Michelle Satter

Meet the Founder of the Sundance Program Supporting today’s biggest filmmakers

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.

Michelle is an innovator, a trailblazer, and we are beyond lucky to have spent an hour with her.

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, Lulu Wang, Boots Riley, Ryan Coogler, Dee Rees, Marielle Heller, Gina Prince Bythewood, Damien Chazelle, Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar, Ritesh Batra, Taika Waititi, Rick Famuyiwa, Cary Fukunaga, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kimberly Peirce, John Cameron Mitchell, Quentin Tarantino, and Miranda July, among many others.

Michelle 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.

Tune in! 

xx cg

“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.”

- Michelle Satter

Episode Transcript