Sundance Collab Challenge
We hold periodic challenges for members to showcase their work. Take a look at current and past challenges below.
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Current Challenge
2025 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship Application
Accepting submissions:November 11, 2024 - February 14, 2025
The Sundance Institute and Adobe are teaming up to find the next 10 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellows. Submit a one- to 15-minute short that shows us your artistic vision and unique voice as a filmmaker.
Recent Challenge Winner
Dolby Sound & Music Challenge 2024
Night contemplation
Akhmet Nurgazin
Composer; Sound Designer
Almaty, Kazakhstan
My work with the sound and score focuses mainly on ambience and immersion.
Atmosphere that enhances the nighttime setting and the character's introspective mood. The score is intentionally subtle, featuring a calm, low piano chord progression complemented by delicate woodwind textures. This combination aims to evoke a sense of tranquility and contemplation.
To answer a call of faith theme from visual language, I incorporated Bach's G major prelude played by myself as diegetic music.
Past Challenges
2024 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship Application
Challenge has ended
The Sundance Institute and Adobe are teaming up to find the next 10 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellows. Submit a one- to 15-minute short that shows us your artistic vision and unique voice as a filmmaker.
2023 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship
Challenge has ended
The Sundance Institute and Adobe are teaming up to find the next 10 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellows. Submit a one- to 15-minute short that shows us your artistic vision and unique voice as a filmmaker.
The Sundance Collab Script Challenge
Challenge has ended
Calling all creators! Do you have an amazing script for a short film that's production-ready and you're looking for an opportunity to build momentum around your project? Submit it to the Sundance Collab Script Challenge!
2022 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Short Film Challenge
Challenge has ended
The Sundance Institute and Adobe are teaming up to find the next 10 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellows. Submit a one- to 15-minute short that shows us your artistic vision and unique voice as a filmmaker.
The Mobile Filmmaking Challenge
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With a smartphone in our pocket, making films has never been easier or more cost effective. This month's challenge invites you to shoot a short film using your mobile device.
The Dialogue Prompt
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In screenwriting, strong, compelling dialogue is one of the most important factors in driving the story forward. This month's challenge invites you to craft a captivating scene using a specific line of dialogue.
The Blackout
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Oh, how we rely on the conveniences of modern technology today. This month’s challenge invites you to craft a scene where technology creates a colossal obstacle for your main character(s).
You Are the Teacher
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We all turn to the internet whenever we have a curiosity around a specific topic or want to learn something new. This month's challenge invites you to be the teacher. Create a short-form video around any subject that you feel especially knowledgeable about that could help someone as a learning resource.
A Fish Out of Water
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A fish out of water is the classic trope of placing a character in an unusual environment or situation to begin and/or advance the story, heighten tension, and/or to add comedic effect. Choose a historical figure or well-known cinematic character as your protagonist and place this person in a unique fish out of water moment.
A Day in the Life of a Creator - Presented by Coil
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As we slowly settle into a new normal in many parts of the world, what's clear is that things have forever changed. Create a short-form documentary-style video that highlights the new rhythm of a typical day for you as we start to emerge into the new world COVID-19 has forged.
Capturing Emotion with Sound // Presented by the Dolby Institute
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Olivia is sitting in her room in upstate NY. She's in her early 30s and has received some bad news lately. Her father’s health is declining and she’s coming off a recent break-up. As she sits in an easy-chair thinking about her current situation, a loud train goes by further rattling her upset state of mind. This month’s challenge invites you to combine sound and music to help tell this story and to bring Olivia and her internal landscape to life.
The Podcast Challenge
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While the world came to a standstill just over a year ago, podcasting as an artform has continued to thrive. Interview someone in your life about a significant experience or challenge that they’ve overcome during this past year. Create a short-form podcast episode using sound bites from this interview to create a compelling audio story.
The Interview
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It's the opportunity of a lifetime. The stakes are high as your main character is mere moments away from interviewing for their dream job. Your character is seated in an office when there's a knock on the door and the hiring manager enters. Your character's stomach drops, recognizing the person. Write the scene that picks up from this moment.
2021 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Short Film Challenge
Challenge has ended
The Sundance Institute and Adobe are teaming up to find the next 10 Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellows. Submit a one- to 15-minute short that shows us your artistic vision and unique voice as a filmmaker.
What If? Writing A TV Series Twist
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What if Ross and Rachel didn’t end up together? What if the Fresh Prince took place in London? What if McDreamy had never died? This month’s challenge invites you to imagine a world of “what if?” Choose two primary characters from a favorite TV show that you've watched and write a new scene that would change everything in their relationship.
Pitch Yourself!
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As creators, having a great idea is only the first step. It's equally important to be able to communicate that idea effectively so potential collaborators, clients, or backers understand and buy into your vision. This challenge asks creators to create a 1-2 minute pitch video for a short story, short film or docu-short that quickly conveys the premise, tone, characters, creative execution, and/or why they're uniquely positioned to tell this story.
The Time is Now!
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We are living in a time of global urgency. Climate change, racial inequality, and healthcare are just some of the hot topics that continue to spark debate in our everyday lives. This month's Challenge invites you to use your voice, to bring awareness to the issues of this moment, and to advocate for change.
The Candidate
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Election season is upon us in some parts of the world, but no matter where you live, those who represent us as leaders should ideally inspire trust, hope and a vision for the future. Write a scene/sequence about a candidate or leader who encounters an unexpected human moment that will transform the way she/he thinks about an important issue affecting the people she/he wants to represent or lead.
Tomorrow's Promise
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It's no secret that we're living through unprecedented and complicated times, but there is always hope to be found and a new day ahead. This month's challenge invites you to envision what the future holds when we reach the other side of the pandemic and begin to experience connection in new ways.
The Meet Cute
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A "meet cute" is a cinematic term used to describe the pivotal moment when two characters meet for the first time under unique, comical, or charming circumstances that lead to a future romantic relationship. In light of current times, we're more heavily relying on digital technology as a way to meet new people. Write a scene/sequence about two people who experience a digital meet cute.
Sound as Storytelling // Presented by the Dolby Institute
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Sound plays a vital role in telling a story in film. Beyond depicting what we see and lending a heightened sense of reality to a scene, sound can be used in bold and imaginative ways. A creative sound designer can make choices that are not obvious, going beyond the merely naturalistic to a more expressive dimension. Write a scene that provides an emotional landscape where sound can play a major role in telling the story.
The Time Capsule
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Globally, we're living in a time when how we spend our day has changed. Choose one day during the month of June to capture a day in your life. Record the highlights of your day and edit it into a short-form documentary style video that's up to 8 minutes long.
Every Object Tells a Story
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Collectively, many of us have found ourselves spending most or all of our time in our homes, reacquainting ourselves with spaces and objects that have made us feel safe and nostalgic.
An Act of Kindness
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During challenging times, there are always "helpers" to be found that remind us of the kindness of strangers. Write a scene/sequence about a character who experiences an "all is lost moment" who fortuitously receives the help of a stranger.
Imagined Futures
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Create a short video or write a sequence with a main character who is facing either an internal or external conflict to overcome. Sponsored by Humanitas
The Disruptor
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Craft a written scene/sequence where an unexpected guest arrives at a family dinner for Thanksgiving or another significant holiday in your cultural practices. Sponsored by Backstage
The Revisionist - Write an Alternative Ending
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Crafting an ending that's both inevitable and surprising is very challenging. Select a feature film (well known, if possible) that ended in an unsatisfying way and rewrite the final scene. Sponsored by Final Draft
Family Secrets
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Interview a family member about something (an event, a relationship, an experience) in their background or in your family history that had a profound impact on their life, something you were always curious about.
Cultural Collision
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Create a scene in which two people from different backgrounds must negotiate a misunderstanding. Establish the characters and their points of view, provide a clear conflict, and show us what happens.
An Unforgettable Entrance
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Create the moment when the audience is first introduced to the main character in a written scene or video.
Mystery Sender
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Create a character and show us what happens when they receive a text message from an unknown sender that includes one of the following prompts: "I'm here" / "Remember me" / "Your time is up" / "Don't look back".
Speak Your Truth
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Think of a local issue that's important to you and create a piece of work that uses the power of story to engage your audience.
Free Skate
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Create a project in any genre that uses this image of roller skates as inspiration.
First Impressions: Not All is Lost!
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You only get one chance for a first impression - tell the story of an important meeting that goes terribly wrong
My So-Called Family
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Write the first 5-10 pages of the TV pilot about your family: can be in any genre!
Three's a Crowd
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Create a piece in any format or genre in which a Valentine's Day dinner takes a twist
Strangers on a Train, on a Plane, at a Bar!
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What happens when two strangers are forced together, if even for a moment? Create a scene to win the Challenge.