Joana Vicente is the CEO of Sundance Institute. She began leading the non-profit arts organization in 2021, which is dedicated to discovering and developing independent artists and audiences and supports and inspires independent film and media artists from the United States and worldwide. She is a producer and a passionate supporter of independent storytellers who has extensive experience running nonprofits that support artists.Prior to joining Sundance Institute, she spent three years as Executive Director and Co-Head of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) and the TIFF organization. Before that, she spent nearly a decade as the Executive Director of the not-for-profit Independent Filmmaker Project (now the Gotham Film & Media Institute).Vicente has produced/executive produced over 40 feature films by acclaimed directors such as Jim Jarmusch, Nadine Labaki, Brian De Palma, Amir Naderi, Hal Hartley, Nicole Holofcener, Katherine Dieckmann, Alex Gibney and Todd Solondz. She is recognized as a leading figure of the digital film revolution, having co-founded pioneering digital production companies Blow Up Pictures and HDNetFilms, which she launched with partners Jason Kliot, Mark Cuban, and Todd Wagner. These companies ushered in a new era of digital filmmaking that transformed the landscape of American independent film production and distribution. Before turning her attention to film, Vicente served as a press attaché at the European Parliament for former Prime Minister and Portuguese delegate Maria de Lourdes Pintassilgo and was a radio news producer.
