All eight fellows will receive mentoring from Sundance Institute and Adobe executives, two skill-building workshops, introductions to career development opportunities, individual coaching, a $6,250 cash grant, introductions to business contacts and advisors, a one-year subscription to Adobe Creative Cloud, and a one-year membership to Sundance Collab. Each fellow has participated in a relevant Sundance Lab or program.
The fellowship was established by the Institute and Adobe in 2020 as part of a common commitment to support underrepresented voices. Filmmakers from all of Sundance's Artist Programs, including the Feature Film Program, the Indigenous Program, the Documentary Film Program, and the Women at Sundance Program, are eligible for nomination.
The individuals chosen as fellows for the 2022 Adobe Women's Fellowship are:
Filmmaker, producer of television programs, documentary and fiction author Elizabeth Ai is a fellow of the Tribeca Institute, Sundance Institute, Center for Asian American Media, Film Independent, and Berlinale Talents. She is currently finishing up post-production on the dramatic television series adaption of her documentary film New Wave.
Prior to starting her own production company, Deidre Backs worked for Alexander Payne's development company and with Daniel Lupi on Spielberg movies and Jordan Peele's Us. She was an associate producer for Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, and she produced Little Chief and graduated from the 2021 Sundance Producing program.
American-Pakistani author Aisha Bhoori has written for The Staircase (HBO Max), Ms. Marvel (Disney+), and she is a 2021 Sundance Episode Lab Fellow. She earned her degree from Harvard, where she won the Edward Eager Memorial Fund Prize for Best Creative Writing three times.
Southern Louisiana inspired Zandashé Brown's writing and directing. Her writing examines catharsis, spirituality, and Black southern experience via a Black female viewpoint. She attended Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Labs.
Joie Estrella Horwitz, a Los Angeles writer, producer, and director. Her work explores physical and emotional borders where reality and fiction intersect. It blends research and filmmaking.
Nancy's Girls by Miciana Hutcherson earned 2019 and 2021 Sundance Indigenous Program Fellowships. Fancy Dance was funded by the 2021 Sundance Screenwriters Lab and SFFilm Rainin Grant. It's on the 2022 Cannes Screenplay List and The Black List's Indigenous List.
Meghan Ross is a Sundance Episodic Lab fellow in Austin. Her video was included in The New Yorker's Best Shouts of 2020. Her writing has appeared on Reductress, VICE's Broadly, TV Without Pity, and The Toast.
Jin Yoo-Kim produced Manzanar, Diverted, and her Cult Foods is a docuseries. She directed HBO Max's Take Out with Lisa Ling. She's a Film Independent Doc Lab, Sundance Producers, and Firelight Media Impact Producing Fellow.
For the 2021 Women at Sundance Adobe Fellows, recent highlights include: The short film Video Visit by Malika Zouhali-Worrall debuted at the 2022 SXSW Film Festival. McKenzie Chinn is directing a short film based on her scripted feature A Real One, and Cris Gris is currently directing multiple TV shows for different streamers and gearing up to helm her feature Forward as well.
Adobe also sponsors Sundance Ignite, the Sundance Film Festival, and the Sundance Institute (a year-long artist development program for filmmakers ages 18-25). Adobe supports Sundance Collab, our online learning community.
Women at Sundance is supported by the David and Lura Lovell Foundation, The Harnisch Foundation, and Adobe. Like a River Fund, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Susan Bay Nimoy, Ann Lovell, Zions Bank, and an anonymous donor also donate.
