For this in-person meetup during the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, Sundance Collab brings together Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie (SUGARCANE), Josh Margolin (THELMA), and Sean Wang (DÌDI (弟弟)), for a candid conversation about the process of making their first feature film. The filmmakers - whose films all went through Sundance programs and premiered at Sundance '24 - discuss their research and writing processes, casting their actors and selecting their documentary participants, and the journey to getting their first features made. Event sponsored by Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Panelist
Julian Brave NoiseCat is a writer, filmmaker and student of Salish art and history. His first documentary, SUGARCANE, directed alongside Emily Kassie, follows an investigation into abuse and missing children at the Indian residential school NoiseCat’s family was sent to near Williams Lake, British Columbia. SUGARCANE is set to premiere in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. A proud member of the Canim Lake Band Tsq'escen and descendant of the Lil'Wat Nation of Mount Currie, he is concurrently finishing his first book, WE SURVIVED THE NIGHT, which will be published by Alfred A. Knopf in North America, Profile Books in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth, Albin Michel in France and Aufbau Verlag in Germany. more...
Panelist
Emily Kassie is an Emmy and Peabody nominated filmmaker and investigative journalist. Her feature debut, SUGARCANE, directed with Julian Brave NoiseCat, follows an investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school in British Columbia. SUGARCANE is premiering in the US Documentary Competition at the Sundance Film Festival. more...
Panelist
Josh Margolin is a writer, director, editor, and actor from Los Angeles. He co-wrote, edited and starred in the absurdist horror-comedy DEEP MURDER which premiered at the LA Film Festival in 2018 and ran theatrically before streaming on Paramount+. Previously, Josh co-created the digital series MY BOYFRIEND IS A ROBOT for Freeform, and has developed projects with TBS, Sony Pictures Television, Olive Bridge & Paul Feig’s Powderkeg. He performed over 100 shows with "One Night Stand: An Improvised Musical", which was produced by Marc Platt and had sold-out runs at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival as well as appearances in the The New York Musical Theater Festival and a limited run in Los Angeles. THELMA is Josh's feature directorial debut. more...
Moderator | Director, Collab Courses & Events
Patty West is a producer and educator based in California. She led the Directing Workshop for Women and the Thesis Program at the American Film Institute prior to joining the Sundance Institute. She came to Sundance Collab in December of 2019 and now serves as the Director of Courses & Events.
West is a Chicago native and holds a B.S. from Northwestern University, an M.F.A. from the AFI Conservatory and an Executive M.B.A. from Quantic School of Business & Technology. She is a member of the Producer's Council of the Producers Guild of America. more...