Creative Producing Initiative Director, Sundance Institute
Anne Lai serves as Creative Producing Initiative Director in the Feature Film Program at Sundance Institute which focuses on identifying and nurturing emerging independent writers, directors, and producers in fiction film. Through a series of Labs, granting, networking events, and educational programming, she helps tailor support for artists on their next feature film in addition to providing ongoing creative and strategic feedback. Recently supported films include Nate Parker’s Birth of a Nation, Kat Candler’s Hellion, Ryan Coogler’s Fruitvale Station, Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox, Haifaa al Mansour’s Wadjda, as well as the Academy Award-nominated film from Benh Zeitlin Beasts of the Southern Wild. Prior to joining Sundance, Anne served as Vice President of Production at Scott Free, the film and television company founded by directors Ridley and Tony Scott. During her time with the Scotts, she worked on film’s including Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, and co-produced the independently financed and internationally filmed Tristan & Isolde starring James Franco. Anne attended the University of Michigan and received her degree in film production from the University of Southern California.