Sundance Institute plans to bring its Directors Lab back to Sundance Mountain Resort with support from a $3 million gift.
Kate Capshaw and Steven Spielberg's Hearthland Foundation made the multiyear commitment, the institute announced in a statement dated Oct. 22. The funding will also support the institute's Feature Film Program and expand fellowships and unrestricted grants for independent filmmakers.
The institute's Feature Film Program calendar schedules the Directors Lab for May 3–18, 2027, at Sundance Mountain Resort. The institute has not specified how the donation will be divided among the lab, fellowships and grants.
The program gives emerging feature-film directors an opportunity to develop scenes from their screenplays. Fellows work with experienced filmmakers and other creative advisers to test ideas before production.
Michelle Satter, the institute's founding senior director of artist programs, said in the announcement that the gift “will underwrite our Directors Lab returning to the Sundance Mountain Resort and provide vital artist granting.”
Returning to the lab's original home
The Directors Lab was held at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, this summer. In its review of the 2026 program, the institute said the Colorado location was temporary and that it planned to return to Utah the following year.
Robert Redford founded Sundance Institute in 1981 and established its summer filmmaking labs at the resort. The institute's historical retrospective says the first session brought together 16 emerging filmmakers.
The Directors Lab has since helped develop films by directors who went on to wider recognition. Quentin Tarantino workshopped Reservoir Dogs at the 1991 Directors Lab.
Dee Rees developed Pariah through Sundance's programs, including the 2008 Directors Lab. The completed film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011.
Sundance retains a Utah connection
The lab's return comes as the Sundance Film Festival prepares to move to Boulder, Colorado. The institute announced the festival's relocation in March 2025.
The Directors Lab and the film festival are separate parts of Sundance Institute's work. While the annual festival moves to Colorado, the Directors Lab is scheduled to return to the Utah resort where the institute began its filmmaking programs.
