Cross-posted from The Sundance Institute Blog

By Kamal Sinclair, New Frontier Senior Manager

Sundance Institute, in collaboration with the Miami Filmmaker’s Collective, is launching the inaugural New Frontier Flash Lab in Miami (FL) next month.

Through our deep investment in projects that are evolving the field of storytelling, New Frontier has gained valuable knowledge about story innovation. Just like the innovators at the dawn of the film age, New Frontier artists, creative technologists, advisors, and audiences are creating language, forms, and methodologies that will become the standard for future storytellers. The Flash Lab is designed to share this learning, to inspire participants to expand their creative practices, and to challenge them to further their contribution to the Field’s evolution.

February 15, 2014, invited participants will arrive at the beautiful Frank Gehry designed campus of the New World Center and engage in a day-long conversation with New Frontier alumni Jonathan Harris (Cowbird and We Feel Fine) and Jigar Mehta (18 Days in Egypt), as well as New Frontier Story Lab Creative Advisors, Susan Bonds (CEO, 42 Entertainment) and Scott Snibbe (Bjork’s Biophila and Philip Glass’ Rework).

Through the lens of projects and with a focus on the art of story and new technologies, participants will explore field-defining projects, discuss the technological and cultural shifts that enabled these projects, learn about emerging creative practices and tools, and be in direct conversation with New Frontier pioneers.

The conversation will open up to the public in the afternoon with the New Frontier Public Forum (4pm-6pm). Here, the Miami creative community will engage the New Frontier artists and advisors in a discussion about the evolution of fiction, non-fiction, and visual storytelling.  (To attend, please register here).

The following morning, The Betsy-South Beach is hosting a New Frontier Artist Breakfast, which invites a select group of experimental artists and the Sundance Institute New Frontier team to discuss the future of storytelling in Miami–to share ideas, talk about works-in-progress, and envision new projects.

These programs are part of a broader effort between Sundance institute and John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to create greater accessibility for emerging artists to the Institute’s renowned creative artist development programs. This mission is particularly important for the New Frontier program, because it is charged with cultivating the most innovative artists and building a community of collaborators across diverse disciplines to push the boundaries of story. We cannot do that by engaging creators in the traditional entertainment industry capitals. The nature of innovation is dynamic; it can come from anywhere. Therefore, it is prudent that New Frontier builds relationships with a variety of creative communities and shares the learning that may spark the next disruption in the art and form of story.

This collaboration between Sundance Institute and the Miami Filmmaker’s Collective is made possible by The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation with additional support from the New World Symphony, America’s Orchestral Academy, Borscht Corp and The Betsy-South Beach.