“Surround yourself with like-minded people… You can help each other, as what happened with me. Talent obviates the odds. Talent changes everything.” Iron Man 3 director Shane Black on getting started in Hollywood at this year’s Coffee Talks: Director. By Pamela Ezell / LA Film Fest Guest Blogger Shane Black sat down to a packed house with critic and curator of Film Independent at LACMA Elvis Mitchell for one of the Los Angeles Film Festival’s annual traditions, Coffee Talk: Directors....

What’s almost as fun as announcing Film Independent Spirit Award winners? Announcing Spirit Award hosts! We’re thrilled to reveal that February 21 will mark the first time ever in Spirit Awards history that the hosting honors will be shared. The dynamic duo? Fred Armisen and Kristen Bell! “The only thing better than having a great host for the Spirit Awards is having two great hosts,” said Josh Welsh, Film Independent President....

But! Before you resort to crazy capers—like disguising yourself as a nurse to sneaking into Cedars Sinai and swapping out a bedbound studio exec’s medical chart for your hot-shit pilot script—you should know: there’s a better way. One that won’t get you arrested for impersonating hospital staff. Just ask any of the 32 filmmakers (representing 15 projects) who took part in Film Independent’s 17th annual Fast Track film financing market, which took place November 4-6 at The LINE LA on Wilshire Boulevard, where no subterfuge was required....

The pilot introduces audiences to the birth of the world (a Libra, it turns out) and two immortal beings present from the very beginning of time: an angel named Aziraphale (Sheen) and a demon named Crowley (Tennant.) As the struggle between the two rivals continues, the world nears its end as the literal antichrist is born in modern day Britain. Armageddon is coming—and with it, all of the worldly pleasures these two otherworldly beings have come to enjoy....

The story: Eli and Daniel are two Korean American brothers struggling to keep their father’s shoe store afloat. It’s 1992 in Los Angeles and the Rodney King verdict looms over a multiracial LA, where everybody is looking to survive on their own terms and values. The brothers are the unlikely pals of Kamilla, a sassy 11-year-old African American girl from the neighborhood who ditches school to secretly hang out at their store....

“I hope you are not sleepy,” said Turkish filmmaker Nuri Bilge Ceylan as he took a seat on stage at the Bing Theater Tuesday night. He and Film Independent Curator Elvis Mitchell sat down for a discussion before the night’s screening—instead of after—because the film (Ceylan’s latest, Winter Sleep) “is a bit expansive,” as they both put it. So before the audience settled in for the 192-minute opus and Palme D’Or winner, they listened as the two men discussed Ceylan’s camera movement, his background in photography, and his affection for the work of Yasujiro Ozu and Robert Bresson....

Entering the Film Independent Presents special event An Evening With Ludwig Göransson on January 15, attendees to the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills found a stage set with multiple instruments arranged for performance. Chatting before the show, a fellow composer agreed that the scene seemed to set up for African percussion, some sort of guitar band and a string section (which turned out to be a quintet....

Soccer is more than just a sport. It’s the most popular sport in the whole world, followed fanatically by “ultras” of every demographic. Soccer brings out both the best and worst parts of fans’ personalities, and in some areas is essentially a religion. For others, soccer is a key part of their national identity. But despite its global dominance, soccer has been underrepresented in film relative to other sports, with just a few notable exceptions....

Handsome black-and-green lanyards in tow, this year’s Sloan attendees were treated to a edifyingly dense itinerary jam-packed full of scientist and filmmaker panels, Q&As, film screenings, script readings, networking events, an interactive VR “tasting menu” and more—including free food! But even if you weren’t there, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered. Check out the 2017 Sloan Film Summit blog for in-depth recaps from this year’s key panels and case studies of recent Sloan-supported film projects....

Whether you’re a visitor to Los Angeles or a local cinephile, you may want to turn your LA Film Fest experience into a night on the town. Here’s the scoop on five great downtown hot spots within walking distance of the Festival’s hub, L.A. Live. Take a date to dinner and a movie Hotel Figueroa, 939 S. Figueroa St. The vibe and décor of this iconic LA landmark will make you feel like a classic Hollywood star....

In the weeks leading up to the Film Independent Spirit Awards, we are posting Q&A’s with the writers who are up for Best First Screenplay. That way you can learn who they are, what they do and yes, how they managed to get from point A (dream of being a screenwriter) to point B (reality of sitting in the tent in Santa Monica alongside some of the most lauded filmmakers of their generation....

To vote for the winners, become a Member by December 20, 2022 to receive full voting benefits, including access to the much-anticipated nominee screeners (or make sure your membership is current as of the same date). To learn more about attending the Spirit Awards ceremony, please click here. In the meantime, as we ease into the end of the year, let us fill your holiday season watchlist with six Spirit Awards winners that have achieved stunning success at the box office....

Last night at Film Independent at LACMA, an excited audience was able to see the final two episodes of this season of Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and then was even more excited to be in the presence of the cast itself for a special Q&A. Actors Andy Samberg, Chelsea Peretti, Terry Crews, Andre Braugher, Melissa Fumero, Joe Lo Truglio, Dirk Blocker, Joel McKinnon and cast members/executive producers/co-creators Dan Goor and Michael Schur sat down with Film Independent Curator Elvis Mitchell to discuss the crime-based comedy....

Following last month’s interview with Kifaru director David Hambridge, two ideas stuck in my brain: 1) the odd dichotomy in documentary filmmaking between having an intense personal connection juxtaposed with too-common feelings of isolation, and 2) that the reality of financing a documentary is a both puzzle and an ongoing process—one which will inevitably continue throughout the life of a film. With these two thoughts in mind, I wanted to explore the world of grant funding as an avenue of support for filmmakers to realize their vision as storytellers....

Since the early 2000s, there’s been a disappointing trend in movies away from full-fledged opening title sequences. Whether because of the desire to jump straight into the action or the impulse to keep the audience focused on a film’s story (rather than its creators), elaborate, artful opening title sequences, once commonplace, have become increasingly rare—which is too bad. Great opening title sequences do a whole lot more than just show the names and guild memberships of those behind-the-scenes folks who make it all happen....

With Sundance now officially wrapped—deals inked, awards distributed—and the independent film community nervously breathing a collective sigh of relief and saying, “Okay, let’s never do that again again,” we wanted to take a moment to recognize the incredible number of Film Independent Members and Fellows who made Sundance 2022 so unforgettable. In fact, Fi Fellows—defined as filmmakers who have been directly supported by Film Independent’s Lab Programs, Project Involve, Fast Track and Fiscal Sponsorship programs—were some of this year’s biggest winners: Project Involve and Episodic Lab Fellow KD Davila wins the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for Emergency, a project that was first germinated as a 2017 Project Involve short; Fast Track supported project Palm Trees and Power Lines won the Directing Prize in US Dramatic Competition for Fellow Jamie Dack; Fast Track Fellows Nikkia Moulterie and Nikyatu Jusu won the Grand Jury Prize for Nanny in the US Dramatic Competition; Documentary Lab Fellow Shane Boris’s film Navalny won the US Documentary Competition Audience Award; and Project Involve Fellow So Yong Kim produced Special Jury Prize winner Blood....

All of these associations were top of mind when conceiving our version of The New Wave: three days of exclusive film screenings, keynotes, panels and community events—part of a free (!) showcase open to the public October 18-20, and taking place at both MOCA Grand Avenue and The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in DTLA. For more information, click here. Produced by Film Independent in partnership with KCRW and official host The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), the inaugural edition of LA culture-vulture’s newest destination event seeks to celebrate the “spirit of change” driving the transformation of art and culture today....

“To me, embedded in the very word revision is a chance to look at a script with fresh eyes,” LaZebnik said. Screenplays are an interesting medium because of their hybrid form. “It’s this strange literary item, somewhere between prose and a blueprint”—a blueprint and a work of art, LaZebnik added. Here are a few of LaZebnik’s tips for turning that unwieldy everything-and-the-kitchen-sink draft of your script into something lean, mean and camera-ready....

But revisiting titles such as Lulu Wang’s all-conquering The Farewell has got us thinking—what other Film Independent Spirit Award Best Feature titles might be available out there to watch during all these long weeks cooped up indoors? The answers, as it turns out, is a lot. And guess what? We’ve done the legwork of figuring out where they might be so you don’t have to. What service! And to compliment to this supersized, 35-film Best Feature winners watchlist, we’ve decided to do something we’ve never done before: make entire full-length archival recordings of old Spirit Award ceremonies available to watch—for free— on Film Independent’s YouTube channel....

On this particular night two of the Fellows are workshopping scenes from their screenplays with actors they have cast. After a run-through with his actors, the first director up sends his actors out of the room and then leans against a table, script in hand, as he listens to Batmanglij, tonight’s Lab mentor. Mainly, Batmanglij offers advice on connecting with actors and giving them what they need from their director....