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At this year’s Sundance Film Festival, Adobe’s Film & TV Fund announced that it is committing $10 million in grants and donated products in 2026 to help “unlock creative opportunities and career advancement for creators.” The software giant also announced new partnerships with Dimz Inc. Academy, the digital media program for young people from underrepresented backgrounds founded by Amelia Dimoldenberg (creator and host of “Chicken Shop Date”) and Rideback RISE, which supports filmmakers of color.
The company launched the Adobe Film & TV Fund in 2024 to support underrepresented creators in film and TV, offering grants, career development, fellowships and technology (including access to the Adobe Creative Cloud). To date, Adobe has supported more than 1,000 creators through the Film & TV Fund since its founding.
New this year: Adobe announced a direct-to-creators funding pathway to solicit nominations from industry and community organizations to support projects built using Adobe tools such as Premiere and Firefly. Participating organizations include Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively’s Group Effort Initiative, the USC Annenberg School of Communications, the NAACP and Gold House.
Adobe is launching partnerships with two additional organizations dedicated to fostering greater creative access and opportunity: Rideback RISE, which empowers midcareer artists of color to make commercial film and television projects through fellowships; and Dimoldenberg’s creative skills program Dimz Inc. Academy, aimed at people aged 18-24 from underrepresented backgrounds who are interested in careers in digital media.
“I feel really fortunate that my experience in a youth-run project laid the foundation for the career I have today. That’s what I hope to be able to do for others with Dimz Inc. Academy,” Dimoldenberg said in a statement. “With last year’s pilot program under our belt, I’m excited for us to carry on creating something truly impactful this year with the generous support of Adobe. They’re a dream partner because they really understand the importance of supporting creatives and they make the tools needed to do so — which have helped me so much in my own journey.”
In addition, Adobe is expanding its support of the Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellowship, introducing a new short film fund available to Ignite alumni. The yearlong Sundance Institute Ignite program “identifies and supports new voices and talent from the next generation of filmmakers” by providing artistic and professional development to advance emerging documentary and fiction filmmakers from across the globe between the ages of 18 and 25.
The company noted that four previous grantees of the Adobe Film & TV Fund are premiering projects at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival: Stephanie Ahn, writer-director, “Bedford Park” (supported via Gold House); Daniel Chavez, editor, “American Pachuco” (supported via Rideback RISE); Monica Salazar, editor, “Marga en el DF” (supported via Rideback RISE); and Anooya Swamy, director, “Pankaja” (Adobe x Sundance Ignite fellow).
There also are four previous Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellows who have films premiering at the festival: Giselle Bonilla, director, “The Musical”; Gerardo Coello, co-writer and producer, “Albatross”; Maliyamungu Muhande, associate producer, “Once Upon a Time in Harlem”; and Matthew Puccini, director, “Callback.”
English (US) ·