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The film, which premiered at Sundance in January, is the product of a long and involved development process, one that saw Ahn taking project through the Sundance Screenwriters Lab as well as the Film Independent Directing and Screenwriting Labs. Spa Night also received Film Independent’s FilmLA grant for films shooting in Los Angeles, and the EFILM | Company 3 feature film grant to cover costs associated with post-production. Filmed on location in Koreatown, Spa Night is a sensual and atmospheric exploration of the uneasy intersection between sex, cultural identity and family, with the traditional Korean spa acting as the meeting point between David’s staid past and his uncertain future....

To highlight the experiences of our Lab participants and myriad benefits of the program, we asked 2018 Fellow Jenny Halper to tell us about her time in the Lab. I can’t remember a time that my worldview wasn’t filtered through the films I loved–from my obsession, as a four-year-old, with The Wizard Of Oz, to my obsession, as a nine-year-old, with A League of Their Own, to the time I got grounded at the age of 10, for renting Thelma and Louise....

EDDIE HAMILTON, ACE A frequent collaborator on the recent Mission: Impossible films – Hamilton has cut both Rogue Nation and Fallout – his C.V. also includes Kingsman: The Secret Service and X-Men: First Class. A veteran of 24 years, the L.A. and London-based editor’s brilliant team on Maverick includes: First Assistant Editors Matt Sweat and Tom Coope; Associate Editor Laura Creecy; Visual Effects Editor Latham Robertson; Supervising Music Editor Cécile Tournesac; Assistant Editors Travis Cantey and Tom Pilla; and Apprentice Editor Emily Rayl Russell....

Thirty-plus years of Film Independent Artist Development, of course, means access to the accumulated wisdom Film Independent Fellows. So with our latest query in hand, we took a trip down memory road to find out which titles—past and present—light our our creative community’s sense of wonder, purpose and fascination… One film that had a profound impact on me is Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria. I first watched it when I was going through a difficult transition in my life....

Summer is here! And as temperatures soar there’s no better time to crank up the AC, plant yourself at your editing station and grind out those much-needed hours to get your film ready for festival submissions. In fact, deadlines loom for a handful of major festivals that could serve as the perfect venue to premiere your doc. And who knows? If things go really well, your film might walk away with an award (or two) and possibly even that ever-elusive distribution deal....

Last week in our Know the Score “Anatomy of a Great Film Score” series, we went to outer space to explore Max Steiner’s iconic music for 1933’s King Kong. In this special Halloween-themed bonus installment, we’re coming back down to earth (and checking into a suspiciously dilapidated family-run motel off the highway) to take a closer listen to one of the most iconic horror scores of all time: that for the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock classic, Psycho....

THE NEON DEMON Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon is a deceptively simple film. It’s about a 16-year-old girl (a gorgeous ingénue with an unfamiliar beauty played by Elle Fanning) who comes to LA from the hinterlands to start a modeling career. Spoiling none of the plot, this upstart’s great promise on the runway stirs the jealousy of the vicious, more established clique of models whose position she threatens to unseat....

Aside from meticulously inserting razor blades into the apples we all intend to hand out to local children, everyone’s favorite part of the Halloween season is—of course—the excuse to binge-watch our favorite horror movies, from the silly-scary (Hocus Pocus), to the fun-scary (Trick R Treat), to the scary-scary (The Evil Dead) or the really scary-scary (any news channel). In fact, horror movies have long been an integral part of the indie film ecosystem—turning minuscule budgets into huge box office numbers and launching the careers of some of our favorite filmmakers....

Tucked into the snow-covered canyons of Summit County, Park City, UT is a little bit of a Rorschach test, prone to inspire a wide variety of associations. For some, the 8,000-person resort town is synonymous with winter sports—a popular skiing and snowboard training destination and the site of numerous events at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. For others, it’s a high-status vacation spot, perfect for fine dining and shopping and flaunting your glamorous life on Instagram....

But collaboration isn’t alchemy. It’s a science—specifically, the science of human dynamics. It’s a science Film Independent’s signature diversity mentorship program Project Involve has specialized in for 24 years, giving up-and-coming filmmakers from underrepresented communities the opportunity to work together, make films and learn from top entertainment industry mentors over the course of an intense, nine-month program. Like a camera-wielding Avengers, this year’s crop of Project Involve Fellows run the gamut of personal backgrounds and film disciplines, hailing from across the world and including writers, directors, producers, editors and studio executives....

Now that the dust has settled from a whirlwind week of Zoom-enabled industry panels, keynote conversations, networking events, screening Q&As and more, we thought it appropriate to look back at the Forum that was—and wonder just might lay in store for indie content creators in the sure-to-be wild year ahead. Below, you’ll find our round up of our favorite moments from the 2020 Film Independent Forum. If you missed anything, no need to worry....

There’s a reason we call them “Labs.” Four times a year, we invite directors, screenwriters, producers and documentarians into a space where they can experiment with their projects, learning what’s working and what’s not, discovering ideas for making them better. Now, Film Independent is looking for experimentally minded directors with promising projects for our upcoming Directing Lab. Here’s how it works: over eight weeks starting in February, the selected directors (Fellows) will get feedback on their scripts and select short scenes to workshop....

Shortly before I started writing this blog, I learned of the death, on April 12, of Matt Holzman. I first knew of Matt as a listener of his two popular KCRW radio shows: “Matt’s Movies” and “The Document.” Later, I was lucky enough to get to know him in person when he served on our LA Film Festival Documentary Jury, and as a committee member for the Film Independent Spirit Awards....

What was your process taking this story from a short film to a feature-length script? A lot of it was going down to Southeast Texas and researching that world. The idea of taking it from the short to the feature stemmed from not only a place but also from the idea of what happened to the mother of this family and trying to figure out the history of the family leading up to this point of dysfunction....

I, Tonya follows controversial figure skater Tonya Harding as she grapples her way to the top of the sport, only to end up in the middle of a scandal involving her husband and biggest competitor, Nancy Kerrigan, that tragically cost Harding her career. Rogers was initially attracted to the story because it was funny, sad and true… or at least true-ish. “I felt like all of the characters were really rebellious and wrong-headed, and I wanted the screenplay to reflect that,” he said....

But at the lab they spent a day working with acting coach Joan Darling, who forced them to confront their insecurities–and to take an acting class. Said Garcia: “She worked with us for a day and she put us through some acting exercises that I thought were absolutely terrifying.” It’s been 18 years since that day, and with 12 feature films and numerous television credits between them, Garcia and Prince-Bythewood are a little less afraid when it comes to dealing with actors....

Best First Screenplay nominee for Pig, writer-producer Vanessa Block — who would go on to win the category, but more on that later — shared the sentiment on stage. “We’re all trying to be stylish, and I think we’re walking out of here with hypothermia,” she said, looking glamorous in a strappy flowy dress. “Is anybody else freezing cold? I’m so cold! Oh my God, please turn up the heat.” But before we get to the main event, the pre-awards cocktail reception was hopping with multiple Bulleit Frontier Whiskey bars and Stella Artois stations....

For most people, the thought of creating an artful, nuanced and overall fabulous documentary spotlighting a remarkable figure like Talley might be a challenge. But Novack simply captures her subject just as he is, and was: a man of fashion, history, family and grace. So keep reading for Talley’s view of the film, as well as his advice to the young style influencers of today. “I watched André appear in fashion documentary after fashion documentary—probably since seeing Unzipped in 1996, which is a movie I really loved,” said Novak, whose interest in Talley spans decades....

Director: Azazel Jacobs Producers: Alex Orlovsky and Hunter Gray Budget: Under $500,000 Financing: Artists Public Domain Production: 18 days in New York, 3 days in LA Shooting Format: Super 16mm Screening Format: 35mm World Premiere: 2008 Sundance Film Festival Development and Financing Azazel Jacobs wrote the first draft of the script early on and was writing the second draft when he went to the Sundance Film Festival in 2006 and saw Half Nelson....

In Part One of our two-part interview with Luca Mosca, the costume designer talked about his inspirations for the sartorial canvas of the John Wick franchise — from Keanu Reeve’s titular assassin’s iconic style, and how he likens his job to dressing a troupe of dancers. Now, we go deeper into how he and his team ensured that their costumes would survive director Chad Stahelski’s fluid and intense action choreography, and how he personally sewed a portion of what became co-star Angelica Huston’s accouterment....