** MEDIA ALERT ** 

2025 Sundance Film Festival Producers Celebration Recognizes Two Producers With Sundance Institute | Amazon MGM Studios Producers Awards

Featuring a keynote from David Hinojosa (Babygirl), the event honored Joe Pirro (The Wedding Banquet) and Danielle Varga (Seeds), both of whom were awarded a $10,000 grant

PARK CITY, UTAH, January 26, 2025 – Each year, producers gather at the Sundance Film Festival to celebrate and honor the producers within the independent filmmaking community. Today, at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival Producers Celebration presented by Amazon MGM Studios, held at The Park in Park City, Utah, producers of films featured in the program came together for the Sundance Institute | Amazon MGM Studios Producers Awards and a keynote address by David Hinojosa, producer and partner at 2AM who has produced Babygirl, The Brutalist, and Past Lives, among others. Winners of the Sundance Institute | Amazon MGM Studios Producers Awards were announced, with two $10,000 grants — one for fiction and the other for nonfiction — awarded to producers Joe Pirro (The Wedding Banquet) and Danielle Varga (Seeds). Both films are premiering at the 2025 Festival. Other speakers included Sundance Institute’s Amanda Kelso, Michelle Satter, Kristin Feeley, Shira Rockowitz, and Maria Clement, as well as a spokesperson from Amazon MGM Studios.

David Hinojosa is an Academy Award–nominated producer most recently known for Babygirl, Past Lives, and The Brutalist. In 2020, he co-founded 2AM. Previously at Killer Films, he produced acclaimed titles including Beatriz at Dinner, Still Alice, First Reformed, Carol, and Zola. He is active in Producers United and the PGA and lectures at NYU.

Highlights from David Honojosa’s keynote include:

• [On discovering his passion for producing] “Once I figured out what filmmaking was — make mini-dv cam videos about dog, read screenplays anyway I could find them, listen to every DVD director commentary, write college essay about Paul Thomas Anderson and, finally, go to film school — I could move on to sorting out what producing was. And boy did I have some great guides along the way: Anne Carey, Ted Hope, Pam Koffler and Christine Vachon, just to name a few. These people were total heroes to me. Reading Christine Vachon’s book and then working with Pam and her literally changed the course of my professional life.”

• [On the responsibility of producers] “We must fuel our own self-renewal. No one’s going to fix it for us. As the textbook definition of “doers,” it’s exactly that we must activate. And we are so lucky that we have a job that rewards creative entrepreneurship. But I also know for sure — we have to rely on the people in this room. We have to pool our talents, famously impossible to define or fit in a job description. We have to harness it all.”

• [On how producers can affect change in the industry] “In a world where power dynamics are constantly shifting, it’s crucial to remember the unique position we occupy. Our power lies not just in our ability to make films, but in our capacity to inspire, to challenge, and, you could say, to bring people to our cause.”

• [On the impact of Sundance and Producers Program] “I’m proud that this festival often showcases work that challenges, affirms or refracts that bigger American story. And this year… we’ve become one of those stories. I see more than a few faces from Producer’s United in the room. A group of folks that are often pitted against each other are instead joining forces to solve a really big problem. By addressing inequalities affecting producers of all kinds, including commencement wages and healthcare, we’re taking control of our destiny and assuring the sustainability of this career path. This collective effort, supported by the Producers Branch of the Academy, the PGA, and the Producer Program at the Sundance Institute, also demonstrates the power of unity in our community. So – will we act on that power? The moment is ours to do so.”

• [Closing words] “In many ways, I’m still the same internet-loving kid from Indiana – sassy, talkative, and short. But now I have this outlet and this canvas. A place to put the cocktail of random skills, open computer tabs, and obsessions to work.  And best of all, a creative community that works together and builds coalition. We must look out for one another. And in doing so, we’ll not only adapt to the changing industry but also shape its future, ensuring that the art of producing remains as vital and impactful as ever.”

Recipients of the 2025 Sundance Institute | Amazon MGM Studios Producers Awards were announced during the event, where they each received a $10,000 grant:

The Amazon MGM Studios Fiction Producers Award was given to producer Joe Pirro, producer for The Wedding Banquet, which is premiering in the Premieres section at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. 

Joe Pirro is Head of Production at James Schamus’ company Symbolic Exchange and based in New York City. In addition to Andrew Ahn’s The Wedding Banquet, recent producing credits include Ahn’s Driveways, Mike Ott’s McVeigh, and Minhal Baig’s We Grown Now.

The Amazon MGM Studios Nonfiction Producers Award was given to Danielle Varga, producer for Seeds, which premiered in the U.S. Documentary Competition at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival. 

Danielle Varga has been producing award-winning nonfiction films for the past decade. In addition to Brittany Shyne’s Seeds, she has produced Brett Story’s The Hottest August, Todd Chandler’s Bulletproof, Vicky Du’s Light of the Setting Sun, and Rachel Elizabeth Seed’s A Photographic Memory, and she co-produced Kirsten Johnson’s Cameraperson.

The Sundance Institute Producers Program is supported by an endowment from the Sandra and Malcolm Berman Charitable Foundation, with generous additional support from John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Amazon MGM Studios.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Tammie Rosen, [email protected]; Tiffany Duersch, [email protected]; Alex Courides, [email protected]; Sylvy Fernández, [email protected]