Diverse Voices are Heard at Sundance Film Festival 2018
Photo by Dan Cowles
It is our pleasure and honor to continue our long history of supporting the Sundance Film Festival. Our mission: to champion and applaud filmmakers and storytellers – from industry heavyweights to indie filmmakers and the next generation of talent. Perhaps our involvement at Sundance in 2018 is our most vital yet.
Every January, Park City, Utah is the celebration center for great filmmaking — from movie-making veterans to young up and comers. This year, we’re shining our Adobe spotlight on the movie makers that come from diverse backgrounds and often struggle to get their voices and stories heard.
Photo by Andrea Gutierrez Solano
Project 1324 x Sundance Ignite
We’re proud to see how the 3rd annual Sundance Ignite Fellowship has grown and evolved via our Project 1324 and Sundance Institute partnership. Of the 800+ short film submissions we received for the Project 1324 x Sundance Ignite Challenge, fifteen 18-to-24-year-old filmmakers from five continents were selected to participate in this one-year fellowship. It begins at Park City where they will be paired with a Sundance Institute alumni pro for a full year of guidance and development. Sundance Ignite isn’t a just an education program, it’s the foundation for these artists to catalyze their filmmaking careers. Read about two alums from our 2017 Fellowship program – Emily Ann Hoffman and Charlotte Regan – who have short films accepted into this year’s Film Festival!
In addition to the 2018 Sundance Ignite Fellows, we are looking forward to presenting the Ignite program to an additional 500 emerging filmmakers. Over four days, they get access to exclusive events designed to connect them to festival filmmakers and industry, explore the evolving landscape of financing and distribution, introduce them to the Sundance Institute artist programs and services, and provide opportunities for networking.
Women at Sundance Fellowship
Continuing to foster diversity in film and filmmaking, we are also proud to be a lead sponsor for The Women at Sundance Fellowship program, which provides year-long support to six talented female directors and producers who have recently completed a highly-regarded feature film and are poised to take the next step in their careers.
From left to right: Angela C. Lee, Lauren Wolkstein, Sabrina Schmidt Gordon, Lana Wilson, Ramona Diaz and Eliza Hittman. Image via Sundance Institute.
#DiverseVoices at IndieWire Lounge
What is a film festival without stars? This year we’ll be residents in the IndieWire lounge, talking with celebs and movie makers about the need for #DiverseVoices in film. Follow our conversations via the #DiverseVoices hashtag on Twitter and Instagram as well as our Facebook page. We can’t share them now, but there are some pretty big names on our list…
More on Adobe at Sundance
Our own Meagan Keane is interviewing a slew of filmmakers and industry movers that may have the insights to help you jumpstart your movie-making career. We kick the series off on Wednesday, January 17th at 4:45pm MT, in conversation with John Cooper, Director of the Sundance Film Festival – one of the most important people to know if you want your movie in Park City in January. Watch the Facebook Live on the Adobe page.
Adobe is again a sponsor of the NEXT film category at Sundance, which pairs the latest in tech with creativity to shape what’s next in American cinema. We’re hosting a filmmakers’ panel, “Insights From the Front Lines,” with Lisa Churgin, Academy Award-nominated editor of Cider House Rules, and Kyle Reiter, editor of Gumbel, among others. Looking for technical and other tips? Watch live on the Premiere Pro Facebook page on Friday, January 19 at 3:30 PM – 4:30 PM MST
Finally, there are no films at the Sundance Film Festival without the technology to actually create them. This year, 55% of the 110 featured films at Sundance were edited with Adobe Premiere Pro CC, our industry-leading video editing software. Plus, more than half of the virtual reality (VR) projects at the festival also used Premiere Pro CC. For more information on the role Adobe tools play in the film-making process, read our product team’s article and be sure to check out the list of Sundance programs you can watch live from Park City, Utah.