Avid Partners with Renowned Sundance Institute’s Annual Directors Lab

Burlington, MA, 2013/08/08

Company extends its unwavering commitment to creative professionals by providing industry leading technology, equipment and support for workshop at Sundance Institute

Avid® (NASDAQ: AVID) today announced that it provided its long proven and trusted technology solutions, including Media Composer, the preeminent nonlinear editing solution, to support the Sundance Institute's annual Directors Lab at the Sundance Resort in Utah. The collaboration is the latest example of Avid's ongoing commitment to fostering the next generation of the industry's most inspirational innovators and storytellers.

At the month-long Directors Lab, eight participating film directors worked closely with professional advisors, actors and production crews to shoot and edit key scenes from their screenplays. Every project at the lab receives ongoing support from the Sundance Institute's Feature Film Program, which could include financial assistance, creative input and post-production tools, among other resources.

"Avid is unwavering in our commitment to professionals, and to nurturing the development of tomorrow's professional filmmakers by providing educational organizations such as the Sundance Institute with access to the industry's preeminent editing solution in Media Composer," said W. Sean Ford, vice president of worldwide marketing, Avid. "We share with Sundance a rich heritage of innovation and leadership, and are proud to support The Directors Lab, which has helped so many creative professionals rise to the ranks of the world's most critically acclaimed directors."

Avid supplied the lab with eight Media Composer stations running on powerful HP Z820 M98 Workstations. Media Composer is the industry standard for professional film and video editing, and has been used to edit iconic films including 2013 summer blockbusters The Great Gatsby and Star Trek Into Darkness. Avid also supplied an ISIS® 5000, the industry's leading media-optimized shared storage solution.

Michelle Satter, Founding Director, Feature Film Program, Sundance Institute said, "The Directors Lab provides that rare creative opportunity for filmmakers to bring their visions to life in a pure workshop environment. We are so grateful to Avid for providing Media Composer to our eight directors. It is such a great tool for editing and is a game changer for the work of the Lab."

The eight fellows selected for the Directors Lab include filmmakers and projects from a wide geographical spread, including Mexico and Somalia. Hungarian director and screenwriter Gyula Gazdag served as Artistic Director. Creative Advisors for the Directors and Screenwriters Labs included Sundance Institute President and Founder Robert Redford, Kathryn Bigelow, Scott Burns, Pablo Larrain, and Ed Harris.