News

The role of a film producer involves a lot more than raising money and making calls and speadsheets, as ourDocumentary Producing Lab Fellows will tell you. According to 2024 Fellow Rajal Pitroda, you’re just as much of a therapist for your team as you are a producer. Tight budgets, small crews, and long lead-times can make doc feel a little like you’re stuck on Hitch’s Lifeboat.

Keeping the ship afloat isn’t easy, and we think that the doc producers of the world deserve a life raft. That’s why we are bringing back the Film Independent Documentary Producing Lab for its second year.

Applications for the 2025 cohort are now open, and with a non-Member deadline of May 5th (Film Independent Members have until May 19th).

To give some insight into what goes down in the Lab, we spoke with last year’s Fellows about the challenges as...

We at Film Independent have always been proud of our producing lab fellows. They’ve gone on to make some big hits and some big careers. But that was all in the world of scripted.

“Producers are the backbone behind every great film and supporting their work in these turbulent times is all the more vital.” said Angela C. Lee, Director of Artist Development. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to expand our programming to include documentary Producers and welcome this incredibly talented and tenacious cohort of fiction and non-fiction Producers in this year’s Producing Labs.”

In its 24th year, the Producing Labs have a strong track record of pushing exciting talent and diverse (and award winning) stories. The Film Independent Producing Lab has supported films such as In the Summers produced by Daniel Tantalean which was awarded the 2024 Sundance Grand Jury Prize, The Inspection,produced by Chester Algernal Gordon,...

The Sundance Institute has today named the participants and projects set for the latest edition of its Producers Lab, taking place at Utah’s Sundance Mountain Resort from July 24-28, as well as for its Producers Intensive, taking place this fall.

Feature Film producers taking part in the Producers Lab include Pierre M. Coleman (Ricky), Julia Kennelly (Clare), Liz Lian (Skin), Valerie Castillo Martinez (Anita) and Cameron Morton (Lollygag). Among those coming to the Lab with documentary projects are Colleen Cassingham (Life After), Nicole Docta (The Dead Zone), Emma D. Miller (Untitled Mistress Dispeller Project), Jolene Pinder (Fun House) and Flor de oro Tejada (Wild Darlings Sing the Blues (And It’s a Song of Freedom)).

Fellows for the third edition of the Producers Intensive, on the fiction side, include Alifya Ali and Samantha Skinner (’06-’07), Paula González-Nasser (Saca Tu Lengua), Kyra Knox (South Side Girls), Xin Li (Santa Anita...