$5 mil program set at Sundance

The Sundance Institute received a $5 million grant from the Annenberg Foundation on Thursday at the third annual Sundance gala benefit in New York, marking the largest private grant ever received by the institute.
Foundation trustee Charles Annenberg Weingarten has directed the grant to fund the creation of the Annenberg Film Fellows Program, a five-year initiative designed to provide a combination of personal stipends, residencies and creative support for selected participants in the Sundance Institute's feature film program. Fellowships will extend over a two-year period during the creation of a specific film project.
2004 Annenberg Film Fellows will be selected from candidates who have already participated in some aspect of the institute's film program. The first Annenberg fellows will be announced later this spring.
The grant will support as many as five participants as they engage in the different aspects of the film program, including the Filmmakers Lab, Screenwriters Labs, Film Music Lab, Producers Conference and Screenplay Readings.
``The Annenberg Foundation, through its enlightened generosity, will be touching the lives of promising filmmakers at the very stage when they need support the most,'' said Ken Brecher, executive director of the Sundance Institute.