Posts

Filmmakers are encouraged to please take a moment to help fill out this survey regarding fair use and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. FAIR USE FOR FILMMAKERS For nearly a decade, a national coalition led by Film Independent and the International Documentary Association has worked to protect filmmakers’ fair use rights by seeking exemptions to the copyright laws that allow filmmakers to “rip” from DVDs, Blu-ray and other technologies for fair use purposes....

With her background in art history, former fashion designer West is a four-time Academy Award nominee, whose credits include Quills, Argo and The Revenant. Having previously collaborated with West as costume supervisor on the Prohibition-era gangster drama Live by Night, Morgan’s long list of credits includes Maleficent: Mistress of Evil and Man of Steel. This is Morgan’s first costume design credit on a feature – and his first Oscar nomination....

Film Independent: At what point did you decide that you wanted to tell this particular story based on your life? (Shana’s mother was the smuggler.) Shana Betz: I didn’t think my story was all that interesting, honestly. It didn’t occur to me until I went to New York and in getting to know people there, people always asked, “Hey, where are you from, what’s your story?” I realized that maybe my background wasn’t as normal as everybody else’s....

Baumbach recalled an early screening of Kicking, his wry comedy of post-collegiate angst, in Washington, DC. “I came straight from the train, and I was waiting in the lobby. [The movie] just got out, and I was standing with the man who was moderating. A woman came out and went straight to him, and she was like”—at this point Baumbach adopted the tone of an annoyed middle-aged woman—”‘Why did you make us watch that?...

This month’s film: Neruda (2016, dir. Pablo Larraín) Fresh off a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film at this year’s Golden Globe awards (airing this Sunday), Neruda is Chilean director Pablo Larraín’s latest meditation on his nation’s strife under multiple decades of totalitarian rule. This time Larraín’s focus is post-WWII Chile, where in 1948 famed poet and leftist senator Pablo Neruda was forced to escape underground, and later into exile, when the government declared war on communism....

Kirkman—a Film Independent Member who was nominated for the Film Independent Spirit Award Truer Than Fiction prize in 1999 for his documentary Dear Jesse—recently spoke with us to discuss how his personal life inspired Lazy Eye’s story, the challenges of working outside of the Hollywood system and how effective the festival circuit can be in getting your best, final cut. So tell me, what inspired you to write Lazy Eye’s screenplay?...

For years, the Nashville-based filmmaker has been a pioneering creator in the emerging field of video essays, creating a series of breathtaking high-art short-form works devoted to exploring subjects as diverse as Kubrick’s recurring one-point perspective and the difference between Classic Hollywood and Italian neo-realist cinema. Now, Kogonada has moved beyond the confines of the embedded Vimeo player to write and direct his debut narrative feature, Columbus. Set in the titular town of Columbus, Indiana—a real-life mecca for modernist architecture, a fact that plays heavily into the film’s rigid aesthetics—the movie tells the story of Jin (John Cho), in town to visit his ailing father, and Casey (Haley Lu Richardson), a young woman bound to the town by her drug-addict mother....

As the OWN Network drama’s creator and executive producer, DuVernay made big strides for equality during Queen Sugar’s first season by only hiring female directors to work on the show, a multi-generational family drama centered around the operation of large Louisiana sugar plantation. Acting as moderator for the evening, DuVernay kicked things off by saying, “I hardly ever get the chance to talk about craft [so] I want to throw out some craft questions to you....

Not really. Because great films are still at the whim of great ideas, which are the (as-yet) unengineerable products of human talent, inspiration and hard work. That’s why screenwriters remain the beating heart of the movie-making process, no matter how shabbily Hollywood may sometimes treat them. Without words on a page, there is no movie. Conversely, any mistakes made at the writing stage are likely to cascade down through production, growing larger and more ruinous as they go; the more fine-tuned your writing, the greater odds are of success....

You may have noticed something different about Film Independent lately. We’re very pleased to be launching our new visual identity. Although the look is new, we still stand for the same thing: championing the cause of independent film. The new identity is sturdy, offbeat and approachable, spurred by a need to unify Film Independent’s diverse and ever-growing roster of offerings—which includes the Film Independent Spirit Awards, the LA Film Festival and Film Independent at LACMA, as well as a host of in-house Programs including Artist Development, Project Involve and our various Education resources....

Ideally when searching for the right platform to launch their films, filmmakers should be looking for credibility, opportunity, and community. Filmmakers need to consider the personality of each festival and what kind of support each festival gives its films before, during and after the festival. Festivals connect filmmakers with their peers and create a context for industry professionals to champion films throughout the life of their release. Out of My Hand is a perfect case study of how filmmakers Takeshi Fukunaga and Donari Braxton found a home at the LA Film Festival....

The Los Angeles Film Festival is just eight days away! With nearly 200 screenings and events packed into 11 days, we wouldn’t blame you for feeling overwhelmed by it all. If you’re having trouble figuring out which films will be your cup of tea, these picks from Associate Director of Programming Doug Jones are a good place to start. In the coming days, we’ll share more picks from other members of our Festival programming team....

Husband and wife team Gareth Smith and Jenny Lee recently confessed to Film Independent Members that they are “maniacally dedicated” to making things by hand. The sought-after designers led “The Art of Title Design,” a primer for Film Independent Members interested in learning more about the often-overlooked aspect of production that Smith and Lee consider an important element in the storytelling process. They proceeded to explain how for one project, their predilection for the hand-made led them to laser cut, sand, paint and rig the word “FISH” in an aquarium in order bring their creative idea to life....

Between celebrity tabloids, trade magazines, film reviews, academic criticism, interviews and magazine profiles, more words have been printed about the art of filmmaking—and those who make a living doing it—than perhaps any other topic this side of losing weight or surviving an inhospitable teen dystopia. Book about movies come in all shapes, sizes and levels of critical repute—from trashy showbiz tell-all’s, to classy memoirs, to practical how-to guides for navigating both the craft and industry of creating filmed entertainment....

Just 10 days to go until the world learns who will be in the spotlight at the indie film community’s biggest day of the year: the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards. On Tuesday, November 26, at 10:00 am PST, Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station) and Paula Patton (Warcraft) will do the honors of announcing the nominees for Best Feature, Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay, Best Director, Best Screenplay, John Cassavetes Award (best feature made for under $500,000), Best Male Lead, Best Female Lead, Best Supporting Male, Best Supporting Female, Best Cinematography, Best International Film, Best Documentary, Best Editing and the Robert Altman Award....

So—you’re an aspiring screenwriter looking for detailed tips and tricks; the how-to’s of producing a successful first (or even 15th) draft. Naturally, the best guides to give your ear to on this journey are the reliable industry experts: the battle-tested storytellers and truth-seekers tirelessly writing and re-writing during all stages of production. The one thing they’ll tell you is that it isn’t easy—ever. Sometimes writers must axe a sophisticated, beautiful monologue just to please a star actor....

This week: K-Town’92 is an online interactive documentary directed by Grace Lee that invites you to explore the 1992 LA riots, uprising, and civil unrest through the untold stories and perspectives of greater Koreatown. K-TOWN’92 Type: Interactive Documentary Director: Grace Lee Producers: Eurie Chung, Grace Lee Budget: $110,000 Financing: Grants Production: 4 months; January-April, 2017 Shooting Format: HD 1080p video World Premiere: Online, April 2017 Website: www.ktown92.com DEVELOPMENT AND FINANCING Director Grace Lee was a recent college graduate living in Seoul, Korea when the LA riots broke out in the spring of 1992....

Film Independent’s 2105 Directing Lab just came to an end last month. The intensive eight week program is designed to help directors who are prepping their feature films. During the Lab, Fellows workshop scenes with esteemed filmmakers who provide guidance and advice. We asked one of this year’s Fellows, Sylvia Sether, to share her experience. What is your project about and what was the genesis for this film? King of Norway is loosely based on my relationship with my father who passed away in June 2011....

The filmmakers: Eighth Grade’s Bo Burnham, Leave No Trace’s Debra Granik, If Beale Street Could Talk’s Barry Jenkins, Private Life’s Tamara Jenkins, Sorry to Bother You’s Boots Riley and First Reformed director Paul Schrader. Naturally, the impressive February 20 panel called for Film Independent President Josh Welsh to moderate. You can watch clips from the panel below or keep reading for some of the evening’s best highlights and most unexpected moments....

So grab a pen and paper and get great ready to talk about all things screenwriting, directing (and the sometimes uneasy intersection thereof)… THE STORYTELLERS: WRITERS & DIRECTORS On sticking to your job and respecting the boundaries between screenwriter and director, the Spirit Award-nominated Ray said, “When you write a movie that’s not for you to direct, you have to think of it as a relay race. You have to run your lap, and then you hand off the baton....