Here are 29 directors who got their start at America’s biggest indie film fest.

Mary Sollosi

Ava DuVernay

Breakout:Middle of Nowhere(2012)

DuVernaywon the fest’s U.S. Not only didMcMullenmake the festival, but it won the Grand Jury prize.

As a result, amateur filmmakers are forever handing Burns copies of their first movies.

Sundance breakout directors - Brick; Safety Not Guaranteed; Fruitvale Station

Steve Yedlin/Focus Features; Everett Collection; RON KOEBERER/The Weinstein Company

It won critical accolades, and showcased Payne’s winning formula of tragicomedy.

Lionsgate picked up worldwide distribution rights before it even premiered.

He’s currently directingFast & Furious 7in Justin Lin’s franchise-reviving wake.

SONGS MY BROTHERS TAUGHT ME

Everett Collection

Hard to believe he’s still waiting on an Oscar win.

Her handheld style kept the budget under $40 million.

Not bad for a movie that went on to make almost $400 million worldwide.

Dead Pigs

AFI Fest

AllReitman’s hard work culminated inThank You for Smoking, which played Sundance in 2005.

It won the Sundance Filmmaker’s Trophy and also launched the career ofAaron Eckhart.

Rian Johnson

Steve Yedlin/Focus

Ava DuVernay

AFFRM/Courtesy Everett Collection

Ryan Coogler

Ron Koeberer/The Weinstein Company

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Daniel McFadden/Sony Pictures Classics

Slacker (1991)

Orion Pictures Corp/Courtesy Everett Collection

Colin Trevorrow

FilmDistrict/Courtesy Everett Collection

Breakout: Clerks (1994) Harvey Weinstein’s Miramax snatched up the rights to Smith’s low-budget, black-and-white, Grand Jury Prize nominated debut at the Festival. Miramax’s continued interest

Breakout: Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989) Sundance would be nothing without Soderbergh. His dark, Audience Award and Palme d’Or-winning pic is credited with helping kickstart

Breakout: The Brothers McMullen (1995) Burns' Cinderella story quickly became Sundance legend: When he was a lowly production-assistant for Entertainment Tonight , he slipped a

Everett Collection

Reservoir Dogs | THE SETUP Eight assorted crooks are identified by their colorful pseudonyms: Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), Mr. White (Harvey Keitel), Mr. Orange (Tim Roth) and Mr.

Linda R Chen

Breakout: Walking and Talking (1996) Holofcener had already made a trip to Sundance with her short Angry , but it wasn’t until Walking and Talking

Andreas Rentsch

Breakout: El Mariachi (1993) Rodriguez’s $7,000 Spanish-language action pic picked up the Audience Award at Sundance, attracting interest from Columbia Pictures. The studio invested in

Everett Collection

Breakout: Pi (1997) Harvard and AFI alum Aronofsky broke out with his mind-bending, Directing Award-winning debut Pi and went on to shock audiences with his

Everett Collection

Breakout: (500) Days of Summer (2009) Webb was an accomplished director of music videos, working with artists like Miley Cyrus, Maroon 5, and Weezer. His

Chuck Zlotnick

Breakout: How They Get There (1997) Jonze was the most celebrated music-video director of the 1990s, crafting mesmerizing visuals for the Beastie Boys, Bjork, and

Breakout: Citizen Ruth (1996) A 1991 Sundance short had earned Payne a writing deal at Universal that gave him time to work on his first

Everett Collection

Breakout: Saw (2004) Wan’s sadomasochistic torture porn experiment proved to be a welcome antidote to the prestige Sundance pics. Lionsgate picked up worldwide distribution rights

Greg Gayne

Breakout: Bloody Sunday (2002) A former TV journalist, Greengrass had directed television and two movies when his docu-thriller about the 1972 British massacre of Irish

Bernard Walsh

Breakout: Spanking the Monkey (1994) After picking up an Audience Award at the Festival, unknown writer-director David O. Russell caught the eye of Harvey Weinstein,

Breakout: Everything Put Together (2000) Forster’s first feature, which starred Radha Mitchell and Megan Mullally, was a Sundance winner that disappeared at the box office.

Breakout: Cigarettes & Coffee (1993) Anderson’s $20,000, multi-story character experiment Cigarettes & Coffee screened at the Sundance Shorts Program and earned him enough attention to

Breakout: Thirteen (2003) A production designer by trade for the likes of Cameron Crowe and David O. Russell, Hardwicke burst onto the scene with Thirteen

Anne Marie Fox

Breakout: In the Bedroom (2001) Field had directed several shorts, two of which had competed at Sundance, when he arrived with In the Bedroom ,

John Clifford

Breakout: Bottle Rocket (1993) The formidable Polly Platt and James L. Brooks saw Anderson’s 13-minute black and white short and decided to help make it

Deana Newcomb

Breakout: Operation (1998) The Canadian-born filmmaker typically saves his big premieres for Toronto, but he got his start with Sundance shorts, beginning with 1998’s Operation

Breakout: In the Company of Men (1997) Based on his play, In the Company of Men set the template for terse dialogue and harsh sexual