Directing Essentials
About this Course Bundle
It's time to jump into the director's chair! In this two course bundle, you will learn the essentials of directing; from how to develop and execute a vision your vision for a project to how to communicate and collaborate with actors.
Included with this bundle:
Directing Actors
Upcoming Sessions
You will select one of the following items during checkout.
October 2026
October 5–November 29, 2026
With: Tessa Blake
November 2026
November 2–December 27, 2026
With: Tessa Blake
Directing: Core Elements
Upcoming Sessions
You will select one of the following items during checkout.
September 2026
September 7–November 1, 2026
With: Marie Jamora
November 2026
November 2–December 27, 2026
With: Marie Jamora
December 2026
December 14–February 7, 2027
With: Marie Jamora
Course BundleAccessibility
Sundance Collab provides accommodations and support services to participants with disabilities. Accommodations and services are designed to meet the needs of each participant. Please email us at accessibility@sundance.org to arrange for services.
Team
Part of Sundance Collab's unique educational approach is to create a teaching team of lead instructor and advisors for every course. For our self-paced courses, the video lectures will be delivered by the instructor and the group office hours or live class exercises and feedback will be conducted by a course advisor.
Tessa Blake
Instructor, Directing Actors
Tessa Blake is an award-winning filmmaker and a prolific television director (American Horror Story; NCIS: Tony & Ziva; Matlock; 9-1-1). Chosen as one of eight women for AFI’s prestigious Directing Workshop for Women, Tessa’s films have premiered at Cannes, Woodstock and SXSW, have won awards at Nantucket Film Festival and the Human Rights Watch Film Festival, have been honored by the Academy, and been released theatrically.
As a writer, she has enjoyed script deals with ABC, NBC, FOX and Warner Brothers. Currently, she's the creator/showrunner for a series set up with producers in Spain, which explores the history of female espionage in WWII .
Tessa has directed plays for Naked Angels Theater Company and The Atlantic Theater Company, is a proud alumna of the 24 Hour Plays, and a founding advisor for The Moth.
Marie Jamora
Instructor, Directing: Core Elements
Born and raised in Manila, Marie Jamora was the Producer/Director on the UNT. AVA DUVERNAY PROJECT for Starz. Marie recently directed an episode of the MATLOCK reboot starring Academy Award and Emmy winner Kathy Bates, as well as GREASE: RISE OF THE PINK LADIES for Paramount+. Her short film, FLIP THE RECORD, won the Grand Jury Award for Best Narrative Short at Urbanworld and was shortlisted for the 90th Academy Awards. Her other short film HARANA was made at AFI's Directing Workshop for Women and won the Grand Jury Prize for U.S. Narrative Short at the Sarasota Film Festival. Her first feature, WHAT ISN'T THERE (ANG NAWAWALA), premiered at the Slamdance Film Festival and is considered a cult classic coming of age film in the Philippines. Her TV directing credits include QUEEN SUGAR (OWN), THE CLEANING LADY (FOX), ALL RISE (OWN), THE RESIDENT (FOX), and both seasons of FIRE COUNTRY (CBS).
She graduated from Columbia University with an MFA in Film, where she learned Directing the Actor from director/author Lenore DeKoven and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Marie was Adjunct Directing Faculty for eight years in the Philippines and for three years at the American Film Institute. She is one of the leaders of the DGA’s Women’s Steering Committee’s Squad Mentorship program, the founder of Cinema Sala, her non-profit community organization, and proudly one of the few Filipinos in the Director’s Guild of America.
FAQ
Sundance Collab’s course bundles provide a built-in discount for those wishing to take multiple courses in sequence in a discipline. They offer the advantage of savings, while still providing the lectures and guidance found in these courses individually.
We do not allow creative partners to do our course bundles as a team. However, both creators can individually purchase the bundle.
Due to the built-in savings, we do not offer scholarships for bundles. If you’re in need of financial support, we often offer a limited number of need-based scholarships to individual courses. Check the course description to see if that individual course currently has scholarships available.
Yes, we offer three-part payment plans for course bundles. In all cases, the first payment is due at the point of purchase. The remaining payment(s) are spread out throughout the term of the first course, and can be viewed by clicking the “Payment plan available. View details” link below the price on the bundle page.
Participants will have access to the individual course recordings for one year following the last class session for each individual course. Your access to the first course ends a year from the date of that course’s last scheduled session, and so on.
All participants will receive a Certificate of Completion for each course completed in the bundle. The certificate will include the name associated with your Collab account, which can be edited by clicking “Profile” under your avatar, and then “Edit Profile”.
You can find any bundles you have already completed under your profile, under “Bundles.”
Sundance Collab provides accommodations and support services to participants with disabilities. Please contact us at (435) 776-7790 or email us at accessibility@sundance.org to ask any questions or to discuss your specific needs after you have been accepted into the bundle.