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Unfortunately, technical issues prevented the intended full screening of Quebecois filmmaker Girard’s 1998 musical drama from taking place. But that just meant that evening’s main event—a conversation between Bell and Film Independent Presents curator Elvis Mitchell, followed by a live performance by Bell—happened all the sooner. The Red Violin follows the epic journey of its titular musical instrument as it’s passed down through many hands, a journey spanning several countries and three centuries....

While some producers and cinematographers may take issue with this maxim, Nancy Kirhoffer, an accomplished post-production supervisor whose credits include Memento, 50/50 and Bernie, makes a compelling case: “Movies are three things: picture, sound and music and two of those happen in post-production.” Last week, Kirhoffer spoke to Film Independent Members about the responsibilities of her position. “I basically take over from the line producer. My job is to get the film through post-production....

Filmmakers and Film Independent Members Canyon Prince and James Thomas both recently completed their debut features with their own production company, Two Guys and a Film. Both of them were experienced in the web world, and had a number of web series and music video credits under their belt, but each had a feature they wanted to make, so they decided to start their own production company and make the movies together....

Last year’s Truer than Fiction recipient was Pete Nicks for The Waiting Room, a character-driven documentary that goes behind the scenes of a public hospital struggling to care for a community of largely uninsured patients. Pete told us what the grant meant to him. “I can’t say it loudly enough, a grant like this is a remarkable gift for an independent filmmaker, especially at a moment when you’re working so hard to distribute and market and get attention for your last film, there’s no time to raise funds for your next project....

The important thing to realize is that in the film industry “who you know” doesn’t just mean some distant figure of importance who you just happen to come across. Who you know means who you actually know: the people you share history with, who trust you and are eager to engage with and empower your talent. The growth of this sort of shared community is one of the primary objectives across Film Independent’s artists development programs and, in particular, its flagship international program Global Media Makers (GMM)....

Sheldon’s Heroin(e) follows three brave Huntington, WV women working tirelessly to save the lives of opioid abusers. LaMendola’s Long Shot follows a young Latino man wrongfully accused of murder, who—with the help of a zealous attorney—goes to great lengths to prove his innocence, which beautifully (and even comically) points to an inadvertent appearance on an episode of Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm. Both films tackle serious subjects and important social issues, relying on emotion and hope and the theme of not giving up....

Among the 30-something generation of auteurs for whom Eternal Sunshine is an unshakable touchstone is NY-based writer-director Brett Haley—helmer of indie favorites such as Hearts Beat Loud (2018), The Hero (2017) and I’ll See You in My Dreams (2015). Haley, in fact, will be guest directing a very special Film Independent Live Read of Kaufman’s script onstage next Wednesday, March 4, at the DGA Theater on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood....

THE END. (Roll credits) Sorry–we wish our story could’ve been longer but there wasn’t really any dramatic conflict at the Screenwriting Lab this year, just a lot of productive discussion and writing workshops with lead creative advisors Javier Fuentes-León, Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi, Jessica Sharzer, Jeff Stockwell and Christopher Makoto Yogi. Additional guest speakers and advisors include Ruth Atkinson, Danielle Renfrew Behrens, Bridget Savage Cole, Lauren Craniotes, Ellie Foumbi, Priyanka Kapoor, Danielle Krudy, Amanda Marshall, Josh Peters, Jon Schumacher, Ellen Shanman, Lauren Shelton and Caddy Vanasirikul....

Star Michael J. Fox and screenwriters Robert Zemeckis & Bob Gale might’ve known at least that much about the future of popular music when making their iconic 1985 film, but could they have anticipated that said kids, their kids (and their kids’ kids) would still love Back to the Future so passionately nearly 40 years later? If there was any doubt about the enduring appeal of the Zemeckis-directed sci-fi comedy blockbuster in the year 2023, look no further than Film Independent Presents’ Back to the Future Live Read....

The players included Keegan-Michael Key as Jack, originally portrayed by Thomas Haden Church; Josh Gad as Miles, Paul Giamatti’s role; Catherine Reitman as Victoria, the role originated by Jessica Hecht; Michaela Watkins as Maya, originally played by Virginia Madsen; and Lake Bell as Stephanie, the role originated by Sandra Oh. Combining Key and Gad’s sumptuous comedic chops with Payne and Taylor’s Bukowski-esque prose had the impact of a match torching a gas-filled room....

Boasting two theaters with a 210-seat capacity each, The Frida was founded in 2014 by Executive Director Logan Crow—a longtime film lover and programmer on LA’s crowded revival scene, who was looking for a permanent physical home for his increasingly robust slate of curated screenings and special events. Taking control of a defunct mini-multiplex in the center of culturally diverse Santa Ana, The Frida—which recently celebrated its fifth birthday—has since become Orange County’s undisputed hub for adventurous, elevated cinephelia....

Plans are worthless, but planning is everything. This 1957 quote from then-President Dwight Eisenhower was once handed to me by my project manager father as I again bemoaned the disarray of my carefully concocted agenda for executing some creative vision or other. In entirety, the quote is thus: Plans are worthless, but planning is everything. [That] is a very great distinction, because when you are planning for an emergency you must start with this one thing: the very definition of “emergency” is that it is unexpected....

The question posed in this month’s blog title is usually a rhetorical—we’re not really supposed to know where the time goes. We’re just supposed to think about it. To rue its passing with a sigh and a knowing toss of the hands. But we are creative people, and isn’t it kind of a hallmark of creative people to go against the norm? A prerogative, even? So the answer I suggest for this impossible question is quite possibly only specific to the types of people who quit day jobs, move to big cities and make it their mission to tell stories....

Ever wonder what the process is to get fantastic effects onto the screen? Creating VFX is generally pretty complex, but here’s a distilled look at the basics, broken down by the production team of Scarecrow VFX: VFX supervisor Josh Bryer and VFX producer Melissa Brockman. It all starts in pre-production. When you’re developing and writing, you’re creating the concept of an effect, and you’re maintaining focus on how that effect drives the story....

Created by Jay Carson and based on Brian Stelter’s 2013 nonfiction book Top of the Morning, The Morning Show is an A-list affair straight down the line—from producers/stars Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, to a stable of writing and directing talent including Mimi Leder and the late Lynn Shelton, to a cast stacked with names like Steve Carrell and Mark Duplass. On June 29, Film Independent Presents Senior Programmer Jenn Wilson was joined by two members of The Morning Show’s supporting cast—Billy Crudup (Almost Famous, 20th Century Women) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Belle, Beyond the Lights)—for a special Emmy season Q&A about the show, moderated by Variety Deputy Awards and Features Editor Jenelle Riley....

Either way, you’ve seen it. And on January 11, the man responsible for the year’s biggest and most weirdly divisive blockbuster—Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson—stopped by Film Independent at LACMA, leaving his beloved porgs to watch and discuss that other iconic George Lucas classic, American Graffiti. Part of Film Independent’s “An Evening with…” series, the event featured a 35mm screening of the 1973 nostalgia-drenched classic followed by a wide-ranging discussion between Johnson and the evening’s guest moderator, L....

Calhoun asked Drain what set her on the path to such a renowned career. Drain said she was drawn to science and outer space exploration by her mother’s interest in sci-fi. “So thank you to all you creative folks,” she said to the filmmaker-heavy audience. “I wanted to figure out how to do something in the world that was like Star Trek, so I decided to get into engineering,” eventually leading her to the field of robotics and space technology....

Instead the Oscar-nominated director said it was a series of letters between Janis and a lover, David Niehaus, that led her down the path to Janis: Little Girl Blue. “The letters really led me through the film and through the issues that Janis was dealing with,” said Berg at a recent screening of the documentary at Film Independent at LACMA. “It’s who she really was struggling to be inside that I wanted to show you as much as I could, to represent what her letters were saying....

TV addicts in search of their next must-see series were given a special sneak peek of the new Fox crime drama, Gracepoint last night when Film Independent at LACMA screened the first two episodes of the 10-part mini-series ahead of its October 2 premiere. The screening was followed by a Q&A with Film Independent Curator Elvis Mitchell, the show’s creator, Chris Chibnall, Executive Producer Anya Epstein, and just about all of the main cast members....

Witty banter, power plays and a surprising BDSM fetish combine to offer a promising start to the season. In the episode, Axelrod and Rhoades have both lost some of their bravado after the events of Season Two, yet their inherent need for more—whatever that may be—remains. For Koppelman, it was important to show the shift of priorities in Chuck’s job during the new season. As for Axe, the premiere proved that his hunger for revenge is still as powerful as Chuck’s need for justice....