Year In Review: The Best FI Blog Posts of 2025
An eventful 2025 is now firmly in the rearview. With the slight window between the holidays and Sundance/Award Season we have, now is a good a time as any to look back at some of our favorite interviews, lists and writing from the past year. It’s also a great chance to see what you might have missed on the blog. So let’s get hyperlinking!
January
Disc Jockeys: How Beyond Video Opened a New Video Store in the Age of Streaming
The year started on a somber note as we lost our President and friend, Josh Welsh on New Years, then days later wildfires ravaged Altadena and the Pacific Palisades.
Considering all that, we still wanted to highlight a positive from January, and that was the inaugural Disc Jockeys column. We spoke with Eric Allen Hatch and Kevin Coelho from Beyond Video in Baltimore about pioneering using the non-profit model to start a video store and film center in the age of digital media.
February
Everything You Missed at the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards
February is of course Spirit Award month here, and we took in the beach and sunshine of Santa Monica one more time, as we celebrated the best in indie film and TV including some Film Independent Fellows and LA Film Festival Alums like Sean Baker and Jomo Fray.
March
How to Make a Film for Under $100K
It seems like the era of the Ultra Micro Budget film is here to stay. We spoke with Felix Werner, co-founder of Modern Media Company and HieronyVision about how to make the most out of a budget in the tens of thousands, and how to make the final product get the attention it deserves.
May
MAKING IT FEEL REAL: Scientific Consultants Panel at Sloan Summit
There was plenty of fun to be had at our 2025 Sloan Science and Film Summit, (Take a look at everything that happened here). But one highlight was the Scientific Consultants Panel, where we learned about how to decide how much jargon to put in shows like The Pitt, and what happened when the stars of The Big Bang Theory shared their Stephen Hawkings impressions with the man himself.
June
Festival Visions: Film Fests – What Are They Good For?
We traveled north to the San Francisco DocFest for a panel that asked the question many starting filmmakers have surely asked at some point in their journey- what good is submitting my film to all these festivals anyways??? Well, it turns out to be more than you’d think. Read on to find out what programmers from SFFilm, Mill Valley and other fests had to say.
July
Project Involve Deep Dives-
Project Involve is a unique program, because it brings filmmakers together to actually make a film. If you miss out on the First Look Screenings (this year’s is on Jan. 15 and open to everyone), there aren’t that many chances to see all the hard work our PI Fellows have done. We showed three past Project Involve films here on the blog and spoke with the filmmakers about the process here.
August
Member Lens: Casting Director & Spirit Award Winner Nicole Arbusto
It’s not often you get to talk to a Spirit Award winner. Casting Director and Altman Award winner for His Three Daughters Nicole Arbusto shared her journey and why she loves working with the next generation of filmmakers at Film Independent so much.
September
It’s rare that you can look at a set and know instantly what show it’s from. But that’s definitely the case with Severance. We spoke with production designer Jeremy Hindle about how he made the shows hallways and cubicles so iconic.
October
Money Matters: Talking Financing at This Year’s Forum, Part I
In an ever-changing industry, a reoccurring theme at this year’s forum was how tricky it is to get a film financed these days. Producers, execs, creators and other people in the film world broke down what’s working right now in this year’s panels, and we dissected it right here.
November
Six Thanksgiving Films to Get Your Taste Buds Tingling and Your Heart Pumping
While there’s no question we all can’t live without film, bodily sustenance is also important. We took a look at some food-focused films that hopefully can bring us all together.
December
Case Study: How ‘Deepfaking Sam Altman’ Takes on the Legality of A.I.
Telemarketers’ Adam Bhala Lough brought his new film Deepfaking Sam Altman to us as a case study in the brave new world of moviemaking using A.I. He spoke with lawyer Lisa Califf about the ins and outs of the legal side of it’s use.
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