Abramorama has picked up North American rights to “Make Work,” a documentary that follows four choreographers as they develop new ballets at the New York Choreographic Institute.

The film comes from directors Linda Saffire and Adam Schlesinger, whose previous work “Restless Creature: Wendy Whelan” premiered at the New York Film Festival and was released by Netflix. Their credits include two Emmy nominations and Schlesinger produced “Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry,” which won the Special Jury Prize at Sundance.

“Make Work” opens in theaters March 5, 2027. It premiered at the San Francisco Dance Film Festival and screens at DOC NYC.

The documentary goes inside rehearsal studios at the New York Choreographic Institute and New York City Ballet, tracking choreographers Harrison Ball, Sarah Foster-Sproull, Caili Quan, and Houston Thomas as they create original work during two-week residencies. The film shows the process before a ballet reaches the stage: experimentation, collaboration, and the work that gets abandoned along the way.

“We wanted to sit in the room while a ballet is being born, when ideas are fragile, when dancers and choreographers are taking real risks together, and when failure is part of the process,” Saffire and Schlesinger said.

Adrian Danchig-Waring, now artistic director of the New York Choreographic Institute, produced the film and took his final bow as a New York City Ballet principal dancer on October 18, 2026, after 24 years with the company.

The film also includes reflections from choreographers Kyle Abraham, Lar Lubovitch, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa, Justin Peck, Alexei Ratmansky, Pam Tanowitz, and Christopher Wheeldon on their creative practices and George Balanchine’s influence on ballet.