How Did I Get Here? Sundance Institute exec Keri Putnam believes artists are our future

Executive director, Sundance Institute

“I fell in love with theater early, maybe even in middle school. I was a lead in Thornton Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth—a very, very poor lead, but game!”

“The apprentice program is for aspiring actors, but I ended up in the literary office. It opened up a whole new world.”

“I lived in Brooklyn before Brooklyn was cool. It was really exciting to be in the creative community in New York at that time.”

“There were probably jobs available to me that would have offered more money and more power. But for me, it was important to step back and figure out what I enjoyed and cared about.”

“I love working with artists. I always have. I really believe that artists are critical to the richness of the culture in which we’re living.”

“Harvard didn’t have a theater major, so I designed one.”

“I came to HBO at a time when, if you were an eager learner, you could grow with the company.”

“In the early 2000s, with The Sopranos and Sex and the City being launched, you could see the growth area at the network wasn’t going to be movies.”

With director Ryan Coogler and actor Kerry Washington at a benefitfor the institute, 2013

With Hillary Clinton and Cher at an HBO event, 1996

In 2009, Miramax is shut down by its parentcompany, Walt Disney

During high school, 1983