Sartain has been a film envoy with the American Film Showcase, a diplomacy program run by State Department in partnership with the USC School of Cinematic Arts. She has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Humanities' America's Media Maker grants, and is the recipient of grants from ITVS Open Call and the Fledgling Fund.
Sartain's past positions include Executive Director of Editorial Services for MGM Home Entertainment and Managing Editor of Sony Online Entertainment. She has contributed as a writer and consultant on several film projects, including Ishi's Return (PBS, 2016), Rock in the Red Zone (2015), Hotel Everest (2017), Feminists: What Were They Thinking (2018), and In the Matter of Cha Jung Hee (PBS, 2010). As a grant writer, she has raised more than $1 million for documentary projects. As a freelance writer, her clients have included Los Angeles Magazine, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Studios, New Line Home Entertainment, CBS Sports Radio, and ABC Radio Networks.
A Morehead-Cain Scholar and graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with a masters in film from UT-Austin, Sartain began her career as a reporter for The Houston Post.