Sundance Channel is a network devoted to airing independent feature films, world cinema, documentaries, short films, and original programs. Launched in 1996 to show independent films on TV, Sundance Channel was a joint venture of Showtime Networks (part of CBS Corporation), Universal Studios (part of NBC Universal) and Robert Redford who also acted as the creative director of the network. The channel got its name from Redford’s character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It is an extension of Redford’s non-profit Sundance Institute, a center in which independent filmmakers can harbor and extend their craft though it operates independently of both the Sundance Institute and the Sundance Film Festival.
