· Public charity
Sundance Institute
Sundance Institute is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the discovery and development of independent artists and audiences.
What it funded, over time
Every grant placed by its stated purpose and the recipient’s mission, by year, FY2017 to 2024.
Where the money goes
Grants by size, and the largest recipients.
How this is measured
By grant size · FY2024
- Under $10k7 grants · $47k
- $10k–50k27 grants · $423k
- $50k–250k22 grants · $1.4M
| Recipient | Amount |
|---|---|
| Redford Center | $200,000 |
| Sowing Hope LLC | $100,000 |
| Louverture Films LLC | $100,000 |
| Walker Film LLC | $100,000 |
| Nightfall Productions LLC | $100,000 |
| Chandi Films LLC | $50,000 |
| Jaripeo Documentary LLC | $50,000 |
| PAUL RAVAL DBA PJ RAVAL LLC | $50,000 |
| WHILEBLACKFILM LLC | $50,000 |
| Blacked Out Dreams LLC | $50,000 |
| Complicated Rabbits LLC | $50,000 |
| Ibis Films LLC | $50,000 |
| Backside Film LLC | $50,000 |
| The River Picture LLC | $50,000 |
| Documentalista LLC | $50,000 |
Does the money reach high-need areas?
Each grant placed by the hardship in its grantee’s ZIP, against the area’s typical level.
Dollar for dollar, its grants (FY17–24) land where the poverty rate runs at 14%, against an area that typically sits at 10%. 82% of its dollars go to grantees based in above-average-need neighborhoods. Most of its grants land in higher-need ZIPs.
How this is measured
Which US states its grants reach
Grants abroad, by region: $580k on the FY2024 return
Schedule F, as filed: 7 regions, $465k to organizations and $115k to individuals. The IRS asks for region and purpose, not the recipient, so no country or grantee can be named here.
Stated purpose: Filmmaking · Filmmaking Grant
Stated purpose: Filmmaking · Filmmaking Grant
Stated purpose: Filmmaking · Filmmaking Grant
Stated purpose: Filmmaking
Stated purpose: Filmmaking Grant
Stated purpose: Filmmaking Grant
Stated purpose: Filmmaking Grant
How this is measured
Who it funds again
Organizations funded in more than one year, against those funded once.
Grantees it renews have grown median revenue +64% since the first grant, against +13% for those funded once.
61 repeat relationships: 8 still active in FY2024, 53 since wound down; 48 grantees were first funded in FY2024 (too recent to call).
How the two cohorts compare
Organizations
Total granted
Median revenue growth · since first grant
Still filing today
New vs renewed · share of each year
In FY2024, 9% of grant dollars renewed an existing relationship; $1.7M went to new ones.
Where new relationships form · theme of each grantee’s first grant
How this is measured
Backed again, and grew
THE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC4× · 2017–2022 · $151k · revenue +331%- EMECOPEACE MIDDLE EAST ENVIRONMENTAL NGO FORUM2× · 2018–2019 · $75k · revenue +14%
- WIWALKING IRIS MEDIA3× · 2018–2020 · $65k · revenue +664%
Funded once
United States Artists Incgraduatedone grant, 2020 · $250k · revenue +67%- JCJIN & CASEY LLCone grant, 2017 · $137k
- CICANARY IN A COAL MINE LLCone grant, 2017 · $100k
How this is measured
Repeat means funded in two or more distinct years. Growth and survival are read from each grantee’s own subsequent IRS filings.
Closest unfunded matches
The nonprofits that most resemble its grantees but are not funded by it, scored along the direction from the rest of the field toward the portfolio. A resemblance in what they say they do, not a recommendation.
The Art of Brooklyn Film Festival is an annual event that brings Brooklyns celebrated film and media makers together with their peers across the country and around the world. AoBFF is a filmmaker-focused event, platform and showcase for…
Promote gender equity in the film & television industry
Advocate for gender equality in the film industry.
Dc dox is a major international film festival in the nation's capital dedicated to promoting documentary film as a leading art form, championing new voices and innovations in non-fiction storytelling, and using film as a catalyst to engage…
A national non-profit media arts organization, american documentary strives to make essential documentaries accessible as a catalyst for public discourse. we collaborate with passionate filmmakers to amplify their voices, nuture the…
Devoted to a greater appreciation of indian cinema and culture by showcasing films, supporting emerging filmmakers, and promoting the diverse perspectives of the indian diaspora.
BraveMaker exists to elevate brave voices. Through the curation and creation of bold, meaningful films, we educate, entertain, and build community experiences that spark transformative conversations rooted in diversity, inclusion, and…
Film forum's mission is two-fold: 1) to serve the general public by presenting the highest caliber of work to the widest possible audience - encouraging the appreciation of new, challenging films (both american and foreign films), and…
Filmmakers Collaborative is a non-profit media organization with a mission to catalyze positive change through the power of filmmaking.
How this is measured
65 grantees tracked through their own filings, 2017–2025.
Each grant beside the grantee’s revenue from every source, year by year.
How this is measured
Counted here: distinct organizations funded across 2017 to 2025, not grant rows in a single year, so this will not match the grant count on the cover. 65 of the 417 grantees resolved in that span have returns of their own we could reconcile.
Each grantee is resolved to its own IRS returns. Association, dated; never a causal claim.
Where the money sits, by cause and then by grantee
Showing the 200 largest grantees by grant value.
Each grantee by its size and the funder’s share of it; top left is load-bearing
Grantee by grantee: a decade per organization, before and after funding
A decade per grantee: revenue shaded, grants as bars, all rows on one timeline.
- Who funds United States Artists Inc ↗
- Who funds REDFORD CENTER INC ↗
- Who funds THE CENTER FOR INDEPENDENT DOCUMENTARY INC ↗
- Who funds YOUTHBUILD GLOBAL INC ↗
- Who funds ECOPEACE MIDDLE EAST ENVIRONMENTAL NGO FORUM ↗
- Who funds WALKING IRIS MEDIA ↗
- Who funds NEW YORK WOMEN IN FILM & TELEVISION INC ↗
- Who funds STUDIO REV ↗
Co-funders
Grantmakers whose grantees overlap with this funder’s far more than size alone predicts. Closer means stronger alignment; arcs show where they also fund each other. Here they form a tightly interlocked group: most of these funders back each other's grantees too.
Open a dossier: International Documentary Foundation Inc · The Ford Foundation · Firelight Media Inc · Perspective Media Initiatives Inc · Doc Society Inc · Cinereach Ltd · Academy Foundation · Chicken & Egg Films Inc · Catapult Film Fund · Utah Film Center · Redford Center Inc · Chicago Media Project
How this is measured
How much its grantees rely on government
Each dot is one organization Sundance Institute funds: left to right is the share of its income from government, bottom to top the share from Sundance Institute. Bigger dots raise more.
- Youthbuild Global Inc: 69% of income from government
- President and Fellows of Harvard College: 7% of income from government
- The Center for Independent Documentary Inc: 6% of income from government
- Documentary Educational Resources Inc: 1% of income from government
How this is measured
Play a game based on Sundance Institute’s filings →