The three-year award will go towards general operating support for the Institute’s year-round film and theatre programmes.

The grant will also develop the Institute’s mission to discover and develop independent artists and audiences through labs, grants, the #ArtistServices initiative and public programmes including the Sundance Film Festival.

The Annenberg Foundation’s previous support of Sundance Institute includes the Annenberg Film Fellows Programme (2004-2011), which cultivated such projects as Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Sean Durkin and Josh Mond’s Martha Marcy May Marlene and Pariah by Dee Rees.

“Sundance Institute’s programmes support diverse storytellers and promote their work in a way we hope enriches contemporary culture,” Institute founder Robert Redford said. “We are indebted to the Annenberg Foundation for their exceptional continued support.”