Applying to the 2027 Sundance Institute Episodic Lab
About this Insider Session
Sundance Collab Insider Sessions provide behind-the-scenes information and guidance on our Labs, grants and festivals. Sundance Institute staff will be on-hand to answer those not-so-frequently asked questions and help guide you through discovering and applying to the many programs and funds that the Institute offers.
The Sundance Institute Episodic Program is designed for emerging to mid-career scripted fiction writers that includes alumni like Katori Hall (Starz's P-Valley), Barry Jenkins (Amazon's Underground Railroad), and Heather Rae (Amazon's Outer Range). We provide artists with the tools, guidance, and industry access to move your projects and careers forward. The in-person Lab is the cornerstone of the program, an immersive five-day opportunity to develop an original series and pilot episode under accomplished showrunners, creative producers, and development executives. So how will your submission cut through and bring you into the fold? Join us for a direct Q&A with the program director, Jandiz Estrada Cardoso and a recent alum, Liba Vaynberg, who will give you all the pro tips when you're ready to apply!
For more information about the Episodic Program, please visit this page.
Submissions Open: July 13, 2026
Submissions Close: August 25, 2026
If you would benefit from an accommodation to fully participate in this event, please complete this form, contact us at (435) 776-7790, or email us at accessibility@sundance.org to discuss your specific requests. Every effort will be made to accommodate advance requests; however, requests made within 5 days of the event may not be guaranteed.
A recording of this event will be posted to Sundance Collab's Event Recording Library two business days after the live event. A recording of this Insider Session will be posted to Sundance Collab two business days after the live event. All registered attendees will receive an email with a link to view the recording at no cost through the end of the application submission window.
Insider SessionTeam
Liba Vaynberg
Described by the New York Times as "wonderfully real and raw," Liba Vaynberg is a first generation American playwright, screenwriter, and actor. She is the Roundabout Theater Playwright-in-Residence and wrote for the television show STAR CITY (Sony/AppleTV+), a Cold War thriller that follows an alternative history of the space race. The daughter of Ukrainian and Azeri Jewish refugees, she is bilingual in English and Russian. She studied Molecular Biology at Yale before receiving her MFA at Columbia. Her parents are still wondering why she didn’t become a doctor. She writes a lot about women, love, and God. And what it means to choose and be chosen.
Recent plays include THE MATRIARCHS at the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference and previously developed with the Civilians R&D group. It was also a Princess Grace Finalist, Theater J Abramson Finalist (Top 3), Blue Ink Award Finalist, Jewish Plays Project, Premiere-Stages Semi-Finalist, and supported by the Bronx Cultural Visions Fund, Venturous Theater Fund, and ART/NY. Her play, THE GETT (starring Jennifer Westfeldt), was the inaugural commission at Rattlestick with CBE, a Princess Grace Semi-Finalist, Colorado New Play Festival Selection. ROUND TABLE premiered at 59E59 (Times Square Chronicles 10 Best Plays of 2019, Gary Marshall Theater New Works Semi-Finalist 2018) and was reprised at Tierra Del Sol. Her first play, SCHEISS BOOK, which she both wrote and performed, debuted at the United Solo Festival at Theatre Row, winning Best One-Woman Show as well as the Backstage Magazine Audience Choice Award. The show was reprised at the wild project, Dixon Place, Stonewall Inn and the Kitchen Theater. Residencies and awards include COJECO BluePrint (for THE RUSSIAN & THE JEW at the tank), IAMA, Sewanee Writers' Conference, Drama League, and LABA. She writes for Lilith Magazine.
As a performer, work includes 4 seasons of NEW AMSTERDAM (NBC), Annie Blumberg in the PBS broadcast of THE SOAP MYTH opposite Ed Asner, originating the role of Now Jane in Bekah Brunstetter’s OREGON TRAIL at the WP, LOST IN YONKERS opposite Marsha Mason (CT Critic’s Circle nomination), and THE GOLEM OF HAVANA at La Mama. www.libavaynberg.com
Jandiz Estrada Cardoso
Director, Episodic Program
Jandiz Estrada Cardoso is the Director of the Sundance Institute Episodic Program. Previously, she was the Sr. Director of Global Talent Development & Inclusion for film, TV and streaming at NBCUniversal for a decade. Jandiz spearheaded the bicoastal NBCUniversal Short Film Festival, The YA TU SABES Monologue Slam, and the national tour of StandUp NBC. In her freelance career, she has worked on dozens of pilots and features for studios including Disney, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Universal, New Line, AMC, ABC, CBS, Starz, and NBC (notably on their Emmy-winning series 30 ROCK). As an instructor, she has led master classes across the US and Brazil. She is a recipient of the Golden Eagle Award for Diversity Impact in Television.
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.