Adobe and Sundance Institute Launch Inaugural Women at Sundance | Adobe Fellowship

Adobe is the first-ever brand to create a women-focused fellowship with Sundance Institute, the program will seek to discover, champion and spotlight women artists creating work across diverse disciplines

Image courtesy of Sundance Institute.

Creativity is everywhere and within everyone. It’s in the stories we tell and the experiences we create, but not everyone’s voice is being heard. At Adobe, we are committed to empowering everyone to bring their story to life and creating greater opportunity for all voices, especially the underrepresented. As a longtime partner of Sundance Institute, we continue to deliver on this commitment and this year will launch the inaugural Women at Sundance | Adobe Fellowship to help female filmmakers launch successful and sustainable careers. We are the first-ever brand to create a women-focused fellowship with Sundance Institute.

Adobe EVP and CMO, Ann Lewnes, said: “Film has the power to shape culture, politics and social norms. But that can’t happen without a diverse set of voices. To help surface some of the best female filmmakers, Adobe created the women’s Fellowship with Sundance. A program that will empower women across diverse disciplines of filmmaking. I’m incredibly proud of the role Adobe is playing to advance the role of women in film. Kathryn Bigelow remains the only woman to ever win an Academy Award in the director category and, sadly, it won’t happen at the 2020 Oscars either. That needs to change and it won’t unless we help female filmmakers tell their stories.”

Sundance Institute Executive Director, Keri Putnam, added: “Sundance Institute has long been committed to championing, elevating, and supporting women filmmakers, and we’re enormously proud to deepen that commitment by partnering with Adobe in creating the groundbreaking Women at Sundance | Adobe Fellowship. At this critical moment, we must continue forging paths for women to succeed as storytellers who shape a more representative cultural landscape.”

The Women at Sundance | Adobe Fellowship offers bespoke support to five artists who identify as women, creating bold new work across diverse disciplines and various Sundance Institute artist development programs.

The pillars of the Fellowship include:

• A $10,000 cash grant
• Participation in a Sundance Institute Lab or Program
• Year-round mentorship from Sundance Institute staff and Adobe executives.

Adobe’s commitment to celebrating diverse voices in creativity at Sundance doesn’t stop at the work we’re doing to support female filmmakers. We’re empowering the next generation of creators with tools and mentorship through the Sundance Ignite program, helping aspiring artists tap into their creativity and shape the future of filmmaking. Adobe also supports Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program and the newly created Sundance Institute | Adobe Mentorship Awards for outstanding mentorship in the field of film editing.

Our efforts to create greater opportunity for all voices goes beyond Sundance, with year-round scholarships, grants, mentoring and access to our industry-leading software, including Creativity Scholarships, Adobe Digital Academy, Adobe Creative Residency program and Community Challenges.