So yeah—it’s a hard industry to build a career in. Enter the Imaginar TV Incubator for Fearless Latinx Creators. Made possible by FX in collaboration with the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP), this innovative new program will sponsor six Latinx Creators as they participate in a series of workshops, conversations and individual meetings designed to provide them with valuable support, insight on the FX drama programming brand and direct access to industry leaders....

That’s why the 2022 Film Independent Documentary Lab is thrilled to welcome 12 new Fellows to the program representing six individual projects—all currently in post-production on their way to a screen of some type near you. Says Film Independent Director of Artist Development Lisa Hasko: “The films selected for this year’s Lab represent fierce, unapologetic storytelling,” adding: “From personal to political and everywhere in-between, these boundary-pushing filmmakers will move audiences in the most creative and immersive ways....

The Muppets or Amanda Bynes —Cristhian Barron, Senior Accountant Louis C.K. —Jose Tamayo, Membership Assistant John Waters —Lee Jameson, Film Education Coordinator Keith Richards —Pamela Miller, Website & Grants Manager Louis C.K., kicking it off with his sexual fantasies involving Jennifer Lawrence. —Maria Bozzi, Director of Film Education Two words: Lindsay. Lohan. —Mike Piacentini, Data & Web Manager A vacuuming Ellen DeGeneres —Patty Davis, Executive and Board Relations Coordinator Thomas Pynchon —Paul Cowling, Associate Director of Film Education Roz Williams [Film Independent Finance & Administrative Assistant] —Will Slocombe, Events Coordinator Michael Winslow [The Man of 10,000 Sound Effects] —Evan Ward-Henninger, Membership Manager James Franco and Anne Hathaway…oh wait....

At 7:00am PT/10:00am ET on Tuesday, November 22, we will announce the film Nominees of the 38th Film Independent Spirit Awards! The feature nominations will be presented by last year’s Spirit Awards Best Female Lead winner Taylour Paige and 2019 Spirit Awards Best Supporting Male nominee Raúl Castillo. Television category nominees will be announced by Orange Is the New Black alum, Asia Kate Dillon, on Tuesday, December 13. As was done in years past, the nominees will be revealed on Film Independent’s YouTube channel....

Last week at Sundance I caught up with first-time filmmaker Matt Sobel to discuss his fascinating debut feature Take Me to the River, which stars Robin Weigert, Josh Hamilton, Richard Schiff and newcomers Logan Miller and Ursula Parker. Called “a tantalizing Southern gothic” by Indiewire, the film tells the story of Ryder, an artsy teenager who travels from California with his parents, Don and Cindy, for a family reunion in Nebraska....

RYAN ZACARIAS As Producing Lab Fellow Ryan Zacarias talks about the experience of watching Harmony Korine’s highly influential 1997 debut Gummo, he describes the film eliciting in him “chaotic bliss” through its boundary-pushing originality of vision. You could say much the same about the filmmakers Zacarias has been collaborating with recently—is there anything like a Rick Alverson (Entertainment) film? Does anyone get more specific than Baltimore’s Matt Porterfield (I Used to be Darker)?...

Fourteen years later, the spandex-clad Parr family—Bob, Helen, Violet, Dash and infant newcomer Jack-Jack—are all back, for a second chapter of intricately imagined comic book adventures. Guiding them is the hand of frequent Pixar MVP Brad Bird. The film doesn’t open until this Friday, June 15. But on June 7, Film Independent Members flexed their own collective superpower (the ability to enjoy free preview screenings of hotly anticipated new movies) for an exclusive early look at one of 2018’s most surefire summer blockbusters....

When discussing intersectionality and media representation, far too often disabilities are left out of the conversation, despite the fact that people with disabilities account for 26% of the US population, according to this report from the CDC; “disabilities” encompassing a wide range of conditions both visible and invisible and impacting literally every demographic. But despite the disabled community’s prevalence it have not been proportionally represented onscreen, nor in key creative roles behind the camera—let alone fully tapped as a market....

Managing the financial side of film production can often become more than a full-time job, and probably not one most right-brained creative types are eager to take on. Luckily, Film Independent now offers a way to for you to access new funding opportunities and provide a financial incentive to potential donors: fiscal sponsorship. FISCAL SPONSORSHIP If you don’t know what Fiscal Sponsorship is, don’t worry. We’ll tell you. Fiscal sponsorship is a legal arrangement between a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and an individual or business entity that makes them eligible to apply for charitable funding previously only available to the 501(c)3....

The 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards are happening March 4, returning as always (except for that one weird COVID year) to the beach in Santa Monica. For the third year, in addition to film categories, the Spirit Awards are recognizing uniqueness of vision, innovation and boldness in five television categories. Winners are chosen only by Members of Film Independent. The 2023 television nominees were revealed on YouTube this morning by very special guest presenter Asia Kate Dillon (Billions, Orange is the New Black, John Wick: Chapter 3—Parabellum)....

We caught up with Bedard to get a little preview of what’s to come at this Saturday’s panel. She filled us in on everything from writing drunk characters to the advantages of working for a female showrunner. Tell us about the beginning of your career and how you broke into your first writers room. I started as an aspiring indie filmmaker. I went to NYU and studied directing and had a short that went to Sundance....

Italian Neorealism has always been ingrained in the fabric of independent arthouse cinema. With its scrappy, documentary-like attitude dating back to the tail end of WWII, I have long considered filmmakers like Roberto Rossellini and Vittorio De Sica to be some of the pioneers of modern day low-budget filmmaking. Instrumental in popularizing long and quiet takes, run-and-gun on-location shooting styles, the regular use of non-professional actors and stories often centered around rarely depicted communities in difficult economic conditions, their impact on today’s independent film landscape is undeniable....

For the first time since 2019 (hello fidget spinners!) Film Independent’s autumnal industry gathering—the Film Independent Forum—will be taking entirely live in person at its traditional home, the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles. Alternate venues, hybrid virtual sessions and a friggin’ global pandemic may have made things difficult to pin down in recent years, but this year all your #FiForum23 filmmaker panels, keynotes, industry networking events and more will be exactly where you expect....

The “New Hollywood” era of American film—roughly seen as the 10-year period between 1967’s Bonnie & Clyde and 1977’s Star Wars—was defined in large part by the outsized celebrity of its emboldened, outspoken directors. It was time when marquee names such as “Coppola,” “Scorsese,” “Friedkin” and others were as integral to the marketing of a film as any movie star or studio. But even inside the context of such an auteur-driven epoch, one celebrity filmmaker was even more, well… celebrity-ish than the rest: Peter Bogdanovich....

Honestly, what better way to beat the weekend heat then watching back-to-back (to-back-to-back-to-back…) parodies of nonfiction classics like Grey Gardens and Jiro Dreams of Sushi—all courtesy of SNL alumns Fred Armisen and Bill Hader, who double as both onscreen talent as well as the brains behind this appreciatively satirical dive into the history of nonfiction filmmaking. (Armisen had previously appeared at the Festival in person on Thursday for the panel Portlandia: A Look Back and a Look Forward....

The film, set during the Civil War, tells the story of a wounded Union Army soldier (Colin Farrell) sequestered at a female boarding school in rural Mississippi. Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Kirsten Dunst co-star. The film will play on Thursday, June 15 at LACMA. Buy your tickets today. But wait—there’s more! Following the June 15 Q&A, there will be a bonus screening of Coppola’s landmark 2003 Japan travelogue Lost in Translation—double the (melancholic yet heartbreakingly beautiful) bang for your buck....

But! Before any of that (did we also mention there were tacos?), things kicked off with a screening of new award-winning documentary Jawline, the feature debut of filmmaker Liza Mandelup. Acquired by Hulu for distribution out of Sundance earlier this year, the film explores the rise and fall of Austyn Tester, a charismatic 16-year-old boy from rural Tennessee striving to make a name for himself as a social media influencer....

But just as you thought you had your 2018 LA Film Festival game plan all figured out, we’re sorry (sorry not sorry) to let you know: there’s suddenly a whole lot more. The LA Film Festival is the gift that just keeps on giving, with several additional screenings, special events, panels and more being announced this morning; tons of fun stuff that will undoubtedly send you back to the drawing board to completely re-think your daily itineraries—with big names ranging from Hilary Swank to Kumail Nanjiani to Karyn Kusama....

What’s so special about November 21? Because! That’s when nominees for the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards will be announced at a special press conference at The LINE LA, presented by very special guests Zazie Beetz and Natasha Lyonne. And sure, it may be a long way from Gotham City or Litchfield Prison, but we couldn’t be more thrilled to kick off our favorite time of year with two of our favorite women—who both totally crushed 2019....

So let’s start by visualizing where you are right now. There you sit: a fine cut (or a rough cut, even) of your long-gestating passion project waiting there patiently on an external hard drive, dying to be seen, all but literally burning a hole in your threadbare indie filmmakers’ pocket. What to do? Especially during these long, late-winter months when the promise of festival season seems like the artifact of an impossibly distant future?...