Chapman alumni navigate Sundance with YoungArts experience

Photo Courtesy of Dusan Browns Instagram

Every year, Chapman students, alumni and industry professionals fill the streets of Park City, Utah for the largest independent film festival in the United States. A total of 14 films with Chapman alumni involved in their productions screened at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.

Amongst the large presence of Chapman students and alumni at this year’s festival, three were participating in the YoungArts program, a nonprofit designed to empower young artists. The program takes five filmmakers to the festival each year, and this time, two of them were Chapman alumni.

“I applied last year, but didn't get selected,” Chapman alum Jessica Stossel said. “And honestly, it worked out perfectly, because when I applied this year, my application was all about how I'm in post-production on this short film and want to turn it into a feature. So it's the perfect time for me to go and meet with other indie producers.” 

YoungArts is a Miami-based organization that allows high school students to gain mentorship, financial support and community involvement in the arts through their programs. One of the programs offered to alumni ages 21-25 is a five-day venture to the Sundance Film Festival. Stossel, a class of 2022 creative producing and international business alumnus, took her second trip to Sundance through the program.

As a student in 2020, she previously participated in a Chapman travel course to the festival and was able to learn its intricacies before attending as a graduate.

“I knew how the tickets worked and how to get around, and just had a baseline understanding of how to be social at the festival,” Stossel said. “I knew the tricks of, ‘Don't spend your time in screenings, spend your time at the networking events and you can always watch the movies later.’”

Sundance looked significantly different five years ago. Post-COVID-19 and post-writer’s strike, Stossel was able to see firsthand what had changed in the film industry.

“These are all the strike movies. So when we went in 2020, there was some bigger stuff. There were some movies backed by bigger production companies,” Stossel told The Panther. “These movies that got permission to shoot during the strike were the only jobs, and so then they were able to score these high-level cast members that otherwise would not have been free to do these smaller movies.”

Class of 2022 film production alumnus Adrian Delcan, was amongst the group of five that attended the festival through the YoungArts program. Delcan had never attended the festival prior to this trip, but it had been his goal for a long time.

“I definitely wanted to go. Some of my favorite filmmakers’ first films premiered at Sundance. Like Paul Thomas Anderson, who made ‘Hard Eight’ through the Sundance lab in the ‘90s. I think ‘Reservoir Dogs’ premiered there,” Delcan said. “It's just such a place where careers feel like they are born.” 

YoungArts also organized events for the participants to connect with attending filmmakers. Through various mixers and events, Delcan was able to network with filmmakers with diverse backgrounds and hear their insights.

“We talked to this crew of five directors who made this documentary called ‘Khartoum,’ and they're all from Africa, and that was fascinating to hear how they decided to make a movie with five directors from a place that I know very little about,” Delcan told The Panther.

During his days at Sundance, Delcan was able to both meet new filmmakers and reconnect with old friends. He compared the whole camaraderie of the independent festival to a college campus.

“It felt like college, like you were walking on a college campus and instead of it being Chapman University, it's the entertainment industry,” he said.

Despite the prestige of being the largest independent film festival in the U.S., Stossel felt that Sundance was a lot more inclusive and welcoming than she had anticipated. She advised everyone interested in film to attend.

“You would expect Sundance to be really VIP and scary. I think it's worth it to go, even if you have no connection,” Stossel said. “You could just show up, buy a pass, have a great time, get into parties and network, see movies and have the experience. So it's a lot more accessible than I expected.” 

Both Chapman alumni found the experience very validating. The ability for so many independent filmmakers to connect in one small town in the middle of Utah to celebrate their work was a reminder of their place in the industry. 

“My biggest thing that I've been saying since leaving is that it made me feel like I am an active member of the industry,” Stossel said.