by The Sundance Institute in Utah will start devoting more time and space to comedy, thanks to a brand-new comedy fellowship from Comedy Central.
The Sundance Institute | Comedy Central Comedy Fellowship will establish a grant to fund one Comedy Fellowship to the Sundance Institute Episodic Lab each fall and one Comedy Fellowship to the Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab each winter.
These Comedy Fellows will be selected by Sundance Institute’s curatorial team in collaboration with Comedy Central, from among the Lab Fellows developing comedy projects. The Fellowships will include a $10,000 cash grant and customized mentorship from Comedy Central executives, alongside the Institute’s flagship Lab program and year round ecosystem of support. Comedy Central has committed to fund the Fellowship program for two years and will increase its commitment to fund an additional Fellowship for each of the Labs in the second year.
“We’re incredibly excited to partner with Sundance Institute to establish its first Comedy Fellowship. Discovering the next generation of comedic voices and working with them to develop their point of view and, ultimately, introduce them to the world is something that’s woven into the fabric of Comedy Central,” said Sarah Babineau and Jonas Larsen, Co-Heads of Original Content for Comedy Central. “This new Fellowship comes at the perfect time as we emphasize reflecting the diversity of our audience across platforms with diverse comedy projects that are super funny, personally relatable, culturally relevant and provocative. Sundance Institute has done a remarkable job with the Labs program and we’re thrilled to join with them in providing an opportunity for our Fellows to learn from the best.”
“At our Labs, we’ve always celebrated and supported a diverse range of independent voices developing material in multiple genres and formats,” said Michelle Satter, Founding Director of Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program. “We’re thrilled to be collaborating with Comedy Central on targeted support for new comedy projects through our Episodic and Screenwriters Labs. It’s our hope that this intervention and commitment from Comedy Central in partnership with Sundance Institute, will build the field, advancing the art and craft of comedy across all screens.”
The Episodic Lab will take place in October 2019, and the Screenwriters Lab in January 2020.
