Applying to the 2026 Sundance Institute Episodic Lab

Fatima Liaqat is a disabled writer/director who moved from Pakistan to Utah at age 13, where her dad threatened to change his name from Chaudhry to Chad. She has worked as a writer-producer for BuzzFeed Video and written, directed, and produced a short for The Creative Mind Group at Sundance '15.

Fatima and Kyle met while shaving heads and serving people their own piss (respectively) at BuzzFeed, hooked up at the office holiday party, and have been writing and producing together ever since. Kyle loves punching up dialogue and kicking up jokes-per-minute. Fatima's observational storytelling breathes life into lovably flawed characters who follow their hearts, stomachs, and pill regimens (mostly). Together they are 2021 CAPE New Writers Fellows and 2024 Sundance Episodic Lab participants who have pitched series to Max, Disney, and more. They live in LA with their one dog and four Christmas trees.

Kyle Kubo is a disabled, Japanese/white writer/producer from San Jose, CA. His work has been frowned upon in Vice and Vanity Fair and throned/dethroned at various sketch comedy cage matches. He is a former BuzzFeed Video writer/producer and UCB house team performer.

Fatima and Kyle met while shaving heads and serving people their own piss (respectively) at BuzzFeed, hooked up at the office holiday party, and have been writing and producing together ever since. Kyle loves punching up dialogue and kicking up jokes-per-minute. Fatima's observational storytelling breathes life into lovably flawed characters who follow their hearts, stomachs, and pill regimens (mostly). Together they are 2021 CAPE New Writers Fellows and 2024 Sundance Episodic Lab participants who have pitched series to Max, Disney, and more. They live in LA with their one dog and four Christmas trees.

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.

Erica Elson is a Producer, Writer and Educator based in the mountains outside Los Angeles. Her short film, WING NIGHT, premiered at Method Fest in Los Angeles. She is the co-author of the book THE AWKWARD HUMAN SURVIVAL GUIDE and co-hosted a podcast by the same name on the 5by5 network for five years. Elson's articles have been published by HuffPost, Lifehacker, and Reader's Digest. Prior to working in education, she worked in television development and writers’ rooms such as VH1’s HINDSIGHT, where she had the chance to write for the spinoff web series PLANET SEBASTIAN.

Elson joined the Sundance Collab team in October 2021 and produces courses, Master Classes, and events in the areas of screenwriting, television writing, directing, producing, and documentary filmmaking. She has moderated conversations with Sofia Coppola, Richard Linklater, Alexander Payne, and Susannah Grant, among others.

Prior to Sundance, Elson was the Thesis Production Supervisor at the American Film Institute for five years. She oversaw several award-winning graduate thesis films, notably the 2021 BAFTA student film winner APART, TOGETHER and the 2023 Sundance Film Festival short WE WERE MEANT TO. While at AFI, Elson developed a passion for sustainable production and created the Green Film School Alliance, which includes forty schools on four continents. She holds a BA in Communication and Film Studies from Concordia University and an MFA in Screenwriting from the American Film Institute.