Sundance Institute–Adam Piron has been tapped to take over as director of the Institute’s Indigenous Program, leading Sundance’s engagement and investment in global Indigenous storytellers.

He has been serving as interim director since Bird Runningwater departed the organization last September to produce his own projects.

“It’s been a privilege to collaborate with colleagues in devising ways to support Indigenous storytellers at every stage in their career,” said Piron. “I look forward to leading this work with heart, vision and experience.”

Added Michelle Satter, founding senior director of the Institute’s Artist Programs: “Adam’s unflagging commitment to Indigenous artists and his vision of how best to bring their stories to life, has long been a source of inspiration for the Institute.”

Raised in Phoenix with roots in the Kiowa and Mohawk Tribes, Piron has also served the Indigenous Program as an associate director and program manager. He continues to serve the Sundance Film Festival as a short film programmer. He is a co-founder of COUSIN, a film collective dedicated to supporting Indigenous artists who experiment with the moving image. Piron’s resume also includes a stint at LACMA as a film curator.

He currently serves on the editorial advisory board of Seen, a journal produced by BlackStar examining the visual culture of communities of color, featuring interviews, reviews and essays about Black, Brown and Indigenous visual culture. He concurrently serves on the board of trustees and programming committee of the Robert Flaherty Film Seminar as well as on the Indigenous Advisory Board for TIFF. Piron graduated from University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts