to their personal and professional success as they build sustainable careers, Film Financing Strategy Intensives that help moviemakers develop skills and plans for raising money and budgeting, the Women at Sundance celebration at the Sundance Film Festival that’s featured a who’s who of women in moviemaking, and so much more.

We’re especially proud of our early support of research that led to major industry action creating unprecedented opportunities for women and other underrepresented talents in front of and behind the camera (the ReFrame Stamp certifies those who demonstrate their progress). And we think it’s important for films to be critiqued by a diverse cohort, so we support the initiative expanding participation at the Festival for critics who identify as women, people of color, people with disabilities, LGBTQIA+, and more. The majority of critics at the festival now represent those groups.

TheHF sponsored the first-ever Sundance Catalyst Women, where people who want to invest in movies have a chance to meet the filmmakers seeking financing for women-led and/or women-centric projects.

With the movie business upended, nobody knows the immediate future of storytelling and cinema. We trust Sundance will continue to meet the moment with creativity and community.