Sundance Institute Lays Off 11 Staffers Citing Economy and Fundraising Problems

The Sundance Institute has undergone a round of layoffs, TheWrap has confirmed. CEO Joana Vicente made the announcement to staff on Wednesday, and the staff cuts will impact 11 employees across multiple departments or 6% of the 180-person organization.

As Vicente stated in a memo to staff, the contents of which have been confirmed as accurate by TheWrap, “We entered FY23 with a deficit, and it has gotten more expensive to run the Institute due to rising costs from inflation, a drop in our earned revenue, and a more challenging fundraising climate.”

The Sundance Film Festival returned with its in-person screenings following two years of digital festivals amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Institute was recently granted the largest endowment in its history, $4 million from the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria that will go toward supporting Sundance’s indigenous talent programs.

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Sundance is just the latest entertainment or media company to suffer downsizing in recent months, with staff cuts impacting the likes of Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Vice, National Geographic and The Hollywood Reporter among many others.

Vicente wrote in her memo about her confidence in the organization, stating, “We have a strong mission, impactful and life-changing programs for artists, and a community focused on discovering and supporting artists -artists who help change culture, entertain, and move us. As you know, we are working on a 3-5 year strategic plan focused on refreshing the Institute’s priorities, business model, and operations; today’s organizational changes work in concert with this.”

Read the memo from Vicente below.

Dear Sundancers,

I have some difficult news to share. Over these last several months, we have been candid about our work to strengthen the organization financially for a strong foundation for our future as we face a changing economic landscape. In light of this, today, we are reducing the size of our team by 11 positions. Earlier, we notified the colleagues who were affected by these decisions.

In addition to these reductions, one staff member is moving to a reduced work schedule, and we have had to make decisions around seasonal labor requests, which we have shared with departments as part of our planning process.

It is hard to say goodbye to individuals who have meaningfully contributed to this organization, deeply talented individuals we have loved working with. I want to thank our valued colleagues for their impact on Sundance. We plan to support them with severance packages as generous as we can afford.

I want to share what brought us here. Like many nonprofits, the economic climate has challenged our business. We entered FY23 with a deficit, and it has gotten more expensive to run the Institute due to rising costs from inflation, a drop in our earned revenue, and a more challenging fundraising climate. Because of this, we needed to make tough choices for our future. We’ve undertaken a rigorous review across the Institute to begin defining a path forward. The positions we’re eliminating reflect the outcome of that review, and in the coming year, we will continue to prioritize the core work of the Institute, embrace reinvention, and create efficiencies.

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We have a strong mission, impactful and life-changing programs for artists, and a community focused on discovering and supporting artists -artists who help change culture, entertain, and move us. As you know, we are working on a 3-5 year strategic plan focused on refreshing the Institute’s priorities, business model, and operations; today’s organizational changes work in concert with this.

I am confident about the huge opportunity in front of us thanks to our incredibly talented team, who are stewards of this organization, and the value of what we have provided for over four decades to arts and culture.

I know you will have many questions about what I have just shared, our plans for next year, and how we’ll move forward. We will go over these elements during today’s all-staff meeting and in the coming weeks and months in our work together.

Please take care of yourselves as you process this difficult news and lean on your Core Leaders, including me, to work through this together.

I am grateful to all of you for your work on behalf of artists and Sundance.

With appreciation,

Joana

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