Sundance Institute Legacy & Michelle Satter Honored at 2025 Gala
Release Date: 11/22/2024
Blake Winston Rice | Toronto Film Festival Premiere Director of DISC
She's All Over the Place
Blake Winston Rice joins She’s All Over the Place to discuss the world premiere of his latest short film DISC at the 50th Toronto International Film Festival. Blake is an award-winning writer-director whose breakout short Tea premiered in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, with Patty Jenkins serving as Executive Producer. Since Cannes, Tea has screened at 13 Oscar-qualifying festivals, earned multiple awards, and is now a Vimeo Staff Pick streaming on Kanopy. In this conversation, Blake breaks down: The making of DISC, starring Jim Cummings (Thunder Road, The Wolf of Snow Hollow) and...
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Origin: The Story of the Basketball Africa League at TIFF | Amadou Gallo Fall
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A deep dive into the Basketball Africa League’s impact on sports, culture, talent development, and media, featuring insights from BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall and NBA Africa CEO Clare Akamanzi. In 2019, a longtime dream for many became a reality when the National Basketball Association (NBA) committed to launching the Basketball Africa League (BAL). With 12 teams from the continent representing nations including Kenya, Nigeria, Egypt, and Rwanda, the league would showcase the diversity of culture, talent, and love for basketball across Africa while providing a pathway for youth to play...
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Artist Journal: Psychological Isolation & the Loss of Belonging
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In this Artist Journal solo episode of She’s All Over the Place, host Katie Chonacas reflects on psychological isolation—the experience of emotional and social disconnection that can exist even in the presence of others. Inspired by Brené Brown’s work on belonging and disconnection, this episode explores how psychological isolation develops, why it can become long-standing, and how it quietly erodes our sense of safety, connection, and self-trust. Katie shares a personal reflection on emotional isolation, social withdrawal, and the loss of belonging, offering language and awareness for...
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The Long Way Home: When Soviet Rock Met the West
She's All Over the Place
In this episode of She's All Over the Place, I had the wonderful opportunity to sit and chat with the producer, Steven Lawrence, to explore The Long Way Home: Remastered and Expanded (2026) Michael Apted’s long-lost documentary about Soviet underground rock legend Boris Grebenshchikov and his extraordinary 1988 journey from Leningrad to the West during the early days of Glasnost. Filmed at a moment of rare optimism inside the USSR, the documentary follows Grebenshchikov as he records an album with Dave Stewart (Eurythmics), alongside Annie Lennox, Chrissie Hynde, Ray Cooper, and Crosby,...
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Filmmakers “Steal Away” | Clement Virgo & Tamara Faith Berger | TIFF
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Join me on She’s All Over The Place as I sit down with director Clement Virgo and writer Tamara Faith Berger to explore the making of the psychological thriller “Steal Away”, which premiered at TIFF. We dive into the film’s lush, intense world of teen drama, desire, and power, adapted from the non-fiction book Steal Away Home. Hear insights into the creative process, casting decisions with Angourie Rice and Mallori Johnson, and how the film illuminates untold histories of female power and systemic cruelty. If you’re a filmmaker, actor, or creative, this episode gives a...
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Jan 6 Documentary Filmmaking with Michael Premo | Inside HOMEGROWN
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Filmmaker Michael Premo joins the podcast to discuss HOMEGROWN, his award-winning documentary about January 6, political extremism, and America’s deepening divide. Watch here: Please stay connected with me:
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How Filmmakers Go from Short Films to First Features - Toronto International Film Festival
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DIALOGUES: Short Cuts to First Features" is a Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) Industry program featuring conversations with emerging directors who transitioned from making acclaimed short films (Short Cuts alumni) to directing their debut features, sharing insights on script development, collaboration, and overcoming challenges to build their filmmaking careers. It's a key part of the TIFF Industry Conference, focusing on practical advice and inspiration for filmmakers aiming to make that crucial jump to feature-length projects. I had the grand pleasure to join alumni...
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Creative Process Behind Animated Feature Films - Toronto International Film Festival
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I had the grand opportunity to cover the 50th Aniversary of the Toronto International Film Festival. With animation being one of my favourite topics in the world, I am grateful that I was able to join this epic conversation and now share it with you. :) DIALOGUES: Creative Visions in Animated Feature Films is a specific TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) event/panel where acclaimed directors like Domee Shi (Pixar's Elio), Mamoru Hosoda (, ), and Momoko Seto () discuss balancing artistic vision with studio realities, creative authorship, and the future of bold...
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Independent Film & Hollywood Stories with Sally Kirkland | Behind the Scenes
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Based on the true story of a 20-something writer from rural Maine. Inspired by actress SALLY KIRKLAND’s performance in the sleeper hit, ANNA (Oscar nominee, Independent Spirit Award and 1988 Golden Globe winner), Zack takes the leap to pursue his ambitions of a Hollywood Career. After driving cross country, in a chance encounter he meets his lifelong idol, the week he arrived. Sally hires him on the spot to be her assistant, where he quickly learns her career is a shambles. He dedicates himself to finding a way to land her back on the red carpet where she...
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Making a Sundance Film: Serious People Premiere Breakdown
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Join me as I sit down with Pasqual Gutierrez and Ben Mullinkosson, the creative minds behind the Sundance 2025 feature film Serious People. From directing music videos for Bad Bunny, Rosalía, J Balvin, Madonna, Travis Scott, and The Weeknd, to exploring parenthood, clout, and indie filmmaking in Los Angeles, this conversation dives deep into the world of modern filmmaking. We dive into: Pasqual’s journey from directing award-winning music videos for Bad Bunny, Rosalía, J Balvin, Madonna, Travis Scott, and The Weeknd to his first feature film The inspiration and making of Serious...
info_outlineNovember 22, 2024, Park City, UT — The nonprofit Sundance Institute today announced details for the 2025 Sundance Film Festival’s gala fundraiser, Celebrating Sundance Institute Presented by Google TV, which will take place on Friday, January 24, 2025 at the Grand Hyatt Deer Valley in Utah. The event will be an evening in celebration of Michelle Satter, Founding Senior Director of Artist Programs at Sundance Institute, for her longstanding commitment to nurturing artists and cultivating independent film through the Sundance Labs, where visionary artists convene to develop groundbreaking projects through an in-depth creative process, for the past four decades. The annual Vanguard Awards Presented by Acura will be awarded during the evening to Sean Wang, writer and director of Dìdi (弟弟), and Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, co-directors of Sugarcane, who premiered their films at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.
The annual gala enables the nonprofit to raise funds to support independent artists year-round through labs, grants, and public programming that nurture artists from all over the world. The 2025 event is made possible with the generous support of Google TV. The Festival will take place from January 23–February 2, 2025, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, with a selection of titles available online from January 30–February 2, 2025 for audiences across the country to discover bold independent storytelling.
Starting in 1981, Michelle Satter worked alongside Robert Redford who founded the Sundance Institute. Together with a committed team of leaders and collaborators, they developed impactful ways of mentoring emerging independent storytellers in a creative, rigorous, and safe space which launched with the annual June Filmmakers Lab. Satter has acted as an influential mentor to generations of award-winning filmmakers, including Quentin Tarantino, Chloé Zhao, Dee Rees, John Cameron Mitchell, Paul Thomas Anderson, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Ryan Coogler, Miranda July, Kimberly Peirce, Darren Aronofsky, Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, and many more. Over the years, Satter has built the Episodic Program, Producers Program, the Institute’s global initiatives and oversees the Indigenous, Catalyst, and Documentary Film Programs. She also founded Sundance Collab — a global digital platform for storytelling, learning, and community, open to creators everywhere. Over the years, Satter’s contributions to film and advocacy have been recognized with numerous awards including the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an Oscar presented at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Science’s 2024 Governors Awards, the Women in Film Business Leadership Award, and the ACLU Bill of Rights Award.
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