Highlights From The Cut’s ‘How I Get It Done’ Sundance Panel (original) (raw)

Last weekend at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, The Cut and UTA partnered to host a “How I Get It Done” panel spotlighting women redefining power in the entertainment industry. Moderated by culture editor Brooke Marine, the panel featured guests Rena Ronson, partner and head of UTA Independent Film Group; Andria Wilson Mirza, Women in Film’s director of international programs; filmmaker Sarah Friedland; Jackie Titus, Google’s director of consumer marketing; and NEZZA, a singer and songwriter who is the subject of the short Sundance documentary La Tierra del Valor. This year marks the last time Sundance will take place in Park City before the fest leaves its home of over 40 years to move to Boulder, Colorado, in 2027, and the crowd at UTA House on Main Street was buzzing to hear what each panelist had to say. During the conversation, the five panelists shared how they get it all done — speaking openly about navigating their careers, the advice they would give their younger selves, how they celebrate their wins, and more. Below, some highlights from the discussion.

On redefining power as a woman in entertainment: “For me, it’s about confidence and not second-guessing yourself. It’s amazing to see that now, a woman is running nearly every independent-film department in our industry.”

On the advice she’d give her younger self: “It’s not a straight path; it’s always crooked. I wish I hadn’t overthought things, like waiting to take a job at an agency for a year. It was just my path.”

On the idea of balancing it all: “Someone said to me years ago that the idea of ‘work-life balance’ is a joke. There’s never a balance; the most we can hope for is an integration or a ‘pie’ where we can show up in all these aspects. I’m the same person bringing the same set of skills and the same brain to any of these spaces. Filmmaking is a team sport; surviving in this industry is only done through true community and collaboration. That is the key to getting any of this done — knowing I’m not alone.”

On the advice she’d give her younger self: “Do not be afraid of learning or saying, ‘I actually don’t know that. Can you help me become the expert I want to be in this area?’”

On celebrating your accomplishments: “I’m a delayed-reactions person. I’ve come to accept that you can participate in the moment of celebration when it happens, but the actual feeling may come when you least expect it. Sometimes the emotional reality settles in softly later, like nine months after a win.”

On the advice she’d give her younger self: “That the amount of time it takes does not correlate to your talent or how good the project is. I saw peers making features years before me and thought I wasn’t as talented, but in retrospect, it just takes the time it takes.”

On her morning routine: “I set a hard boundary. I work out first thing in the morning or walk the dog, and I don’t let myself look at my email until after I’ve done that one thing for myself. It’s taken a long time to do that, but I strive for that to be the default behavior.”

On advice she’d give her younger self: “Ask for more help and do it more frequently. Help is inviting opinions to shape yourself and make your strategy better.”

On conjuring bravery in the moment that inspired La Tierra del Valor: “Even now, I don’t have an answer for how I got myself to do it. Thirty seconds before, I was in my head like, ‘Do it? Yes? No? Yes?’ But I had been invited a month prior, and as things escalated with the ICE raids, I felt it was my duty to represent my people. I went in with a smile, but ten seconds before I went out, a team employee told me, ‘We’re performing the national anthem in English today.’ At that moment, the mama bear in me came out. I saw the stands filled with Latino families in Dodger blue and thought, This is my moment to show everyone we have a voice.”

On setting boundaries to redefine power: “It took a while, but I finally got the courage to say to my manager, ‘That person made me uncomfortable in the recording studio; I don’t want to work with them anymore.’ I establish my boundaries now.”

Highlights From The Cut’s ‘How I Get It Done’ Sundance Panel Your product is saved! You’ll receive emails when your saved products go on sale. Manage preferences.