Michelle Satter - Founding Director of Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program

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. She is an innovator, a trailblazer, and we are beyond lucky to have spent an hour with her. Here's her full bio / some of the names 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. Check out Sundance’s latest initiative: Sundance Collab