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“It’s not gonna feel like your average Live Read,” warns Film Independent President Josh Welsh, as he introduces Ruben Östlund to begin Film Independent Presents‘ February 27 staging of the filmmaker’s Academy Award-nominated screenplay for his Palm d’Or winning 2022 capitalism-and-sociology satire, Triangle of Sadness. A previous Film Independent Spirit Award nominee for 2015’s Force Majeure, Östlund’s unconventional Live Read “guest director” gig is an exercise in anarchy, with the stage direction rich in commentary, resets and digressions–often to the befuddlement of his own performers–ably bringing the spirit of the critically acclaimed film to life....

We continue our Producers in Front of the Camera series with Megan Gilbride, producer of documentary films such as Tower and Where Soldiers Come From. In her interview, Megan stresses the importance of filmmakers doing their homework to figure out the multiple audiences for their film and knowing exactly how to reach those audiences before raising any money. She shares her thoughts on the so-called “golden age of documentaries,” the unrelenting question of “what are you doing next?...

A QUIET PLACE When You Can Watch: April 6 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: John Krasinski Cast: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Noah Jupe Why We’re Excited: Co-written and directed by John Krasinski (of “Jim-from-The-Office” fame), A Quiet Place is a genre-bending horror movie with one notable feature, that it’s essentially dialogue-free for much of its run time. Set on a desolate homestead in an unspecified post-apocalyptic future, a couple and their two young children must live in utter silence at every moment or risk attracting a murderous, sound-sensitive supernatural creature....

THE DESERT BRIDE (LA NOVIA DEL DESIERTO) When You Can Watch: May 4 Where You Can Watch: Theaters Director: Cecilia Atán, Valeria Pivato Cast: Paulina García, Claudio Rissi Why We’re Excited: Nominated in the Un Certain Regard and Golden Camera categories at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival, this Argentine-Chilean drama marks the feature debut of writer-directors Atán and Pivato. A mainstay of Chilean theater, TV and film, actor/director/playwright Paulina García plays the timid Teresa, a Chilean woman in her 50s who’s been the maid for the same Buenos Aires family for the past 30 years....

But for those of us sticking it out until the bitter end, there remains no shortage of entertainment to distract ourselves from the bitter squish of perpetually wet footwear. And for the existence of many of these distractions, you can thank our amazing and creative Film Independent Members, a whopping 81 of whom have projects at this year’s Festival. In short, it’s impossible to javelin-chuck an icicle through the crisp Park City air right now without likely impaling a literal card-carrying Member of Film Independent....

The natural world is in a precarious state at the moment. And, if you didn’t believe that climate change was an urgent (or real) issue before, our late-summer surge of wildfires, hurricanes, floods and more have hopefully shown you otherwise. The good and bad news is that where the environment is concerned, little things can make a big difference, in animal populations ranging from tiny insects, to small rodents and beyond....

Like the eponymous knives of Swiss military extraction, short films are, for filmmakers, a versatile multi-use tool capable of fulfilling a variety of objectives. Shorts can be valuable as their own self-contained works of art, of course. But they can also serve as a filmmaker’s calling card, or as a proof-of-concept for a larger feature or series project (films as wide-ranging as Whiplash, Napoleon Dynamite and Saw all began life as short films....

Somehow, we’re closing in on one full year of pandemic quarantine. And while rules, regulations and public adherence have vacillated wildly from region-to-region (picture here the CDC Outbreak Van as one of the buggies from Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride), it’s probably safe to assume that whoever and wherever you are, you’ve probably experienced some degree of personal introspection these past 12 months as a function of extended social isolation. Who am I?...

Miranda’s fifth collaboration with director Joseph Kosinski (Only the Brave, Oblivion, Tron: Legacy), the legacy sequel picks up some 30 years after we last saw our favorite rule-flouting ace naval aviator. Now a Captain in the United State Navy, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) is called back to Top Gun—the Navy Fighter Weapons School—to train “the best of the best” for an upcoming perilous mission that requires “nothing less than two consecutive miracles....

You may be wondering, what’s the most important part of running a successful crowdfunding campaign? The answer: to develop a direct connection to your audience. At least according to Gerry Maravilla, Head of Crowdfunding at Seed&Spark. Founded in 2012, Seed&Spark is a one-stop streaming video service and crowdfunding platform that seeks to provide members an effective action plan for creating long-lasting, direct relationships with audiences. On April 24, Maravilla returned to our offices to offer curious Film Independent Members some useful audience-building tips to help engage with potential viewers and encourage their financial support....

You Have To Start Somewhere It never hurts to apply. The worst thing any film school that you apply to can say is no, but you can always say you tried. A denial is not failure, but rather an opportunity for you to learn that that program, school or production lab may not be right for you at that particular time. It’s okay, though. Don’t stop trying. The Waitlist In October 2015 I didn’t believe I’d get into the USC School of Cinematic Arts, let alone waitlisted, on my first try....

What was the first horror film that scared the pants off you? Psycho! I remember I was having a sleepover party for my 10th or 11th birthday. I begged my mom to let us watch a horror movie, but she was unimpressed with the “slasher” movies of the time—all “blood and gore.” So instead she let us watch Psycho, which definitely ended up being more traumatic than Child’s Play or whatever other movie I was gunning for at the time....

The awards portion of the Saturday gathering–grand ballroom windows giving way to a spectacular beach view–was hosted by two of Hollywood’s buzziest performers and past Spirit Award nominees, Colman Domingo (Rustin, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom) and Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon, Certain Women). “It really feels incredible to be here and see all of you,” said Domingo, enthusiastically. The sentiment was shared by Brenda Robinson, Film Independent Board Chair....

It sounds like the costume production on this film spanned the globe – you had FBFX in London, in-house production in Budapest, and where else? Morgan: We made the bulk of the costumes in-house with four workshops in Budapest – we had an armory die shop, a textile shop, an aging department, a sewing department and a prop department. I brought in many artists whom I had worked with on different films like Maleficent from England, like our armorer, textile master artists and pattern makers....

For 2019 Global Media Makers Fellow Rezwan Shahriar Sumit, his small-scale narrative feature, The Salt in Our Waters, about an embattled fishing community in southern Bangladesh—the coastal Patuakhali District—has blossomed into something much larger. The film has played at festivals worldwide. A series of community screenings brought the film to its participants in the region and opened a dialogue between villagers and local government. And a follow-up documentary further chronicling the displaced fishing community is already in production....

But it’s important to remember that great art can come from anywhere. All that’s required is inspiration and perspiration—that first flickering of an idea combined with the sheer will needed to bring that idea into the third dimension. Since it began, Film Independent has worked hard to cultivate new and diverse cinematic voices by providing our Members and Fellows with the tools to support their ideas both creatively and logistically—and so far, so good....

Over the course of two weeks next May, Doc Lab Fellows will attend multiple workshops and sessions with guest speakers, established documentary directors, institutional funders, legal professionals, festival programmers and distributors. Fellows are paired with an experienced Creative Advisor who can provide one-on-one support and insight as they ready their projects for release. The Lab culminates in a final pitch event that offers further opportunity for individualized feedback and discussion with industry executives....

The panel included The Transfiguration writer/director Michael O’Shea, Life and Nothing More writer/director Antonio Mendez Esparza, Dayveon co-writer/director Amman Abbasi and Ana Asensio, writer/director of Most Beautiful Island. (The fifth 2018 John Cassavetes award nominee, David Lowery’s A Ghost Story, did not have a representative in attendance.) Per the award’s guidelines, each nominee accomplished the difficult feat of making a completed feature film within a budget of $500,000 or less....

Fighting for custody of her toddler grandson with Kevin’s girlfriend, Mare’s complicated home life also extends to the fact that her ex-husband Frank Sheehan (David Denman) lives in a house connected to her own backyard and is about to get remarried. Professionally, Mare has been embroiled in the cases of three missing teenage girls in the small town that have gone unsolved for over a year, prompting the county to send help in the form of Detective Colin Zabel (Evan Peters)....

MAKING YOUR FIRST 360/VR VIDEO? It’s probably safe to assume that when someone says “film” or “movie” the thing you’re likely picturing is a static, flat rectangle populated by moving images. Which, why wouldn’t it? That’s what movies are and have been for more than a century. But that’s all about to change—at least according to some people. We’ve already written about the basics of 360 and VR—it’s history, hardware and general application for creators....