The entertainment industry is contending with the slowdown caused by the virus to give its creatives the returns they deserve. A huge proportion of the artist population is out of work due to the sudden stoppage of production and this is exactly where responsibilities of film organizations come into play. The Sundance Institute realized the need to step in to help the marginalized community members disproportionally affected by the shutdown caused by the pandemic.  

Sundance Institute pledged $1 million to help those who have lost their jobs and need urgent assistance. The organization is performing the good work under the Respond and Reimagine Plan which supports organizations and artists all across the world in a bid to take the right talent to the right destination.

Sundance Institute has published the list of organizations that the funds are going to be distributed among. The organizations chosen to receive the benefits include The Black TV & Film Collective,  an organization established by artists to promote the cinematic talents of Black and Brown artists; Ambulante, a Mexican non-profit organization promoting documentary cinema; Center for Asian and American Media, a non-profit organization driven to offer support to Asian American projects both in terms of production, creativity, and funding.

The Institute rolled out the Respond and Reimagine Plan right after the pandemic hit in April – focusing on the artist welfare, the institute has, by now, distributed 60 percent of funds to artists. Besides that, around 40 organizations representing 19 countries are also on the list to receive a portion of the grants worth $405,500 – which would go to benefit “storytelling organizations and artist collectives” who belong to marginalized communities.

Cinema is diverse and diversity has done wonders in terms of worldwide entertainment. Unfortunately, while others continue to flourish, a few groups a left behind mainly due to their size. 

Sundance Institute counted on an effective way of sorting and selecting grantees – through nominations from peer arts organizations and artists. The list of grantees is huge featuring organizations oriented towards making a positive change promoting racial justice, equal rights, arts, media, and humanities, etc.

Sundance’s initiative infused a message in the industry that artists who work tirelessly must be taken care of during these hard times so that they can continue to give the world their part of entertainment. 

Fundings and grants of this sort ensure that once situations get back to normal – the industry will still have its talented workforce back - ones that the industry is proud of.