About this Story Forum Online
Sundance Institute's Story Forum: Exploring Art and Innovation is a space to learn, collaborate, and join the conversation; inviting thoughtful dialogue about the artist-first tools and technologies supporting visual storytelling today.
In this session, led by director, producer, and entrepreneur Kristina Budelis, you’ll learn some of the new ways documentary teams are using AI, with a focus on behind-the-scenes use. Budelis, who writes the newsletter Film Robots on AI & Film, will explain how these tools helped her save time in prep and post on a viral episode of PBS x Atlas Obscura’s Untold Earth, “It Looks Like a Desert. But It Has Thousands of Lakes,” which she’ll use as a case study in this presentation. She’ll break down how she used tools like Granola, ElevenLabs, Chat GPT, and Claude for things like research, transcription, translation and temp narration. She’ll also go over the importance of guardrails in regards to things like consent, disclosure, privacy and data considerations. You’ll leave the session with practical takeaways for how to improve your own documentary workflow, save time, and facilitate collaboration.
If you would benefit from an accommodation to fully participate in this event, please complete this form, contact us at (435) 776-7790, or email us at accessibility@sundance.org to discuss your specific requests. Every effort will be made to accommodate advance requests; however, requests made within 5 days of the event may not be guaranteed.
Story Forum OnlineTeam
Kristina Budelis
Filmmaker and Entrepreneur
Kristina Budelis is a filmmaker, entrepreneur, and product leader working at the intersection of media, AI, and storytelling. She teaches film and AI at universities and beyond, and writes the Film Robots newsletter on how emerging tools are reshaping the way stories get made. She has served as a Mozilla AI Fellowship mentor and an OpenAI alpha artist.
Previously, Kristina helped build The New Yorker’s Oscar-winning video department, founded and ran the venture-backed startup KitSplit, and led product development for NYT Kids (New Ventures) at The New York Times. Her documentary films have premiered at Tribeca and reached millions of viewers; she also produces and executive produces for partners ranging from PBS to Delta. Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 (Media), she specializes in bridging creative storytelling with responsible, real-world uses of new technology.
Erica Elson
Moderator | Digital Course & Event Producer, Sundance Collab
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.