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First released in 1979, Breaking Away performed modestly at the box office despite great reviews. No less than Robert Ebert called the film “a wonderfully sunny, funny, goofy, intelligent movie” and “a treasure.” And, in the 40 years since its premiere, the cycling-obsessed teen dramedy has become a perennial cult favorite, ranking eighth on AFI’s “100 Years” list of the best sports movies ever made—not bad for a little bicycle movie filmed in Bloomington, Indiana....

One featured panelist was Billy Ray, Oscar nominated screenwriter of Captain Phillips, The Hunger Games, and State of Play, and writer/director of Shattered Glass, Breach, and The Secret in Their Eyes. We asked Billy Ray to answer a few questions about his process and the screenwriters who inspire him. Here’s what he had to say. Which screenwriter has most influenced you? Tie. William Goldman and Alvin Sargent. What was the hardest scene to crack in Captain Phillips?...

As he introduced the actors who’d come to celebrate with their fans, each beamed as they were hit with thunderous applause: Jay R. Ferguson, Christopher Stanley, Rich Sommer, Kiernan Shipka, Mason Vale Cotton, Michael Gladis, Robert Morse, Aaron Staton, Jessica Pare, Elisabeth Moss, Vincent Kartheiser, John Slattery and, at the end of the line, a smiling Jon Hamm—as dapper as Don, but in a completely different way—gave the whooping crowd a big wave, and then demurred when Weiner asked if he wanted to say anything....

Sure, some of the titles in our lineup may be bigger, longer and more star-studded than others. But no category at this year’s Festival better exemplifies Film Independent’s spirit of diversity and commitment to spotlighting new filmmaking talent than the premiere of our very own Project Involve shorts. For two decades, Project Involve has been Film Independent’s signature diversity incubator, fostering the careers of a wide-ranging group of filmmakers hailing from communities largely underrepresented by the Hollywood mainstream....

St. Patrick’s Day isn’t just an excuse for Americans of dubious Irish heritage to fill their pale ginger bellies with green beer and corned beef—it’s also an opportunity to celebrate the Emerald Isle’s contributions to the broader cultural landscape. But while there’s plenty of high-profile Irish music and literature out there, Ireland’s cinematic output hasn’t received commensurate respect or attention from fans of international film. But seeing as it’s St....

Following a standing ovation at the Film Independent Members-only screening of 12 Years a Slave, the third astonishing feature from British director Steve McQueen (Hunger, Shame), Elvis Mitchell welcomed McQueen and co-stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong’o and Alfre Woodard to the stage. When the subject of the source material came up during the Q&A, it sparked a heated conversation about the significance of the text and its preservation. McQueen’s wife introduced him to 12 Years a Slave when he was conducting research for a project....

Which isn’t to say Producers must stand all alone. On the contrary, there’s an entire community of likeminded, independent film producers out there for whom professional camaraderie, mentorship and resource sharing are seen not just as a courtesy, but also as critical for career survival and longevity. Which is why the Film Independent Producing Lab is excited to announce the five new Fellows taking part in the 2021 edition of the long running program....

Last Thursday night I congregated with more than 200 folks at the Downtown Independent Theater in Los Angeles for a live communal viewing of the TV show Scandal, officiated by Ava DuVernay, the director of the episode we all came to watch. Before the show started, Ava summoned all to invoke the elders, meaning that in this screening it was ok to engage in a collective “negro cry of call and response,” or the modern version of it, which is tweet and text while you watch....

The entertainment industry landscape is constantly evolving. And with that evolution has come a new generation of actors who are challenging norms, pushing boundaries, and demanding more authentic and inclusive representation onscreen. On June 20 at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills, SAGindie Executive Director Darrien Gipson moderated a Film Independent roundtable with seven up-and-coming performers currently reshaping how we see ourselves in film and TV: Annie Gonzalez, Isis King, Lionel Boyce, Sue Ann Pien, Lukita Maxwell, Young Mazino and Josie Totah....

In fact, creating content for brands—both large and small—can be artistically fulfilling as well as economically lucrative. It’s all about matching the right idea and aesthetic to the right product or company. And once the client is sold, all the usual tools of effective, cinematic visual storytelling come into play: sound design, cinematography, casting, shot selection, editing. Building your own brand was the subject of the Film Independent Forum panel “Your Logo Here” on April 27 at LMU’s new Playa Vista campus, part of #FiForum19....

The 2019 Spirit Awards will take place February 23 at 5pm EST / 2pm PST, broadcast live exclusively on IFC. And hopefully by now you’re already keenly anticipating the great Aubrey Plaza’s turn as 2019 Spirit Awards host. And you’ve also (hopefully) watched Gemma Chan and Molly Shannon reveal this year’s illustrious class of nominees. But! Are you ready to really get to know this year’s nominees on a more intimate, personal level?...

Avril Speaks discusses seeking out non-traditional financiers to tell the stories Hollywood overlooks, the need for a greater system of women mentoring other women, and the struggle producers face due to our profession not having a clear path for working up the ladder. Avril has several years of experience as a filmmaker to include credits as a producer, writer, director, and editor. She was an Associate Producer on the TNT docu-series American Race, and is the lead producer on the feature film JINN, which premiered in Narrative Competition at SXSW in 2018 and won Special Jury Recognition for Writing....

Supremacy, the intense psychological drama directed by Deon Taylor that screened last month in the LA Muse section of the Los Angeles Film Festival, has been picked up by Well Go USA for US distribution. Shot on 16 mm, the film stars Danny Glover, and tells the harrowing true story of a white supremacist who, right after being released from prison, kills a police officer and then takes a black family hostage....

Of course, Heder (an alum of our 2009 Directing Lab) isn’t the only filmmaker with Film Independent bona fides to make their presence known during this odd, COVID-impacted edition of Sundance. In fact, there’s a whole big sloppy bucket of Film Independent Members and Fellows “at” this year’s Sundance. First, let’s take a look at our Fellows — defined as filmmakers who have been directly supported by Film Independent’s Lab Programs, Project Involve, Fast Track and Fiscal Sponsorship programs… U....

History is written by the winners. It’s a cliché you’ve heard before, its thesis seemingly irrefutable. The thing this six-word bromide fails to capture, however, is that just whom the “winners” are shifts over time. Or even that thinking of the long arc of human civilization in terms of a simple binary is like trying to rewrite The Iliad with a stocking-stuffer magnetic poetry kit. The greater truth is that as human thought progresses over time history comes into focus—revealing hidden stories charged with present-day relevancy and vitality....

We’re now one week past Labor Day; and with it, the unofficial end of a very weird (and perhaps not-very-fun) Summer 2020. In fact, emerging from such a season—one marked by ecological disaster, economic uncertainty, a ceaseless pandemic, political unrest and, most egregiously, a subpar baseball season—can leave one longing for the simple days when one’s greatest summertime worry was the absurd likelihood of grievous bodily harm courtesy of Vernon Township, NJ’s most criminally bone-crunching outdoor water park: the infamous Action Park....

Applications to the 2021 Film Independent Producing Lab are now OPEN. The Non-Member deadline is May 26. Member deadline is June 9. More Info. Apply now! At the start of the pandemic, when the prospect of being in production any time in the near future seemed unlikely, I began teaching a remote course at Rutgers University called “Introduction to Producing.” When I started writing my lesson plans, it suddenly became much less academic and much more personal....

We certainly hope you can join us in person for as much of this year’s Festival frolicsomeness as humanly possible. But if not we’ve go you covered—here now is your complete guide to following this year’s LA Film Festival online: GET THE OFFICIAL FESTIVAL APP You (presumably) have a phone in your pocket. You (presumably) want to know what’s happening at the LA Film Festival. So why not download our official 2017 LA Film Festival app?...

It’s that time of year, when horror fans unite for a month of celebratory screenings of their favorite horror movies. And what more aptly named film to celebrate this month than the 1978 John Carpenter-directed, Debra Hill-produced classic Halloween, which many credit with inventing the whole slasher-film subgenre. As you undoubtedly know, the film follows the rampage of iconic masked slayer Michael Myers, who as a child first murders his sister and is then committed to an asylum for the criminally insane, only to escape years later and return home to idyllic Haddonfield, IL to resume killing....

‘MARE OF EASTTOWN’ LOCATIONS, PART TWO Towards the end, one of the murderer suspects is [SPOILERS!] a creepy kidnapper who has a dilapidated house with a bar attached to its side. What elements did you need for that location? O’Neill: That was actually scripted as a basement–it was almost that cliché. We spent weeks bouncing around ideas, from warehouses to industrial parks to ice rinks. One criteria was that we needed to believe he lives there and that the place must be off the radar, since these girls have gone missing quite some time....