UCLA’S School of Theater, Film and Television and the Sundance Institute have set a collaboration to develop the next generation of filmmakers and storytellers.
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The five-year agreement is targeted to begin in September. The pact combines UCLA’s academic resources with Sundance Institute’s experience and Sundance Collab’s international community of more than 130,000 artists across 177 countries.
“This collaboration connects Sundance Collab — our global online platform for visionary creators — with UCLA’s distinguished legacy of artist development. Together, we’re creating an unprecedented pipeline to amplify independent voices and evolve the future of storytelling and connected audience engagement,” said Michelle Satter, the founding senior director of Sundance Institute artist programs and Sundance Collab.
The Digital Hub will begin the collaboration and is expected to go UCLA-wide in 2027, providing TFT students and staff with resources to address the “hidden curriculum of film education.”
Three additional programs are also under development, which includes an annual Summer Summit at UCLA; the UCLA Bridge Intensive, which features a Sundance Film Festival Experience for TFT students in Boulder, Colorado; and a co-developed program focusing on new technology, creativity, justice and equity. All three programs are expected to launch throughout 2028.
“This is what it looks like when the premier institution for independent film comes to the premier public film school and says, ‘Let’s build something together.’ Sundance has always been the place where independent voices are found and championed,” said Celine Parreñas Shimizu, the dean of TFT, in a statement. “TFT has always been the place where those voices are forged — in craft, in method, in authorship.”
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