Building a Culture of Humanity on Set
About this Advisor Studio
In Advisor Studio sessions, Sundance Collab Advisors share field experiences and insights into their specific areas of craft, including writing, directing and producing for TV and film.
Making a film can be stressful. Whether it’s getting the shot, making the day, or simply working through creative ideas with other people, the pressure that comes with film production can bring out the best or the worst in us all. Regardless of a production’s size, leading a crew as a director or producer is a big responsibility. How you manage those situations, individually and as a team, and how you build a sustainable culture and leadership team will set the tone for how the production will be run and what the work environment will be like. How can we collectively, and on our own, create a less stressful, less volatile, and more inclusive and positive workplace?
Join Sundance Collab for an Advisor Studio with veteran film and TV producer Gary Foster (Sleepless in Seattle, Community) as he provides foundational tools filmmakers can use to become more positive, considerate, and effective leaders, making humanity a priority. Taking key concepts from his program Humanity on Set, he gives an overview of how to navigate difficult situations and how to establish core values with your production team.
Advisor StudioTeam
Gary Foster
A 1983 graduate of the University of Southern California, Gary Foster began his career as a producer in the mid 1980s. At the age of 25, he produced his first film, Short Circuit. In 1993, Foster produced the Oscar® and Golden Globe-nominated hit Sleepless in Seattle, which grossed more than $300 million worldwide.
From 1993-1996 he produced Just Cause, The Amazing Panda Adventure, Big Bully, and Tin Cup starring Kevin Costner.
In 2001, Foster produced The Score, which brought together the talents of Robert De Niro, Edward Norton and Marlon Brando.
In 2003, he began a series of three movies for Marvel Studios: Daredevil (Fox/New Regency) starring Ben Affleck in the title role, which was followed in 2005 by Elektra (Fox/New Regency) starring Jennifer Garner, and finally, Ghost Rider (Sony) in 2006 starring Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes.
Other feature credits also include: Gloria, Desperate Measures, Loverboy and Side Out.
In 2009, he produced The Soloist starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey, Jr. The film was directed by Joe Wright and written by Susannah Grant.
In January of 2010, Foster produced When In Rome (The Walt Disney Company), a comedy with romance starring Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel. Mark Steven Johnson directed it.
Gary developed with his partner Russ Krasnoff and Dan Harmon, the acclaimed series Community. He was an Executive Producer for all 6 seasons of the NBC/Yahoo/Sony Pictures Television comedy series starring Joel McHale, Gillian Jacobs, Alison Brie, Danny Pudi, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jim Rash and Ken Jeong.
In 2013 -2014 Foster produced Emperor starring Matthew Fox and Tommy Lee Jones and Israel Horovitz’s My Old Lady starring Kevin Kline, Dame Maggie Smith and Kristin Scott Thomas.
In 2016 Foster produced the BAFTA nominated film Denial starring Rachel Weisz, Tom Wilkinson and Timothy Spall. Screenplay by David Hare and Directed by Mick Jackson.
In 2023 his film Finestkind was released by Paramount +. Written and directed by Brian Helgeland, it stared Ben Foster, Toby Wallace, Jenna Ortega and Tommy Lee Jones.
Also in 2024, the Community movie which reunites Dan Harmon and the cast will be made for Peacock.
Gary serves on the Board of The People Concern, an agency based in Los Angeles that provides services and housing for the homeless community. He also serves on the Board of Martha’s Vineyard Community Services.
Katherine Street
Moderator | Digital Course & Event Producer
Katherine "Kat" Street is an LA-based award-winning filmmaker and Philadelphia native. A cinephile at heart, she writes female-driven stories with complex (oftentimes damaged) main characters, centered around self-discovery, self-love, and belonging.
She has written numerous short-form projects, including original shorts, pilots, and features. She wrote and directed the dramatic short film “Cycles,” which received festival recognition in both acting and best romantic short. She also created her award-winning flagship web series "The New Adult,” which is currently streaming on Kweli TV.
Kat is a Stowe Story Lab SAGIndie Fellow and a participant in the BlackMagic Collective Emerging Filmmakers Initiative. In 2021, she founded the Black Film Challenge, a project that showcases filmmakers of African descent and the movies they create.
She earned her BFA from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts with a concentration in Cinematography and has literary representation with Yak Yak Mgmt.