Known as a festival "by filmmakers for filmmakers," Slamdance was launched to showcase undistributed films by emerging filmmakers. Festival discoveries have included directors such as Christopher Nolan (Memento), Marc Forster (Monster's Ball) and Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite). The Slamdance Screenplay Competition has discovered a number of talented screenwriters, including Joshua Marston (Maria Full of Grace) and Nicole Kassell (The Woodsman). Most recently, in the 2005 Festival, Slamdance screened the documentary Mad Hot Ballroom, which was immediately purchased by Paramount Pictures for the largest amount ever for a feature-length documentary
