On the penultimate night of the 2023 Film Independent Directors Close-Up on February 28 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, Shrinking creator and star Jason Segel, director James Ponsoldt, actor Jessica Williams and casting directors Brett Benner, CSA and Debby Romano, CSA came together for the DCU’s annual “Casting and Directing Actors” session, talking about the new Apple+ hit (just renewed for Season Two.) For those who don’t know, Shrinking follows a grieving therapist, Segel’s Jimmy Laird, who starts to break the rules, going rogue to tell his clients exactly what he really thinks....

You may not be shooting a horror story, but you may feel like you’re living in one if you don’t plan for post-production during the pre-production process. “This is the area of filmmaking people don’t like to think about,” said Chris J. Russo at a recent Film Independent education event. Russo currently serves as a technical sales manager for the ARRI Group. She previously worked at Kodak in addition to being a post-production supervisor for 11 feature films....

Theeb When: November 6 Where: Theaters Director: Naji Abu Nowar Starring: Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat Why We’re Excited: Naji Abu Nowar’s ambitious first feature premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where he won Best Director honors and has gone on to play many other major fests. In his very first role, young Jacir Eid Al-Hwietat stars as Theeb, a Bedouin boy growing up during World War I. Theeb befriends a British officer and becomes an unlikely hero as he shepherds the officer to a secret destination....

FINAL DAY Like any great thing in life, the LA Film Festival is what you make it. Sure, the content is stellar and the panels are full of fascinating people and cool stories and tips for making your next movie (which, keep reading). But you know the saying about horses and water and drinking? Here’s the translation for my purposes: “You can lead Cortney to the best indie films and filmmakers in LA, but you can’t make her engage....

You may have spotted that we just launched our Board Members and Friends Matching Challenge! Through September 29, all donations in support of Film Independent will be doubled, dollar-for-dollar, with a generous $75,000 matching gift provided by Film Independent Board Members and Friends: Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, Rodrigo García, Matthew Greenfield, Dawn Hudson, Sue Kroll, David Linde and Felicia Rosenfeld, Gail Mutrux, Edward Rada, Mary Sweeney, Jenifer Westphal and Joe Plummer, and Jamie Wolf and Nathalie Seaver....

The subject of this week’s Film Independent Presents playlist is “dreams and insomnia.” And we have a guest co-blogger to help: writer, filmmaker and former Executive Director of the Northwest Film Forum, Courtney Sheehan. In fact, Sheehan’s current project, Anybody’s Dream—a new series on dream technology—inspired this week’s theme. Sheehan has written the section on “Dreams,” while I wrote about “Insomnia.” So pour another cup of coffee and enjoy! DREAMS Remember any dreams lately?...

Film Independent’s Fiscal Sponsorship program opens the door to nonprofit funding for independent filmmakers and media artists. The projects and makers participating in the program express a uniqueness of vision, celebrate diversity and advance the craft of filmmaking through the creation of these special works. To see the full range of projects that are part of our program, visit our Sponsored Projects page. VANITAS Project type: Fiction Short Project status: Post Production Filmmakers: Lucy Gamades, Mike Ferlita Synopsis: Monica has always longed for the approval of her narcissistic mother....

In The Rider Jandreau plays a loosely autobiographical version of himself: a young cowboy dealing with the physical and emotional consequences of a traumatic rodeo accident, struggling to find a new purpose away from the allure of the rodeo ring. The film was nominated for four 2018 Spirit Awards—Best Feature, Best Director, Best Editing and Best Cinematography—and was the recipient of the first-ever Bonnie Award to honor a mid-career female filmmaker....

So how did I identify and ultimately understand those patterns? Well, after several embarrassing accounts of being unable to name my favorite films, I finally got them down on paper for future reference. After which, I noticed that I had created a list of ten films with shocking narrative similarities to my own writing. I then began the process of pulling each film apart and comparing them amongst each other, and to my own works as well....

Breakthrough horror film It Follows, the largest theatrical limited release so far of 2015, is expanding nationwide in theaters tomorrow. A critically acclaimed festival darling, It Follows is one of the scariest and most well-crafted horror films to come out in years. I spoke with director David Robert Mitchell about how he brought his bold vision to the screen. Disasterpiece’s ominous score really stands out in the film. How did you first connect with Rich Vreeland (aka Disasterpiece)?...

May is for Members! This week only: 10% off General Membership. This month, we’re celebrating our Membership experience for filmmakers and film lovers all over the globe. All month-long you can enjoy an array of special discounts on Membership. This week, you can join and save 10% on all levels of General Membership. Join or renew today! Whether by necessity, restlessness or curious exuberance, it’s a fact that 99% of people carving out a living in the entertainment industry are doing so as a multi-hyphenate—a little acting here, a little hosting there, some writing and producing at varying levels of focus and intensity....

He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for 2009’s An Education, adapted from a memoir by journalist Lynn Barber. Last year, his adaptation of Cheryl Strayed’s memoir Wild hit the screen and the film was nominated for two Oscars. His latest screenplay, Brooklyn, was adapted from Colm Toibin’s novel of the same name. The film follows a young Irish immigrant (played by Saorise Ronan) torn between the life she left behind and her new home in New York....

2016 is likely to go down in history as the year the definition of “American” was most challenged. Who gets to be an American? Are Americans allowed to question their racist history? To what extent is the success of America attributable to immigrants? Must immigrants remain hyphenated Americans forever? What does American look like? As movie lovers, we naturally seek the answers to these questions in film—films that tackle these tough questions and make us feel empathetic, and even a little bit uncomfortable....

After months of curating projects of all stripes (features, docs, series – you name it), while hosting a seemingly endless stream of Film Independent Presents screenings, and watching countless worthy, compelling titles, we’re ready to unveil the nominees. This morning, we announced the Film Independent Spirit Awards film nominees for the 38th annual awards ceremony, set to return in-person to the beach at Santa Monica Pier on Saturday, March 4, 2023....

For anyone looking for pragmatic and candid insights on how to thrive as a working writer in Hollywood, the panel was the place to be on a breezy and sunny Sunday afternoon. Steeped in the artsy vibe of the Festival’s main Culver City hub and infused in the heady turn-of-the-century elegance of the second-floor Culver Hotel ballroom, the fifth day of this year’s Festival offered attendees a plethora of insights into the craft of writing, courtesy of an award-winning collection of scribes....

Today, we’re happy to take a break from reading the news and counting toilet paper reserves to announce the six amazing filmmakers participating in the 20th edition of Film Independent Directing Lab—filmmakers who aren’t going to allow their visions to be delayed or deferred, no matter the circumstances. “In these uncertain times, Film Independent vows to continue our mission to support filmmakers whose bold visions embody independence and diversity,” says Lisa Hasko, Film Independent’s Director of Artist Development....

In sound world, we aren’t simply creating the literal reality of where a character is currently located; we’re using sound to give a sense of the emotional situation using the naturalistic elements of that location. It’s the process of creating an experience wherein the audience steps into the subjectivity of a character—and to create that, it isn’t always as simple as “see a dog, hear a dog.” The cut is what the audience sees and the sonic-perspective is what they feel....

Produced by Warren G himself and directed by 23-year-old newcomer Karam Gill, the film includes nostalgic footage—most poignantly, clips of the Warren G’s frequent collaborator Nate Dogg, who passed away in 2011—as well as numerous interviews with respected rappers and artists and industry icons such as Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Ice-T, Kurupt, Too Short and Russell Simmons. The film outlined how G-Funk (short for Gangsta-Funk) was heavily influenced by soul pioneer George Clinton’s Parliament-Funkadelic collective....

And for those of us with a sincere interest in, y’know, the actual craft behind the year’s best movies, the race to cap off 2019 has provided cineastes with a virtual goldmine of opportunities to engage with awards-caliber filmmakers IRL—particularly in LA—through endless special screenings, conversations and panel discussions; chief among them, Film Independent’s star-studded Directors Close-Up series, which returns January 15-February 12. Celebrating its 18th year, the Directors Close-Up consists of five weekly panel discussions about the art, craft and collaboration of visual storytelling featuring the folks behind the biggest and most celebrated films of the year....

Hi. My name’s Will (that’s me up there on the right). I work with Ralph and Catherine and Elvis at Film Independent. I also just made a movie. My movie’s called Cold Turkey. It stars Peter Bogdanovich (that’s him up there on the left) and Cheryl Hines. It’s about a black sheep sister, played by Alicia Witt, who finally comes home for Thanksgiving. A few weeks ago (just in time for Thanksgiving), Cold Turkey came out in places like LA and New York and my Aunt Malabar’s iPad (hi, Aunt Malabar!...