Miles Ahead When: April 1 Where: Theaters Director: Don Cheadle Starring: Don Cheadle, Ewan McGregor, Emayatzy Corinealdi Why We’re Excited: Making his directorial debut, Don Cheadle brings one of history’s most influential artist to the big screen as he embodies the role of iconic jazz musician Miles Davis. A passion project for Cheadle, the actor and first-time director was gifted permission by the Davis estate to portray the musician and make a film that held true to the Davis legacy....

In honor of Earth Day, this month’s 10 Indies We Love is looking back at some of our favorite indie (and indie-adjacent) films that remind us to treat our planet with care—lest our species find itself at the center of one of the catastrophic environmental scenarios listed below. Here now are 10 indies we love about environmental upheaval, post-apocalyptic event(s) and characters obsessed with the end of the world—but don’t worry: we also threw in a couple of upbeat and inspiring docs as a friendly reminder to take part in nurturing the Earth and to appreciate its beauty....

But! A good screenwriter makes it look easy. Sure, it’s easy for any hack blogger to impress the dum-dums by piling up the semi-colons and histrionic prose. But laying out a simple, clean narrative in such a way that it forms a perfect blueprint for assembling a compelling sequence of moving images? It’s a special skill that must be carefully nurtured through practice, mentorship and experimentation. And with the 2021 Film Independent Screenwriting Lab we hope to provide the resources our six new Fellows need to attack that blank white page....

Director: Natalia Almada Producer: Natalia Almada & Daniela Alatorre Budget: $400,000 (approx) Financing: Grants Production: Archival footage and contemporary footage edited between 2005 and 2009 Shooting Format: archival footage transferred to HD; Super 16mm; Digital Video Screening Format: HD World Premiere: 2009 Sundance Film Festival Awards and Nominations: Won – Directing Award (Sundance Film Festival); Audience Award at Cine Las Americas, Special mention SANFIC Development and Financing Natalia Almada’s grandmother made six hours of audio recordings in 1978 about her father, General Plutarco Elías Calles (1), who became president of Mexico in 1924....

But the best pitch this campaign has going for it so far is a promotional video featuring Carolla and his old buddy Bryan Cranston, who jokingly rips Carolla and his film to shreds: So how does FundAnything compare with Kickstarter and Indiegogo? For starters, FundAnything doesn’t screen or exclude projects. And Donald Trump claims that as one of the company’s financial partners, he is “giving away MONEY!” on the site to campaigns....

But! For a cinematic approximation of the itinerary outlined above, we will refer filmmakers to our incredible lineup of 2021 Film Independent Spirit Award Best International Feature nominees: Brazil’s Bacurau, India’s The Disciple, The Ivory Coast’s Night of the Kings, Hungary’s Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time and Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Quo Vadis, Aida? Week Six of Film Independent’s ongoing 2021 Directors Close-Up series brought the directors behind these five incredible films together....

During the closing night of Film Independent’s 2017 Directors Close-Up Series, the creators of three of today’s most acclaimed shows unraveled their journey in the TV medium. Moderated by Wendy Calhoun (writer, Empire, Nashville, Justified) the panel consisted of Crazy Ex-Girlfriend creative duo Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna; Issa Rae, creator/writer/actor of the HBO series Insecure; and Pamela Adlon, writer/director/lead of the FX series Better Things. The panel showcased exactly what comprises this modern era of television: a diverse blend of old school executives teaming with new school DIY creators, many of whom went diretly from creating iPhone and/or web content to successful network deals....

There’s a funny phenomenon called “the paradox of choice.” A psychologist named Barry Schwartz wrote a book and gave a TED talk about it. The premise: too much choice is actually a bad thing, causing decision paralysis and unhappiness. The last thing we want to cause with our vast array of Festival films is unhappiness. That’s why we’ve asked programmers to share their picks. These suggestions from Festival Artistic Director David Ansen and Senior Programmer Maggie Mackay may help prevent such distress....

As most LA filmmakers know, runaway production has been plaguing the city for the better part of the past decade. On the heels of the new legislation signed by Governor Jerry Brown to massively expand the California Film and Television Tax Credit program, we are about to see how much Mayor Garcetti’s efforts to bring the film business back to Los Angeles will pay off. And now, to do our part to help our independent community stay in LA, Film Independent is announcing an exciting new program in partnership with FilmL....

With cinema, even the most couch-bound homebody is afforded the freedom to traverse the globe. Forget the annoying passport renewals, epic flight times and fraught currency exchange. Through film, the next far-flung port of call is just a quick streaming queue click away. Furthermore, movies don’t just provide the ability to travel laterally with one’s eyes and ears through physical space but also backwards, forwards and laterally through time and metaphysical dimension....

Other than the strange industry mandate that all still scripts be written in Courier 12-point font, the first thing any screenplay guru worth their weight in expired Final Draft installation discs will teach you is the importance of character development. In other words, a protagonist should not be the same at the end of a linear piece of narrative storytelling as they are at the building—they have to change. But change can come in a variety of ways, either imposed on a character by external forces or generated from within through self-discovery....

Whenever I see a need for artists to have a safe space to share their knowledge, ideas and experiences, it’s one of my professional joys to help bring those people together. Ask any of my colleagues, they’ll tell you how much I love a good roundtable discussion! I believe this impulse comes from a desire for community, to hear from individuals and groups whose voices need to be heard and ultimately (in a cautiously optimistic fashion) contribute towards making positive social change....

Whether it’s the freshman cinephile making their feature debut or the veteran director who’s been at it for two decades, anyone dedicated enough to stick around and make filmmaking a long-term career will tell you that sometimes you’ve just got to get up, get out there and do it yourself. Indie filmmaker Tim McCann is no stranger to doing things his own way; putting his blood, sweat and tears into making sure his vision isn’t compromised....

Enter the documentary web series We’ve Been Around, which seeks to edify viewers about trans history with its stylistically distinctive brand of highly snackable five-minute episodes. The show combining archival material with animation, literary narration and mixed media collage to tell trans stories ranging from the Civil War to the AIDS epidemic of late ‘80s San Francisco. The first five episodes of We’ve Been Around were directed by filmmaker and 2012 Project Involve Fellow Rhys Ernst and produced by 2016 Project Involve Fellow Giulia Caruso of Nonetheless Productions in partnership with Focus Features in association with 11B Productions....

Nabbing nine nominations at the fast-approaching 2021 Emmy Awards, HBO Max’s contemporary noir The Flight Attendant has emerged as a frontrunner in several major categories. Adapted from the 2018 novel by Chris Bohjalian, the fast-paced murder mystery follows alcoholic cross-continental flight attendant Cassie Bowden (Kaley Cuoco, The Big Bang Theory), who has a one-night stand with handsome rich stranger, Alex Sokolov (Michiel Huisman, Game of Thrones), after a red-eye to Bangkok....

Go ahead: picture a film producer. What does this mental image look like? Well, if you’ve allowed the pop culture’s idea of “movie producer” to influence your vision you’re probably picturing some wealthy middle-aged dude, terrycloth pool shirt open to his sternum, chomping on a cigar while screaming obscenities into a speakerphone in some corner office with in view of the Hollywood Sign. But this idea of what a producer is couldn’t be further from the truth....

And while Hollywood has made great progress in these areas in recent years, it still requires the dedicated effort of countless creatives, advocates and industry allies to help boost the profile of the Disabled community contributions within the entertainment world. Enter the Media Access Awards, which through its yearly awards ceremony seeks to recognize and honor depictions of onscreen disability that are accurate, inclusive and multi-faceted. This year’s Media Access Awards—presented by Easterseals—will be taking place virtually on November 19 (Thursday!...

But we know what you’re thinking. The 2017 Spirit Awards don’t actually take place until well into the next Presidential administration—why should you start caring before this year’s Thanksgiving tofurky is even de-slimed? The answer is simple: because hardcore movie geeks (which you definitely are if you’re reading this) know full well that awards season is already underway. The Spirit Awards aren’t a one-night sprint. They’re an endurance sport; a three-month Hollywood Iditarod full of schmoozing, speculation, screenings, parties, press and illicit gambling....

Last month, Film Independent began a series of education events called “Know Your Crew,” for which we bring in industry professionals with different jobs on a crew and they explain in detail what their role is working on set. The first of these events was about the first assistant director, or first AD, and Chris Debenedetto, whose credits include Earth to Echo and TV series The Fosters, came in to talk about his job....

Diversity Speaks, a series of three LA Film Fest panels showcasing content creators of color on how they combined their passions for storytelling, entrepreneurship and their cultural identities into success. Hosted by The Blackhouse Foundation. By Aaron Rubin / LA Film Fest Guest Blogger Featuring a wide array of the hottest African American talent on the web today, the Festival’s Computer Love: Color Adjustment on the Web event highlighted the growing diversity of voices made possible by the growth of the web series....