Producing Your Independent Short Film
Session: June 2026
About this Self-Paced Course
A short film is more than a creative exercise — it's the start of a portfolio, a calling card for the industry, and one of the fastest ways to launch a career. But while the runtime may be short, the stakes are high. To succeed, you'll need to navigate complex production logistics — funding, locations, casting, crew — without losing sight of your creative vision. And once the film is in the can, you'll need to figure out how best to showcase it and stand out.
In this self-paced course, Emmy and Oscar-winning film producer Andrew Carlberg (Skin, The Blazing World, Jack and Sam) deconstructs the producer’s journey from development to distribution. Carlberg shares the toolkit he uses, empowering you to lead your project with the confidence of an industry veteran.
This course is built upon the foundation of a Sundance Collab Master Class and features exclusive insights from Andrew Carlberg and a roster of award-winning filmmakers and industry professionals.
In this course, you will:
- Develop the skills and mindset to be a successful producer
- Learn how to find the right collaborators
- Explore financing options to find what best suits your needs
- Acquire the skills needed to create a positive environment on set
- Increase your knowledge of scheduling and budgeting
- Create strategies for navigating film festivals and distributors
Who this course is for: This course is ideal for producers and directors who want to level up their skills before making their first (or next) short film. It empowers creators to stop waiting for a producer to find them and gives them the tools to build the infrastructure for their own success.
Additional Benefits: Your enrollment includes a workbook and access to additional videos from Sundance Collab's Video Library.
Live Interaction and Support:
- Weekly Group Office Hours: Join live online sessions with a Sundance Collab Advisor. Get your production questions answered, troubleshoot your specific project hurdles, and network with a global community of peers.
- Private 1-on-1 Production Strategy (Optional Upgrade): For filmmakers seeking tailored guidance, book a 60-minute personalized session with a Sundance Collab Advisor to discuss and refine your production strategy ($150).
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.
Self-Paced CourseOutline
Topics covered include:
- Course Overview
- Role of the Producer
- Scheduling and Budgeting
- Fundraising
- Power of Selling
Topics covered include:
- Casting
- Working with a Casting Director
- Production
- Crewing Up
- Building a Culture of Humanity on Set
Topics covered include:
- Post-Production
- Working with an Editor
- Film Festival Strategy
- Standing Out to a Short Films Programmer
- The Awards Circuit
- Distribution
Topics covered include:
- Pitching Best Practices
- Sustaining Your Career as a Producer
- Next Steps in Your Producing Journey
Team
Andrew Carlberg
Instructor
Named by Variety (alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mindy Kaling, Ryan Coogler, Beau Willimon, and Olivia Wilde) as one of “Hollywoodʼs New Leaders,” Carlberg is an Academy Award and Emmy Award winning film, television, new media, Broadway and Los Angeles stage producer. Andrew’s extensive credits include, but aren’t limited to, ABC’s Castle, DirecTV’s Full Circle, Broadway’s Romeo And Juliet and Side Show, Celebration Theatre's Ovation Award winning productions of The Boy From Oz, The Color Purple: The Musical, and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the worldwide hit improv-based show The Blind Date Project, the Neil LaBute penned feature films Some Girl(s) and Dirty Weekend, actress Jennifer Morrison’s feature directorial debut Sun Dogs (Netflix 2018), and the 2018 and 2021 Official Sundance Selection The Blazing World (short and feature).
Notably, Carlberg was the producer of Skin, which won the 2019 Academy Award for Live Action Short Film.
Additional feature credits include the romantic comedy Sister Of The Groom (starring Alicia Silverstone and Tom Everett Scott, and released by Saban Films in December 2020) and the HBOMax drama The Fallout, which premiered at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, and won the Grand Jury and Audience Award. Select additional short films include Anna (which premiered in competition at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival), Feeling Through (which was nominated at the 93rd Academy Awards), Lalito 10 (which won a 2023 Emmy Award) and North Star (starring Colman Domingo, Laura Innes and Kevin Bacon; 27 festival wins). Other recent feature films include Peace In The Valley (2022 Tribeca Film Festival premiere) and Mutt (2023 Sundance Film Festival and 2023 Berlinale International Film Festival).
Carlberg has sold projects to HBO, Netflix, CBS, DirecTV and more - and has an ambitious slate of film, television and theater projects in development. Andrew is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with Shakespeare studies at Oxford University, a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America, an alum of Film Independent’s Fast Track Producing Fellowship and New York’s Independent Filmmaker Project, and an event producer for the I Have a Dream Foundation - Los Angeles and the National Breast Cancer Coalition.
Gilana Lobel
Advisor
Gilana Lobel is an independent Producer and DGA Production Manager based in Brooklyn, New York. She started her career in the production office, first as a coordinator and then as a UPM and Line Producer on narrative feature films and episodic television series. Recently she co-authored "Keys to the Production Office: Unlocking Success as an Office Production Assistant in Film and Television”, the first ever handbook focusing on production office operations for film and television.
Gilana also co-produces and develops short format and feature narrative films with producing partner, Oliver Brooks, and their production company Go Be One Motion Pictures. She is dedicated to producing diverse stories and creating a more inclusive work environment to encourage upward mobility in the film and television industry through her many projects.
FAQ
Sundance Collab’s Self-paced courses provide flexibility to complete the work on your own time, but also within a structured timeline that helps you to advance your project. You will travel through the course with a cohort of creators like yourself, and - if applicable - are given assignments with due dates during key weeks of the course:
- Each week you will view pre-recorded lectures by the instructor structured around key topics.
- Post-Video Activities after each session are designed to apply concepts to your own work, and move your project to the next stage.
- If assigned, a course advisor will give you feedback on elements of your work.
- You will have the opportunity to join live class exercises or group office hours, hosted by Sundance Collab Advisors, at critical points in the course to ask questions and discuss concepts.
- In some courses, you will have the opportunity to purchase a 1-on-1 Zoom session with your assigned course advisor.
All members of the Sundance Collab community are welcome to take Sundance Collab Self-paced courses. Please review the course description to ensure the course is a good fit. If you have any questions about a course, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.
Note that each Self-paced course has a registration deadline, so please check the date and time to ensure you don’t miss the cut-off. If the registration window is open, you will see a "Register” button on the course page.
We do not allow creative partners to do our Self-paced courses as a team. However, both creators can individually register for the course.
We often offer a limited number of need-based, full or partial scholarships. Check the course description to see if that course currently has scholarships available. Scholarships are prioritized for one per person per year (from the date of issue). Scholarship applications are available up to one week before the registration deadline. To apply for a scholarship, complete the registration form by clicking the REGISTER button above and selecting the scholarship option, if available.
Applicants will be notified about their scholarship decision prior to the first day of the course. Due to the volume of applicants, we are not always able to provide a scholarship, but we may still offer a spot in the course.In this case, depending on the course, payment plans may be available and can be selected at checkout.
Yes, we offer two or three-part payment plans for Self-paced courses, depending on the length of the course. In all cases, the first payment is due at the point of registration. The remaining payment(s) are spread out throughout the course term. For specific payment plan dates for a course, please reach out to our team at: collab_courses@sundance.org.
In courses with live class exercises or group office hours, the sessions are recorded and usually made available within two business days. The videos will also contain the chat and transcript from the session, viewable in the video playbar.
Participants will have access to the lecture recordings and course materials for one year following the last class session.
All participants will receive a Certificate of Completion. The certificate will include the name associated with your Collab account.
You can find any courses that you are enrolled in or have already completed in the profile section of your Collab account under “Courses.”
You can access the course videos via a computer or mobile device. All of our live class exercises and group office hour sessions are conducted via Zoom.
Download and set up the Zoom software (https://zoom.us/download) and make sure you have the latest update. Here are some great resources from Zoom’s Knowledge Base to take a deeper dive into using Zoom:
- Watch Zoom's Video Tutorials or review training materials on the Getting Started page
- Join a Live Training from Zoom
If you have any further questions, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.
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 course.