Michelle Satter
Michelle Satter is the Founding Director of Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program, the inaugural program of the Institute.
She's passionately ushered the world of independent film to new heights since 1981 as a founding member of the Sundance Institute.
Many consider her the fairy godmother of independent film; the hidden hand shepherding, developing and nurturing many filmmakers who've likely gone on to become your favorite storytellers today.
She continues to breathe life into the film industry both in the US and abroad and leaves her indelible mark on our industry at every turn.
Michele is an innovator, a trailblazer, and we are beyond lucky to have spend an hour with her.
Here's her full bio and some of the talent she's been behind:
Under Satter's tenure, the Feature Film Program has provided year-round and in-depth support to the ground-breaking and award-winning filmmakers Radha Blank (The 40-Year-Old Version), Lulu Wang (The Farewell), Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You), Ryan Coogler (Fruitvale Station), Dee Rees (Pariah), Marielle Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl), Gina Prince Bythewood (Love and Basketball), Damien Chazelle (Whiplash), Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Ritesh Batra (The Lunchbox), Taika Waititi (Boy), Rick Famuyiwa (The Wood), Cary Fukunaga (Sin Nombre), Paul Thomas Anderson (Hard Eight), Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry), John Cameron Mitchell (Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs), and Miranda July (Me and You and Everyone We Know), among many others.
Satter has also created and led the Institute's international initiatives in Latin America, Europe, Japan, the Middle East, and India, the Creative Producing Program, the New Frontier Story Lab, and the Episodic Program. More recently, Satter founded and is charged with creative oversight and vision for Sundance Co//ab, a global digital storytelling and learning platform, and the Institute lead for the Sundance Artist Program Group.
In recent years, Satter has been recognized with the Women in Film Business Leadership Award, the ACLU Bill of Rights Award, the Indian Film Festival Los Angeles U.S.-based Industry Leadership Award, the MPAC Media Award, the Coral de Honneur at the Havana Film Festival, and a tribute celebrating her 30 years leading the Feature Film Program at the Sundance Institute. Prior to joining the Sundance Institute, Satter was a Partner and Program Director of ArtiCulture, Inc, responsible for producing hundreds of events in the Boston area, and the Director of Public Relations for Boston’s Institute of Contemporary Art. Additionally, Satter co-produced the Oscar-nominated documentary Waldo Salt, A Screenwriter’s Journey.
Check out Sundance’s latest initiative: Sundance Collab
Show Quotes:
“I just look at all the programs that have been built, the amazing people that I've gotten to work with, it is truly a team effort and that's been immensely satisfying. I've learned along the way, I remember thinking in the early days, even the first lab, if I survive the first lab and help to create a conference that has some impact on films, that would be a win for me. Now I've learned to embrace uncertainty. Because that's the world that we're living in and the challenges that we all face, and that artists face.” 13:00
“There's an idea around generosity, and I think that's the thing that gives me a lot of pleasure and emotional resonance is to be in a space that is pure in its intent and with a core value of generosity.” 14:24
“I'm an emotional person, and I am also looking for, does something open my heart, open my mind, does it wake me up, and those are things that I can't explain. But I love that feeling. That's a feeling of discovery and knowing that I am alive.” 27:53