Sundance Insider Sessions provide behind-the-scenes information and guidance on our Labs, grants and festivals. Sundance Institute staff will be on-hand to answer frequently asked questions and help guide you through discovering and applying to the many programs and funds that the Institute offers.


For this Insider Session, join Indigenous Program Director, Adam Piron, and program alumni to learn more about applying to the Sundance Native Lab. There will also be discussion surrounding the Sundance Graton Collab Artist opportunities and how to apply.


The Indigenous Program has built and sustained an Indigenous film circle, which now spans over three generations. The cycle of work begins by scouting for and identifying Indigenous artists, bringing them through the mechanisms of support at Sundance Institute to get their work made and shown, then bringing the filmmakers and their work back to native lands. The Native Lab has been a vital part of supporting Indigenous filmmakers since 2004. The lab focuses on the specific development of storytellers from Native and Indigenous backgrounds, encompassing feature film and episodic work. During the Lab, Fellows will hone their storytelling and technical skills in a hands-on and supportive environment, including one-on-one feedback sessions with advisors and roundtable discussions. With Fellows working across both feature and episodic formats, they will also explore and discuss indigenizing their creative practices in regard to writing their scripts.


The Native Lab provides direct support to emerging filmmakers and episodic creators from the U.S.-based Native American, Native Hawaiian, Alaskan Native, and Canada-based Indigenous Canadian (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) communities. Fellowship for Indigenous Canadian film artists is made possible with support from the Indigenous Screen Office. Please note that you are required to submit a narrative feature or episodic pilot script.


The Sundance Graton Collab Artist Opportunity provides a virtual destination for emerging artists to learn craft, career strategies and build community through courses, workshops, advisor sessions, extensive resources and community gatherings. This opportunity serves to cultivate a supportive learning environment for artists from federally and non-federally recognized California Indian tribes through the Sundance Collab platform.


APPLICATION DATES

  • Native Lab
    • Opens December 4, 2023; 1:00 p.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. MT / 4:00 p.m. ET
    • Closes December 20, 2023; 3:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. MT / 6:30 p.m. ET
  • Graton Collab Artist Opportunity
    • Opens December 18, 2023; 1:00 p.m. PT / 2:00 p.m. MT / 4:00 p.m. ET
    • Rolling applications

About the Sundance Institute Indigenous Program

The Sundance Institute Indigenous Program champions and provides deep support of Indigenous-created stories on a global scale. From labs and fellowships to screenings and gatherings around the world, the program’s offerings are designed in response to the specific needs of Native and Indigenous storytellers. Through our work, we emulate our core values of decolonizing the screen and uplifting the voices of Indigenous artists, recognizing that telling their stories comes with great responsibility and obligation towards Indigenous peoples, communities and their sovereignty.

Find out more about the Sundance Institute Indigenous Program here.


Adam Piron
Director, Indigenous Program
Adam Piron is a member of the Kiowa Tribe of Oklahoma and a Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) descendant. He currently acts as the Director of Sundance Institute's Indigenous Program where he helps oversee the organization's investment in Indigenous filmmakers globally. He also serves as a short film programmer for the Sundance Film Festival. He is also a co-founder of COUSIN: a film collective dedicated to supporting Indigenous artists experimenting with and pushing the boundaries of the moving image. He was previously the Film Curator at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA). He received his BA in Film Production from the University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts. more...
Ianeta Le'i
Senior Manager, Indigenous Program
Los Angeles, CA, USA
As Senior Manager for the Sundance Institute’s Indigenous Program, Ianeta’s focus is to identify and support emerging Indigenous filmmakers and their stories from across the U.S. and globally. She manages the implementation of all Labs, Fellowships, and Intensives, as well as facilitates outreach and engagement efforts. Raised in Waialua, Hawai’i, she previously worked at Pacific Islanders in Communications, managing non-fiction programs and content for public broadcast. She currently runs Kaioe Consulting, LLC., and sits on the board of non-profit Pasifika Entertainment Advancement Komiti (PEAK). Ianeta is a graduate of Brigham Young University with a degree in Sociology, minor in communications, and received a Master of Public Administration degree from the BYU Marriott School of Management. more...
Anpa'o Locke
Native Lab Alum
Anpa’o Locke is a Hunkpapha Lakota and Ahtna Dené writer, filmmaker, and curator from the Standing Rock Nation. She was a 2022 Sundance Indigenous Fellow focused on Native diaspora experience and self-determination in filmmaking. She holds a BA in Film Studies from Mount Holyoke College and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. more...
Jana Schmieding
Native Lab Alum
Jana Schmieding wrote on and co-starred in Rutherford Falls and is known for her comedic roles on Reservation Dogs, The Great North, and Spirit Rangers. A Lakota woman, Jana is making her mark on the entertainment industry as an actor, writer, and producer bringing Native stories to mainstream audiences. more...
Katherine Street
Moderator | Digital Course & Event Producer
Los Angeles, CA, USA
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 Culture Creative Entertainment. more...

Join the Discussion