‘Disc Jockeys’ is a column featuring video stores across the country that provide their communities with access to DVDs, Blu-Rays and VHS (that can – and often can’t – be found anywhere else), in which we explore what it takes to survive as a physical media store in the age of streaming.

***

Lawyer by day, Board Chair of a video non-profit by night, Macy Cotton is just one of the many volunteer caped-crusaders keeping Austin’s We Luv Video open 50 hours a week and providing Texan cinephiles with their physical media fix.

We Luv Video started as a way to keep video stores alive in Austin, when two of the main independent chains closed in 2019 and 2020. One of those chains, I Luv Video had 10 stores at its peak, and a massive collection of VHS, DVDs and Blu Rays that were looking for a home after the store’s closure. The owner of I Luv Video, Conrad Bejarano, wanted to make sure the collection stayed together and was available to the public.

Enter Macy and her 100% volunteer squad. They took the I Luv Video collection and opened We Luv Video, and on top of renting out tapes and disks, they run screenings, charity events, book clubs and feature local artists whenever they can.

We recently spoke with Macy about what it takes to keep a Texas video store afloat.

You took over the collection of I Luv Video which was a for-profit that went out of business in 2020. Tell me a little bit about how the collection was moved over to the nonprofit and how the nonprofit was started.

I didn’t know the owner, Conrad Bejarano. I had read a few pieces about what Conrad was going to do with a collection, because of course that was like the first thing that everyone asked him. ‘You have thousands and thousands of these things. What are you going to do with them?’

Conrad said he was open to a lot of offers but his main thing was that he didn’t want to split up the collection and he didn’t want it to go to private individuals. He felt this needed to be enjoyed by the public.

I started looking up other video stores that were still in existence. You’ve talked already with Beyond Video. Beyond were the first people that we reached out to because they started with no collection. And I was like, oh, this is a proof of concept that I can take to Conrad and say, ‘There’s a demand and I think a nonprofit model is the way to go here’. So we cold emailed Conrad and he was open to it and met with us.

The collection had been through a lot. It had been in sea crates for a while, it had been in an insulated milk truck. There was almost three years before it moved into our store. It’s hot in Texas, so we had to quality check the films. We were just happy that Conrad took a chance on us, honestly.

There were two big video store chains in Austin. There was I Luv Video and then there was Vulcan Video, which also which shut down in 2019, and just by coincidence, the Vulcan location was available for rent. So, it’s just a nice homage that we’re now in the old Vulcan location.

Tell me a little about your background. What were you doing before this and with it being a nonprofit, is there anything else you’re doing on the side?

Unfortunately, nobody gets paid at We Luv Video. This is a hobby for fun. I’m a lawyer and I work for the state at my regular job.  We are able to make a profit and be able to acquire movies and do fun stuff, but we don’t make enough to be able to sustain even one person’s lifestyle right now. So that’s where we’re at.

Pure passion. That’s still great though. It shows how much it means to everybody.

I think it’s a huge selling point. Our volunteer list is long. Every time we put out a call for clerks or for people helping with our events, we always get people, and I think a big part of that is that we are all here because we truly want to be, and that is really special.

Community is such a huge part of your store. You have local artists creating the front display and designing your t-shirts You have events like flood benefits. Tell me a little bit about your efforts to foster that community.

Honestly, it’s the luck of the people that have selected to come in and join us. Everyone understands that we have to split up responsibilities to make a business that’s open 50-hours-a-week work.

With the flood benefit thing, that was one of our volunteers who messaged and said, ‘Hey, we see a lot of other businesses in the area doing this, I think we should do it. Let’s do a raffle. I’ll coordinate.’ One of our board members said ‘I want to run a t-shirt contest’ So if you can dream it, and it’s cheap, then we’ll try to make it happen.

You also have a micro cinema. What do you look to program when you’re putting on screenings there?

I don’t personally program. We have a whole events team that does, but I believe that they would say that community is the focus there as well.

We have a lot of regular monthly screenings. We have Ani-Mondays animation series. We have Sun-Gays, which is a Sunday night every month that shows obscure queer film. We have a book club that is just for members, and they read the book and then compare it with the film adaptation.

When the opportunities come up to play local filmmakers, we try to screen their work as well. We try and encourage folks that if you make it, we want to try and play it. We try and keep it fun.

How many titles do you have and what type of titles do you look for like when you’re looking to expand?

We are still sorting through the I Luv Video collection. That has been a gargantuan task. They were running off of DOS. For real. So with the inventory list, it was like starting completely from scratch.

We have recently inherited some of the Alamo’s Video Vortex collection. They had some runoff and reached out to us. Then we do we get a lot of community donations. More than once, we’ve gotten entire garbage bags just left on our front door at night.

We have a lot of members that will notice we didn’t have something and then they’ll buy it for themselves and then donate to us after, which I think is just always very sweet. So we have so a lot coming in from a lot of different angles, which honestly covers a lot.

When we are looking for acquisitions, we try and go international and local if we can. And honestly, it is kind of surprising, but New Releases do really well still, so we try and get the New Releases when we can.

Yeah, that totally makes sense. I when I go to my video store, too, there is just something instinctive to go to the New Releases section. Even just like having it and renting it, it makes sure that I’m going to watch this and not miss it. I totally get that because I do it myself.

Yeah, I do too. And we try it we keep a New-To-Us section as well, so if it’s donated by somebody, then it’ll go in the New-To-Us shelf.

Why are video stores still important?

What’s really important is people being able to own what they own. I think that there has been a big movement of people realizing like ‘whoa I’m paying just to have access to this stuff momentarily. That doesn’t stop corporations from editing it. That doesn’t stop it from being pulled. There’s no guarantee that you could ever access that again, right?

We hear it with movies. We hear it with TV. I don’t want these streaming services to be the arbiter of what should be censored and what should not be censored, what should be edited for looks– aspect ratios anything like that. With something like Killers of the Flower Moon, there’s no guarantee you’ll be able to watch that again on a physical release.

And then, this is just a personal thing, I love DVD for special features. I love watching directors’ commentary, I love bloopers. Stuff like that that goes nowhere now. The Superbad DVD menu that is legit Michael Cera dancing for one hour. He did that for real, and it loops and that was just a joke that they wanted to do. That was something really really cool that they’re not really doing anymore. Just an appreciation for the craft, I guess.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.

 

You can check out more of what We Luv Video are up to on their events page. 

For over 40 years, Film Independent has helped filmmakers get their projects made and seen. The nonprofit organization’s core mission is to champion creative independence in visual storytelling and support a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision.

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Now streaming on Apple TV, the world is treated to another Spike Lee joint, Highest 2 Lowest. It marks his twenty-fourth narrative feature film; an undoubtedly impressive number, but what’s even more impressive is the film itself. For a fiercely independent auteur who’s been in the game for as long as he has, it’s inspiring to see his creative vigor and steady hand on the pulse of American culture. The longevity of his career since his breakout independent debut She’s Gotta Have It (1986) is truly what dreams are made of for contemporary filmmakers. In honor of the prolific filmmaker’s latest film, the following is a loose retrospective on some of his most acclaimed and underrated titles; not only in regard to storytelling, but the human experience.

Lee was making short films before he even reached adulthood. After attending Morehouse College as an undergraduate, he would continue his studies at New York University. It was here that he showed his first sign of promise as a serious director in his student thesis film Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983), which went on to win best drama at The Student Academy Awards that year. His next sign of promise would come into fruition just a few years later with She’s Gotta Have It (1986), a romantic comedy made just shy of two weeks for $175,000. It earned fortyfold its budget, making it one of the most profitable independent films ever.

Lee’s ability to move between low-budget films, such as the aforementioned title or Do The Right Thing (1989), and big-budget films, like Malcolm X (1992) or Inside Man (2006), points to his filmmaking versatility. The payoff being critical and commercial success, notably his forever summer staple—arguably his magnum opus—Do The Right Thing(1989). Moreover, this versatility extends to his storytelling capabilities.

Lee is no stranger to the documentary space. With 4 Little Girls (1997), a re-examination of 1963’s 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing, and A Huey P. Newton Story (2001), he established a serious interest in the genre. His empathetic eye, documenting sensibilities, and distinctive style would culminate in the award-winning When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts (2006), a four-part series exploring 2005’s catastrophic Hurricane Katrina, cementing his place in the documentary landscape.

Furthermore, with a handful of iconic features poking through his fingers, it might come as a surprise to some—or friendly reminder—that Lee has filmed/directed theatrical productions as well. From musicals, Passing Strange (2009), to plays, Pass Over (2018), it’s apparent that Spike Lee doesn’t feel constrained with visual storytelling.

Stylistically speaking, his narrative films can be described as works of pastiche, pointing to his frequent reinterpretations of existing material—notably of Harry Powell’s “love and hate” scene from Charles Laughton’s The Night of the Hunter (1955) in Radio Raheem’s “love and hate” scene from Do The Right Thing (1989). Additionally, it’s the medley of materials that he pulls from not only other films, but music, paintings, sports, and real-life events.

Through carefully choosing and arranging these various pieces of media, he’s one who goes above and beyond. Above by mastering the style, beyond by interweaving original stories and characters. Lee’s approach of the pastiche, fearless risk-taking, and singular voice is on full display in Highest 2 Lowest. David King’s (Denzel Washington) home is filled with iconic artwork from Black American painters, along with traditional jazz, soul, and contemporary rap music as the soundtrack. Here is where his hand on the pulse of American culture is evident, with contemporary rappers like A$AP Rocky, Princess Nokia, and Ice Spice having supporting or minor roles in the film. Additionally, the first half of the film takes its time, offering a sophisticated direction not commonly seen in Lee’s films. Then, out of nowhere it switches to the best of Spike Lee that we’ve come to know and love. That is where his risk-taking is the most palpable.

Through this process emerges Lee’s singular voice, a voice that speaks of social politics, Black Power, and New York pride. The way we feel about Spike Lee’s work is like how some of the fictional characters say: we understand, we overstand.

 

Spooky season is thickly up on us, and this month’s batch of indie film releases highlights a range of spine-tingling titles – from psychological to supernatural to dystopian, with some family drama for good measure. Dig in, you just never know what independent minds will make up next.

 

LURKER

When You Can Watch: October 10

Where You Can Watch: MUBI / Film Independent Presents

Writer/Director: Alex Russell

Cast: Théodore Pellerin, Archie Madekwe, Sunny Suljic

Why We’re Excited: Alex Russell (a writer on The Bear) set his psychological thriller in the world of Instagram fame and up-and-coming music talent. Playing on social dynamics and paranoia, Lurker spotlights Matthew (Théodore Pellerin, Spirit Award nominee Never Rarely Sometimes Always), a too-intense loner working retail in Los Angeles. Meeting indie musician Oliver (Archie Madekwe, Gran Turismo) puts Matthew in a position of social climber, elbowing his way into the entourage of a rising star who is just as eager to secure his own popularity with the public. As each of them pursue their sometimes intertwined aims, the tension builds between art, commerce, friendship and who will get what they want – and at whose expense.

 

 

MY FATHER’S SHADOW

Where You Can Watch: Our Programmers’ Picks screening at the Film Independent Theater

Director: Akinola Davies Jr.

Cast: Sope Dirisu, Godwin Egbo, Chibuike Marvelous Egbo

Why We’re Excited: In Nigeria’s first Official Selection at Cannes, this semi-autobiographical coming of age drama is seen through the eyes of two boys (actual brothers Godwin and Chibuike Marvelous Egbo) who spend a day with their estranged father in 1993 – the time of Nigeria’s historic presidential election. From the relative calm of their rural village to the vibrancy and bewilderment of Lagos, brothers Aki and Remi get their first glimpse at the romanticized life of their father Fola (Sope Dirisu, Gangs of London). Co-written by Akinola Davies and his brother Wale, Davies told The Observer, “…it was also about us trying to understand and mine a bunch of emotions on what it means to be men in an African context, and grieve a relationship that we never really had.”

 

 

ORWELL: 2 + 2 = 5

When You Can Watch: October 3

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Raoul Peck

Cast: Damian Lewis

Why We’re Excited: In a spare composition, Spirit Award nominee Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) examines the life, work, and relevance of George Orwell’s writing – specifically his dystopian novel, 1984. Knitted together with gravitas from narration by Emmy winner Damian Lewis (Homeland), the documentary connects archival footage, diary excerpts, and global contemporary events to follow Orwell’s path from imperial officer to prophetic critic of authoritarianism, sprinkling details of his personal life among his writings. Peck, commissioned by the Orwell estate, spoke with Filmmaker Magazine on finding his connection with Orwell: “What people have made of Orwell over the years was to put him in this little tunnel of anti-Sovietism, anti-Stalinism…Any power is subject to becoming authoritarian.”

 

 

ANEMONE

When You Can Watch: October 3

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Ronan Day-Lewis

Cast: Daniel Day-Lewis, Sean Bean, Samuel Bottomley

Why We’re Excited: Co-written with his dad, Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), this art-house family drama is a feature debut for Ronan Day-Lewis. Day-Lewis’s distinctive visual style shines in the film’s Northern England setting of misty forests, as Jem (Sean Bean, Game of Thrones) braves estrangement and traumatic history to visit his hermit brother Ray (Daniel Day-Lewis) and encourage him to return to civilization. The film title (pronounced Uh-NEM-uh-nee) refers to a key story that unfolds as Jem and Ray catch up on life – as only two men with lots of secrets and buried emotions would – because even though some things are impossible to talk about, the bond of family demands that we do. Produced by Film Independent members Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner.

 

 

GOOD BOY

When You Can Watch: October 3

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Ben Leonberg

Cast: Indy, Shane Jensen, Arielle Friedman

Why We’re Excited: Finally! A ghost story from the dog’s perspective. Titular good boy Indy takes the cake as the dog, who in real life belongs to director Ben Leonberg. Leonberg and his wife (producer Kari Fischer) worked for three years to prep Indy for the role in their first feature. “I worked with my own dog,” he told Variety, “and I think by necessity, the movie’s gonna be unique because his performance is so unlike other performances a person or even another dog actor would give.” The story of a loyal dog who moves into a remote cabin with his owner was first imagined for a short film contest, in which Indy won Best Actor. And the unique genius of Indy’s quirks and dog sense shine as he bravely battles the dark forces threatening his best friend – a man named Todd (Shane Jensen, Four).

 

 

IF I HAD LEGS I’D KICK YOU

When You Can Watch: October 10

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Mary Bronstein

Cast: Rose Byrne, Conan O’Brien, A$AP Rocky

Why We’re Excited: Linda has a lot going on. As a therapist (Rose Byrne, Spy) with a mysteriously ill daughter and absent husband, Linda spirals from frazzled to unraveled and descending. Sharing her struggles with a dismissive therapist (the surprisingly perfect Conan O’Brien, The Lego Batman Movie) and her relentlessly positive hotel neighbor, James (A$AP Rocky, Dope). The rising panic is palpable, and the hole in Linda’s ceiling seems to parallel other things in her life that come crashing down. This is the second film from director Mary Bronstein (Yeast), bringing dark humor to visceral emotion as mounting pressures in Linda’s life – from within and without – take her on a messy search for meaning and identity.

 

 

FAIRYLAND

When You Can Watch: October 5

Where You Can Watch: Landmark Sunset, Film Independent Presents

Director: Andrew Durham

Cast: Emilia Jones, Scoot McNairy, Nessa Dougherty

Why We’re Excited: Andrew Durham adapted the script for his first feature from Alysia Abbott’s memoir with the same name. In an interview with Solstice, Alysia talked about the ten-year journey from page to screen, watching Durham dramatize her childhood memories of life in San Francisco with her gay dad – played by Scoot McNairy (Spirit Award winner In Search of a Midnight Kiss). “I felt he really respected me as the author of this story,” Abbott said. “And in turn I trusted him to make the movie he wanted to make.” Durham’s movie starts with the catalyst for the big move to San Francisco – the death of young Alysia’s mother in a car accident. Ignoring advice from relatives, the family of two sets off for new experiences in a defining era for the gay community. Film Independent member Elizabeth Woodward served as Executive Producer.

 

 

THE MASTERMIND 

When You Can Watch: October 17

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Kelly Reichardt

Cast: Josh O’Connor, Sterling Thompson, Ronnie Gibson

Why We’re Excited: Spirit Award winner Kelly Reichart (Showing Up) has always loved heists. When she happened on an article reporting the 50th anniversary of an art heist in Massachusetts, it sparked the idea for her own modest art heist set in New England. Rather than pilfering Rembrandts, Reichardt’s James Mooney (Josh O’Connor, God’s Own Country) channels his detachment from the state of the world in the 1970s into a scheme to make off with a few small works by Arthur Dove. But as Reichardt’s films tend to do, Mastermind challenges Mooney’s assumptions of independence as he is forced to reckon with society, his judge father (Bill Camp, Sound of Freedom) and his ragtag crew.

 

 

 

BUGONIA

When You Can Watch: October 31

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis

Why We’re Excited: Yorgos Lanthimos (Spirit Award nominated The Favourite) was drawn to this script because of the timeliness and relevance of its concept – two conspiracy theorists kidnapping the protective CEO of a big pharmaceutical company. “I felt it was so funny and entertaining but also extremely impactful and made you really think about things deeply,” Lanthimos told THR. Spirit Award nominee Jesse Plemons (Other People) plays the beekeeper who believes Michelle – Emma Stone (Spirit Award nominated Fantasmas) – is actually an alien planning to destroy the earth. So naturally he gets his cousin to help stash Michelle in the basement until they can coerce her to reverse her plans for total annihilation. The battle of wits that ensues is both entertaining, chilling and potentially insightful.

 

 

 

PROGRAMMER’S PICK: HEDDA

When You Can Watch: September 25

Where You Can Watch: The London West Hollywood, Film Independent Presents

Writer/Director: Nia DaCosta

Cast: Tessa Thompson, Nina Hoss, Imogen Poots

Why We’re Excited: From Senior Programmer Jenn Wilson–Hedda Gabler is one of the most complex characters ever written for the theater, and director Nia DaCosta delivers a powerhouse adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s play, one that will most likely leave you breathless.  Tessa Thompson stars as the title character, Hedda. Brooding and bored with her lot in life, she decides to throw a grand party for her husband who is seemingly soon to be named to a coveted new job at the university, but when Hedda’s ex-lover, Eileen Lovborg shows up at the party with a new girlfriend and also vying for her husband’s position, Hedda shifts into a revenge mode for the ages.  Whose side is she on, though?  In one moment she seems to be helping someone that she later turns on, begging the question of whether she actually knows what she wants or not.  Helping Tessa Thompson buoy this chaos is an amazingly powerful performance from Hedda’s rival Lovborg played by German actress, Nina Hoss.  Throughout, the film’s production and sound design and restless cinematography style, are all beautiful to behold and create a stunning visual framework for this wild story of a woman on the edge, fighting for freedom in the only way she knows how.

 

 

KEY

Film Independent Fellow or Member

Film Independent Presents Screening, Q&A

Microbudget

Filmmaker or Lead Characters of Color

Film Independent Spirit Award Winner or Nominee

Female Filmmaker

LGBT Filmmaker or Lead LGBT Characters

First-time Filmmaker

LA Film Festival Winner or Nominee

 

 

For over 40 years, Film Independent has helped filmmakers get their projects made and seen. The nonprofit organization’s core mission is to champion creative independence in visual storytelling in all its forms, and to foster a culture of inclusion. We support a global community of artists and audiences who embody diversity, innovation, curiosity and uniqueness of vision. To support our mission with a donation, click here.

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To have a 25-year career in the world of indie producing is no easy feat. You have to have resourcefulness, an eye for talent, and a dedication to see projects from a nascent spark of an idea to a fully-formed box office hit. The same could be said of the Film Independent Producing Labs which have their own impressive track record, and are celebrating their 25^th year with two new cohorts ready to become Hollywood’s next heavy hitters. This year we’ve selected seven producers for the 2025 Fiction Producing Lab, and six producers completed the second annual Documentary Producing Lab.

At a critical time in the indie film world, the Labs’ aim to both workshop their projects and give Fellows the tools for a sustainable career. “As producing independent films becomes more of an uphill climb in today’s marketplace, we are proud to be able to provide a space for the Fellows to develop their projects and their careers as creative producers,” said Dea Vazquez, Associate Director of Fiction Programs.

“With the support of seasoned advisors, they’re developing projects that speak loudly and with clarity and purpose—reminding us of the vital role documentaries play in how we understand our world,” added Daniel Cardone, Senior Manager of Nonfiction Programs.

 

FICTION PRODUCING LAB

This year’s Fiction Producing Lab, celebrating its 25th anniversary, runs October 6–17, 2025. In the program, each Fellow will pair with a Creative Advisor, workshop with experienced producers, and gain real-world business and editorial guidance designed to help their projects across the finish line.

We brought in some heavy hitters to share their expertise with the Fellows too. This year’s Advisors and Guest Speakers includeTyler Boehm, Jon Coplon, Fanshen Cox, Sheila Hanahan Taylor, Daniel Tantalean, Chris Kaye, Ben LeClair, Amanda Marshall, Alexandria Martin, Lauren Mann, Khaliah Neal, Ryan Paine, Anne-Elisa Schaffer, Lauren Shelton, Annalisa Shoemaker, Lena Vurma, Monique Walton and Zoë Worth.

The Sloan Producers Grant is also being awarded to David Rafailedes for their project Satoshi. The $30,000 grant is awarded to a project whose screenplay integrates science or technology themes and characters into dramatic stories.

Let’s take a look at this year’s fellows & their projects:

Gabrielle Cordero

Bio: Gabrielle Cordero is a Mexican-American producer from the Bay Area and an AFI Producing graduate (2019). Her short films Big Touch and Elle premiered at the 2020 Rhode Island International Film Festival, where Elle won the Marlyn Mason Award. She has been selected for HBO/HFPA’s Tomorrow’s Filmmakers Today (2019, 2020), NALIP’s Latino Lens Incubator (2021), and is a PGA Diversity Workshop alum. She co-created Gringas with Christina Kingsleigh Licud and sold a show to Hulu’s Onyx Collective. Gabrielle recently produced her feature debut, Forge, premiering at SXSW 2025, and is in production on her next feature, Progeny.

Project: Altrove

Logline: After the family breaks apart, an Italian immigrant, an Afro-Latina American woman, and their 7-year-old son struggle to find a sense of home. A revealing exploration of each of their lives uncovers the depths of their regrets, fears, and sorrows, as well as their journey towards acceptance.

Adam Kopp

Bio: Adam Kopp is a film and television producer and executive currently developing a slate of independent projects, including Fuckboy, a new feature from Ben Mullinkosson and Michael Barth, which recently wrapped production in Chengdu, China. Before producing independently, Kopp led Universal Remote, the production company behind Netflix’s Emmy-winning Beef. His additional producing credits include Evan Twohy’s debut Bubble & Squeak (Sundance 2025) and Kelly Oxford’s debut Pink Skies Ahead (SXSW 2020). Kopp is a graduate of NYU’s Gallatin School and is originally from St. Louis, Missouri.

Project: Challenger: An American Dream

Logline: A seventeen-year-old student, who is in love with her favorite teacher, Mrs. McAuliffe, strums the right chord on her Stratocaster and enters a wormhole that takes her back in time to the night of the Challenger explosion, beginning her fantastical journey to save her teacher and prevent the disaster.

David Rafailedes

Bio: David Rafailedes is a Detroit-based writer, director, and producer. He is a 2024 Sundance Screenwriters/Directors Lab Fellow and the co-recipient of the NYU/Sloan Feature Film Prize with Satoshi. Rafailedes is the co-playwright of the hit off-Broadway play, Cellino v. Barnes, which was awarded Time Out New York’s Best Comedy of 2024. His debut short film, Never Been Kissed, premiered at the Cleveland International Film Festival and won the audience award at the SOHO International Film Festival. Rafailedes is a recent alumnus of the NYU Graduate Film Dual Degree program, receiving an MFA and MBA in producing.

Project: Satoshi

Logline: After her family loses everything in the 2008 financial crisis, a teenage anime-obsessed hacktivist realizes money isn’t fair, so she sets out to reinvent it with a new currency called Bitcoin.

*2025 Film Independent Alfred P. Sloan Producers Grant Recipient

Ebony Elaine Hardin

Bio: Ebony Elaine Hardin is an LA-based producer with roots in casting for TV, film, and Broadway. She is passionate about blending humor with cultural resonance, and her independent work has screened at more than 40 festivals worldwide, including Fantastic Fest, BlackStar, Beyond Fest, and Fantaspoa. As Supervising Producer at Dropout TV, Hardin manages physical production, budgeting, and strategy for one of the most innovative independent comedy platforms today. She is a proud Film Independent Project Involve and Women In Film Producers Lab alum. Hardin holds a BFA in Drama from Carnegie Mellon University with a minor in Business Administration.

Project: Trashy People

Logline: Stripped of her future by a lost scholarship, a brilliant teen infiltrates the college system from the inside—working at the recycling center by day and crashing lectures by night—all in a desperate quest to revolutionize plastic recycling and prove she belongs.

Betty Hu

Bio: Betty Hu is a Chinese-born producer. With extensive experience in China, Hong Kong, and the U.S., Hu discovers daring stories about identities, family dynamics, and social changes in modern Asian communities. Hu’s producer credits include Finis Terrae, Special Mention FEDIC winner at 2020 Venice International Film Festival; Hieu, winner of the Deuxième Prix at Cannes Cinéfondation 2019; and Audition, Best Live-Action Short winner at Santa Barbara Film Festival. Hu was the associate producer of World of Tales (2019). Currently, she’s developing narrative feature Uncle Hiep’s Casino, selected by Film Independent Fast Track and recipient of the Rainin Grant.

Project: Uncle Hiep’s Casino

Logline: Somewhere between his mother’s house and his uncle’s illegal casino, an ex-prisoner finds a new life.

Rui Xu

Bio: Rui Xu is a Chinese-born, LA-based, award-winning producer committed to supporting daring voices and innovative forms through the facilitation of independent filmmaking. Recent work includes Hieu, a Deuxième Prix winner of the Cinéfondation at the 72nd Cannes Film Festival, and Finis Terrae, which received the Special Mention FEDIC for Best Short Film at the 77th Venice International Film Festival. Xu is currently developing features, Caretaker and Uncle Hiep’s Casino with her CalArts fellows. Xu serves as the co-executive director at Chinese in Entertainment, a nonprofit with a mission to support professionals with Chinese heritage in the entertainment industry.

Project: Uncle Hiep’s Casino

Logline: Somewhere between his mother’s house and his uncle’s illegal casino, an ex-prisoner finds a new life.

Ashim Ahuja

Bio: Ashim Ahuja, a 2018 Project Involve Fellow, is a producer whose focus is on films that combine indie heart and sensibility with mass market appeal. Ahuja has worked across film/tv in production, development and post-production, with companies like Disney, A24, Lionsgate, Apple, Hulu and Macro. Films include We’re All Gonna Die (SXSW 2024), directed by longtime RocketJump collaborators Freddie Wong & Matt Arnold. Handle With Care (Completed), written and directed by Matthew James Thompson & starring Justin Min, and Patel (Post Production), written and directed by Ravi Kapoor starring Utkarsh Ambudkar, Richa Moorjani, Kunal Nayyar, Danny Pudi and Kal Penn.

Project: With Your Permission

Logline: A dark comedy about three Iranian-American Muslim sisters navigating their relationship to intimacy when they discover their widowed mother is getting remarried, forcing them to re-examine everything they thought they knew about love, family and forgiveness.

 

DOCUMENTARY PRODUCING LAB

The Documentary Producing Lab, now in its second year, grew out of Artist Developments continued investment in the non-fiction world. It concluded on September 19^th and  took on doc producers with projects in production or post, and focused on both the editing and directing, as well as the business side with Fellows being paired with creative and business consultants, and learned about fundraising, sustaining careers and managing projects, and concluded with a networking day with industry professionals.

During the Lab, filmmakers worked with Lead Producing Advisors Ina Fichman, Diane Becker, Alysa Nahmias, Trevite Willis, Megan Gilbride and Danielle Varga. Guest speakers were Sarba Das, Amit Dey, Steven Berger, Orly Ravid and Annalisa Shoemaker.

Jacob Fertig

Bio: Jacob Fertig is a nonfiction producer and director, working across shorts, features, and interactive media. His films have played at festivals including SXSW, Hot Docs, AFI, NOFF, and Doc10, and been published by Scientific American and New York Magazine. He has been a featured speaker and panelist at SXSW and NYU, and selected pitcher at Big Sky Pitch, Edinburgh Pitch, Ji.hlava New Visions Forum, AFO Camp 4Science, and AIDC. His archival producing work spans museums to magazines, including permanent exhibits at Ellis Island and The Holocaust Center. His projects have received support from Ford Foundation, Field of Vision, Tribeca Institute, Doc Society, Jewish Story Partners, Amnesty International, Forensic Architecture, and Docs by the Sea. He is a former Doc Society Art & Impact Fellow, Full Frame Fellow, NYU Feature Development Studio Fellow, and a Senior Fellow at Humanity in Action. He holds a BFA in Film & Television from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and an MPA in Public Policy from NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. Jacob is Co-Founder of Denizen Studios in New York.

Project: Abstract

Logline: Two searches are underway in the deserts of the U.S.-Mexico borderlands— the most surveilled border region in the world. One seeks the dead, the other stalks the living. Each pursues the migrant body beyond recognition. What is lost – ethically, emotionally, and politically – when we fail to see beyond systems of control?

DaManuel Richardson

Bio: Born and raised in the American South, DaManuel’s rural upbringing fuels his passion for stories rooted in identity, nature, and intergenerational healing. He is a creative producer at Hello Benjamin Films, where he develops bold fiction and nonfiction work supported by major institutions including the Ford Foundation’s JustFilms, Sundance Documentary Fund, and Field of Vision. His latest project, Artificial Horizon, was presented at Ji.hlava New Visions Forum (2024) and Big Sky Pitch (2025), and projects he has produced have screened internationally at world-renowned festivals including IFFR, BlackStar, and Dokufest. He previously collaborated with the Oscar-winning team behind Everything Everywhere All at Once, programmed shorts for Sundance, and continues to consult for major documentary funds—all while tending a thriving garden in Los Angeles.

Project: Artificial Horizon

Logline: Artificial Horizon explores the social and natural histories of former plantation land in Alabama, an origin point for the filmmaker’s family, whose members live on either side of (and sometimes cross) the “color line.” The film examines how boundaries are inscribed and looks to plants as models for subverting systems of control.

Khaula Malik

Bio: Khaula Haider Malik is an Emmy-Award winning filmmaker based in New York City. She most recently co-produced Apple TV+’s Girls State. She is currently in post-production on her first feature doc which has been supported by DOCNYC and the Catapult Rough Cut Retreat. Khaula’s work has been supported by The Sundance Institute, CAAM, Doris Duke Foundation, and others. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, Sight & Sound, PBS. She is a graduate of the MFA program at the Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema, and served as a programmer for the True/False Film Festival from 2022-2024.

Project: Dear You

Logline: After escaping an abusive marriage and fleeing to the US, Grace James finds herself trapped in the US asylum system for 10 years. In this poetic portrait of a woman in limbo, haunting memories begin to resurface of Grace’s past life and her disappearing homeland—the island nation of Kiribati.

Beth Levison

Bio: Beth Levison is an Emmy and Peabody-winning producer/director committed to artful storytelling and strengthening the documentary field. Her 2022 producing effort, The Martha Mitchell Effect (dirs. Anne Alvergue/Debra McClutchy, producing partner Judith Mizrachy), about Watergate whistleblower and Republican cabinet wife Martha Mitchell, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, launched on Netflix, and was nominated for a 2023 Academy Award (Best Documentary Short category). Her previous film, Storm Lake, which she directed alongside DP Jerry Risius and also produced, broadcast on PBS’s Independent Lens in 2022 and was nominated for a Peabody and an Emmy. Other producing credits include the Independent Spirit Awards-winning A Photographic Memory (a Kino Lorber release, 2025), Women in Blue (Independent Lens, 2021) and 32 PILLS (HBO, 2017). Executive producer credits include Land with No Rider (True/False, 2025), the 2-time BIFA-winning Grand Theft Hamlet (MUBI, 2025), 3-time IDA Awards nominee, My Sweet Land (Sheffield, 2024) and With Peter Bradley (PBS, 2024). Levison is also the founder of Hazel Pictures; a consultant on numerous documentary films; a co-founder of the Documentary Producers Alliance; faculty at Sarah Lawrence College; and a member of the Academy.

Project: Postmortem

Logline: Postmortem, a cross-platform project, is a boundary-pushing, family crime drama about an abused girl who didn’t tell her childhood secret and the woman she becomes, who does.

Bryn Silverman

Bio: Bryn is a documentary filmmaker based in Louisville, KY. She is drawn to stories that explore self-determination and she loves a good archive. In 2024, she was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 25 New Faces of Independent Film. Her latest films include The People Could Fly (a POV and Chicken & Egg co-production) and Emmy nominated Beekeeper. Her directorial debut Expression of Illness was nominated for Best Emerging Director at the 2025 Melbourne Documentary Film Festival and won Special Jury Recognition for Best Documentary Short at the Middlebury New Filmmakers Festival. Her movies have screened at True/False, SXSW, DC/DOX, Hot Docs, DOC NYC, Big Sky, NOFF, Blackstar, among others. She is currently producing Pinball, an ITVS co-production that has been supported by the Sundance Film Institute, CAAM, the New Orleans Film Society, Just Films, the Southern Documentary Fund, Sheffield Meet Market, Hot Docs Deal Maker and others. She is also producing Vestibule, with which she won the 2024 Points North Pitch and the 2023 Ji.hlava New Visions Forum. She was a Southern Producers Lab Fellow and is a board member of the Documentary Producers Alliance. She also co-founded Hyphen Film Center in Louisville, KY.

Project: Pinball

Logline: A feature documentary that follows 19-year-old Yosef in suburban Louisville, Kentucky as he dives into the memories of his journey from Iraq to America and what it ultimately means for him to chase his dreams in the shadow of a war that displaced his family from their Iraqi homeland.

Hansen Lin

Bio: Hansen Lin is an independent filmmaker, producer and founder of TimeLight Films. Born and raised in China, he is now based in New York. His latest producing credit, 16Always (Dir. Deming Chen, 2025), won the DOX:AWARD at CPH:DOX, Best Picture at the JEONJU International Film Festival, and Best Editing at DocsBarcelona. He produces documentaries and fiction films that explore new cinematic language and form. His work includes numerous films and short documentary series centered on Asian and Asian American communities, amplifying underrepresented voices and stories. He is a member of the Documentary Producers Alliance (DPA) and the Asian American Documentary Network (A-Doc).

Project: Queens Ballroom

Logline: In a New York ballroom, Asian American immigrants are transported through dance, revisiting worlds they left behind and lives created anew.
 

The Fiction Producing Lab is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, The Harnisch Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Documentary Producing Lab is also supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts.

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The Film Independent Forum has always been a great resource for all types of filmmakers. As today’s filmmakers seem to move seamlessly between fiction, documentary, big screen and small screen, most or our sessions reflect that, by encompassing relevant issues across the board.  However, today we want to highlight three amazing panels bringing to the foreground the rich world of documentary filmmaking. 

Here’s a closer look at Here’s a closer look at some of the sessions of interest for the documentary filmmaker and fan in all of us.

New Wave: Filmmakers — Making Movies for Change

Friday 3:30pm (DGA 2)

Film has the ability to put the viewer into someone else’s reality. This is especially powerful in documentary, where it can bring light to social, environmental, and political issues and come from real people’s experience. The tricky part is achieving your goal of creating work that can bring about change, while sustaining the financial viability for you and the project. The New Wave: Filmmakers brings together three of the next generation of filmmakers who are doing both, with insights from Andrew Corkin (Producer, Rosemead, Pepsi Where’s My Jet?), Sam Mirpoorian (Director, Greener Pastures, Safe Place), and Shoshannah Stern (Director, Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore). The discussion will be Moderated by Rosalina Jowers (VP of Strategic Communications, Inside Projects).

Presented in partnership with SAGindie, Easterseals Disability Services, and Plot Shift Media.

Drawing a Line in the Sand: Documentary Ethics and Self-Care

Saturday 10:00 am (DGA 2)

Non-fiction filmmaking is… different. There are the participants that don’t just show up at a specific call time like actors do, there’s the reality of dealing with fast evolving situations and portraying real people while they’re navigating complex life  events; and then, there’s the need to maintain a level head while working in physically and psychologically challenging conditions while making thoughtful ethical decisions under difficult circumstances. Filmmakers including Emma D. Miller (Director/Producer, What We Leave Behind, Mistress Dispeller) and Anayansi Prado (Director, Uvalde Mom), and moderator Steffie van Rhee (Producer, Earth to Michael) member of the Documentary Producers Alliance share insights into navigating ethical decisions and how  you can take care of yourself in the process (hint: it’s more than just taking a spa day).

Documentary Case Studies: Exploring the Form with Lauren Greenfield

Saturday 3:15 pm (DGA 2)

Documentary has grown massively in popularity during the streaming era. With a good hook, a film can find a huge audience and become the talk of the water cooler. But a whole new documentary style has been burning up the ‘Most Watched’ section of your favorite streamer: the docu-series. Shows like 100 Foot Wave, Cheer and Welcome to Wrexham are so successful, they get renewed year after year, and series like Social Studies and Hollywood Black rack up the Spirit Award wins and nominations.

Few filmmakers have navigated the evolving documentary landscape as prolifically as Lauren Greenfield, whose acclaimed work spans feature documentaries like Thin and The Queen of Versailles, to her Emmy-nominated series Social Studies.

Greenfield will share what works for both non-fiction series and features: how they’re different, what to look for in participants, how to scale up a production, and how distribution acts differently in each case.

Moderated by Ryan White (Director, Come See Me in the Good Light, Good Night Oppy)

A Community for Storytellers

The action at the Forum isn’t just up on stage. Events like Industry Connect allow you to meet one-on-one with agents, casting directors, distributors, film festivals, funding organizations, production companies, and other industry professionals to bring your career or project to the next level.

What makes the Forum special is that it brings together the Film Independent community in person, and let’s them make their own magic. Whether you’re a documentarian or not, the community that comes together for the Forum is there for you to connect with, share your own knowledge and forge new relationships.

Passes are available now, with discounted rates for Film Independent Members. For full program details, visit filmindependent.org/forum.

Film Independent promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work. To become a Member of Film Independent, just click here. To support us with a donation, click here.

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We asked 2023 Episodic Directing Intensive Fellow Lorena Lourenço to share her experience in the Intensive.

 Applications for this year’s Film Independent Episodic Directing Intensive are currently open to members, with the Member deadline of October 6.

***

When people think of a director they think of an “auteur.” While I do direct, write, and produce, I don’t really relate to that title. Especially because, oftentimes I direct what I haven’t written, write what I’m not directing, and produce what I’m not writing. While those skills can and do overlap per project, it’s more common (and fun) to share the creative seat with other writers, producers and actors I admire. We get to collaborate together in service of the story. That’s a workflow and connection I absolutely love. But before I fell in love with the craft, I fell in love with the stories.

I decided I wanted to direct films at the age of fifteen by watching City of God. It showed me such a new perspective on my city of Rio de Janeiro – fully blowing. my. mind. Since then, all I wanted to do was to direct stories that make us feel things. My work pulls from the stylized genre and colorful campiness of the Brazilian telenovelas I grew up watching, whilst also pulling from the grounded emotions of the indie films that shaped me. My life experiences in Brazil, immigrating to the U.S. and surviving stage 4 endometriosis in our misogynistic world have irrevocably shaped my voice and aesthetic (which are nontraditional, to say the least). It’s made my directing choices irreverent, bold, stylized, fun, and filled with honest emotion.

So I direct drama, dramedies, and comedies. I love the versatility of playing in different sandboxes of genre and tone, but with similar topics and themes. Unfortunately, that makes me a little harder to put in a box, or categorize. Which in turn, I feel made it hard for me to see my own path towards TV directing, which was something I’ve always wanted.

But I’m Brazilian, so, of course, I persist.

By persisting, I was fortunate enough to be selected for Film Independent’s Episodic Directing Intensive. What an incredible experience it was and still is, as over a year later the intensive continues to prove itself very fruitful and result-yielding. Keep in mind, I did the program the year after the 2023 SAG and WGAA strikes. In spite of industry hardships, the Film Independent team worked hard to find ways in which we could succeed in this dream of directing for TV. Hardships or not, this program was spectacular.

My favorite moment was Daniel Willis’ masterclass in TV directing and how generous he was with his time and knowledge. It was invaluable to shot list for an episode Daniel had directed, followed by meeting him and comparing his actual shot list with ours. We then got to watch the final product together. He also allowed us to learn from his prep workflow and through his many different TV directing experiences. It’s given me a know-how I’ve carried into my indie work and every television set I go to.

The meetings with numerous showrunners, directors, actors, and executives were invaluable. Getting to see the television landscape, in all its complexity and glory, from different perspectives was so enlightening. Especially during a time when television was (and still is) finding new ways to regrow. Not to mention, we’re being promoted by Film Independent to a group of executives who are or will recruit directors for upcoming shadowing programs, directing programs and TV shows. This is a business of relationships, so getting to know them and being a director in their top of mind is an invaluable gift.

Learning from so many different, honest, and generous directors was such an indescribable experience. They all had such different paths into directing, going on to have unbelievable careers that went into varied directions. Some broke into TV early, some later. Many got a start through features, some not at all and are open a feature one day. It’s validating, inspiring, and fueling to hear all of this. It proves that we can all forge our own unique career paths.

If you know me, you also know I’m a mush of a person. Unsurprisingly, one of my favorite elements of the program was the connection we built within our cohort. We met quite a bit amongst ourselves, for the Film Independent team was determined to make us life long friends and colleagues. Thankfully, they succeeded. While we’re trying to get a TV door to open up, we’re all also pushing the indie feature train, trying to direct however we can. I have my feature What Ever Happened to Rosa Elena? which is currently casting and my fellow cohort of John and Kelsey just released two features of their own. Getting to celebrate and uplift their success has truly been a fuel that helps keep me going. This program builds community, support, and a hive-mind — the latter of which we lean on for questions, hard times, and also fun times. I wish for all filmmakers to find the support of a program such as this and fellow directors, writers, actors, producers, or whoever it may be to share this wild filmmaking experience with.

I’ll catch you at the movies and the TV watch parties.

Lorena Lourenço is an award winning director and writer from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She’s passionate about telling stories from marginalized perspectives that highlight cultural identity, the immigrant experience, queer joy, and women’s strength. The USC School of Cinematic Arts alumna is a fellow of the Film Independent Episodic Directing Intensive, SeriesFest x Shondaland Women Directing Mentorship (finalist,) Alliance of Women Directors MLD, Inside Out’s Film Finance Forum, NALIP’s Media Market and The Orchard Project Episodic Lab.

Butch and Sundance went out in a blaze of glory. Bloodied, outgunned and surrounded, the pair of outlaws didn’t back down, and even though we know their fate, the frame freezes right as they’re at their heroic best. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid made Robert Redford, the stage actor from New York via California, a bonafied star.

Throughout his career, as an actor, director, activist and Sundance Institute founder, Redford regularly went his own way, and as a result, he changed the face of independent film.

“Although Redford didn’t have a direct connection to Film Independent, his unwavering dedication to lifting and spotlighting independent stories and storytellers is indelible and his spirit are present through our work also,” said Angela C. Lee, Director of Artist Development.

In 1972’s The Candidate he played Bill McKay, a US presidential candidate with no chance of winning that runs his campaign on his own terms. His life turned out to run a similar track. After the success of Butch Cassidy, he rejected the idea of being just a heartthrob and turned down roles in The Graduate and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

He chose literary roles, playing in adaptations like The Way We Were and Out of Africa and as the enigmatic Jay Gatsby in the 1974 version of The Great Gatsby. He also made a name for himself with political thrillers. The corruption of the ‘70s, marked by the Watergate break-in and the revelations of the Church Committee, made for fertile creative ground for films like All the President’s Men and Three Days of the Condor.

His first film as a director was Ordinary People in 1980, won him a Best Picture and Best Director Oscar. The next year, he created the Sundance Institute, and the Sundance Labs, where he and his team fostered a new generation of young independent filmmakers. One of his first Fellows was Euzhan Palcy, who would then go on to be the first Black woman to direct a Hollywood studio film.

“He said to me, ‘So, what next? What would you like to do after Sundance?’” Palcy said. “I didn’t feel that I would fit in, that Hollywood wasn’t for me. Robert Redford said, “Euzhan, why lock the door before even testing the water? Go. You are a strong woman. You know what you want. Go for it and see what happens. And if you don’t like it, you go home.” And I thought about it, and I said, “Well, he’s right.”

The Sundance Institute would go on to create spaces in the film industry that were sorely needed like the Native American and Indigenous Film Program. In 1984 he had an idea to take over a small film festival in Utah. His agent begged him not to.

Redford’s response?  “I want to do this. You’re not going to stop me.”

Through its unique programing that stuck it’s claim outside the Hollywood norm and its dedication to support artists, the Sundance Film Festival became the place to show an independent film in the 90s and beyond. The Sundance Institute has gone on to expand with programs in documentary, episodic, and youth filmmaking, extending its support for unique and talented voices, a legacy fitting of Redford.

“Film Independent and the Sundance Institute share a similar timeline in origin. A recognition that independent and visionary artists need to be supported.  Today, this mission couldn’t be more vital and Film Independent mourns the passing of such a fierce advocate in our shared purpose,” said Angela C. Lee, Director of Artist Development.

Film Independent and Robert Redford share more than a common mission. “So many of the artists Film Independent has nurtured and recognized through Artist Development and the Spirit Awards are also beneficiaries of Redford’s vision and passion at the Sundance Institute and Film Festival, including me,” Lee said. Our Acting President Brenda Robinson is also on the Redford Center’s Advisory Board.

The Sundance Festival and Institute as well as Redford’s success in front of and behind the camera are a testament to his tenacity and trailblazing nature. As Paul Newman said of his partner Sundance in the 1969 classic, “He goes his way, always.”

 

Film Independent promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work. To become a Member of Film Independent, just click here. To support us with a donation, click here.

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Leading up to next week’s “Make the Most of Your Budget with State Tax Incentives” virtual session with Wrapbook’s Ryan Broussard, we thought this would be a great time to brush up on the basics of tax credits for film and TV production. But first, let’s understand why securing tax credits could make or break a production.

Your brilliant screenplay with a singular premise, a moving narrative, and the most compelling protagonist is finally done! It’s time to bring your “baby” to the screen. But there’s one nagging worry that has plagued every waking moment of your life for the past four years – where on earth could you get the money to make this movie? As an independent filmmaker, one of the first and most important things you could do is make sure that you understand what types of tax incentives/rebates/credits, or “soft money,” might be available for your project to minimize the capital you will need to raise. [To get your arms around what soft money means and the difference between refundable versus transferable tax credits, refer to Entertainment Partners’ (“EP”) quick guide on production finance terminology and film financing.]

For Oscar-nominated period drama, Brooklyn, a combined $8 million in tax credits from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Canada offset a major portion of its $11 million production budget. Spirit Awards winner, Room, had a large part of its $13 million budget covered by Irish and Canadian tax credits as well. With $11 million in Ohio tax credits, this summer’s DC reboot for Superman incurred $37 million in qualified expenditures and hired over 3,000 Ohio residents for the shoot. Closer to home, two series nominated this Emmy cycle — political thriller Paradise and psychological thriller Presumed Innocent ­— were shot entirely in Southern California thanks to $12 million in tax credits each; combined, these credits enabled the hiring of more than 650 cast and crew.

The significance of tax incentives cannot be underestimated, as it played a major role in uprooting productions which impacts lives (and livelihoods) in its wake. After filming at least 12 Marvel films over the last decade in Georgia, Disney has recently moved its production to the UK, where the latest Fantastic Four reboot was shot (not to mention the next two Avengers films!). The approximately 150 projects that were denied California tax credits from 2015 to 2020 reportedly cost the state $7.7 billion in economic activity, after 28,000 jobs left the state for Canada and Georgia’s more lucrative incentive programs.

Fortunately, several states have recently ramped up its film incentive programs to keep productions stateside. With the passage of significant legislation this summer, California’s Film & Television Tax Credit Program 4.0 more than doubled its annual cap from $330 million to $750 million for the next five years, with the base credit percentage increasing from the previous 20%-25% to 35%-40%. For the first time, animated features and series with episodes at least 20 minutes in length will be eligible. Another substantial change is that credits will now be refundable, making it easier for production companies to truly monetize the credit once production is complete. To qualify, a project’s minimum spend must be at least $1 million, and spend at least 75% of its budget or conduct 75% of its principal photography days in California. For those interested in a deep dive into how this game-changing legislation came to pass over the summer, check out WrapPRO’s insightful “California’s Film Production Crisis” roundtable discussion with industry stakeholders, state legislators, and the California Film Commission.

Independent filmmakers should delight in the fact that California’s Program 4.0 significantly bolsters support for independent projects by allocating $75 million annually to independent films (5% for projects with budgets < $10 million and 5% for those > $10 million). In recent years, independent projects have been getting a larger share of the pie as studio films increasingly flee the state for cheaper labor elsewhere. In the most recent round of funding for feature films this June, where a total of $96 million in tax credits were allocated, 43 of the 48 projects were independent films, many with a budget under $10 million. For the revised the definition of what qualifies as “independent” film, refer to Wrapbook’s overview of Program 4.0.

Other states have done their part in shoring up their film incentive programs as well. To lure production from neighboring states, the Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program (“TMIIIP”) has increased from $100 million to $150 million per year through 2035, thanks in part to impassioned testimony before the state legislature by Texas native filmmakers such as Yellowstone franchise creator, Taylor Sheridan. With no fewer than four shows that were shot in Texas with a combined annual budget over $700 million (including Yellowstone spinoffs 1883 and 1923, Landman, and Lioness), he pointed out that none of that could have been possible without the tax incentive program.

New York State has rapidly increased the annual cap of its film incentives as well. In May, the state increased its annual cap to $800 million, which almost doubled the amount from 2022. The latest program also earmarks $100 million for independent projects (the Empire State Independent Film Production Credit). Snagging eight Emmy trophies this month — Apple TV+’s dystopian workplace thriller and Spirit Awards alum, Severance, was shot in the Tri-State area with the help of $39.6 million in New York tax credits for its first season and an estimated $9.2 million in New Jersey tax credits across both seasons. To learn more about either program, refer to EP’s overview for NYS and NJ.

To dig deeper into U.S. film incentive programs, here are a few resources to explore:

State-by-State Tips for Flagging Film Incentives

Jurisdiction comparison – compare up to three locations at a glance

10 Best States for Film Tax Incentives & Tax Breaks | Wrapbook

Wrapbook’s overview of CA Film Tax Credits

Wrapbook’s overview of Ohio Film Tax Credits

 

Select state film incentive program websites

California Film Commission

Texas Moving Image Industry Incentive Program

New York State Film Tax Credit Program

New York City Film Production Tax Credit

New Jersey Film and Digital Media Tax Credit Program

New Mexico Film Tax Credit

Georgia Film Tax Credit

To keep up-to-date with U.S. and international production incentives, check out Wrapbook’s blog and free alerts from state and city’s film commissions, Entertainment Partners or Cast & Crew.

If you haven’t already, register for September 23’s “Make the Most of Your Budget with State Tax Incentives” virtual discussion and sign up for our upcoming events.

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How often do you think of the Roman Empire? Well imagine this. You’re in the Roman Forum circa 25 CE, walking amongst Senators, merchants, and peers. It’s where people come to meet, trade ideas, give passionate oratory, and rub shoulders with the best and brightest of their day.

If you fly to Rome today, you won’t find quite the same atmosphere on Via dei Fori Imperiali. But in Los Angeles circa 2025, you can know what it feels like to be in that marketplace of ideas and meet with some of the sharpest minds in filmmaking today. That’s because we’re bringing back the Film Independent Forum, starting Friday September 26^th, and tickets are available now.

This year, we return to the DGA Complex in Hollywood for two days of screenings, panels and networking opportunities, including our ever popular Industry Connect meetings.  The Keynote will be given by the one-and-only Gina Prince-Bythwood and moderated by another trailblazer Lena Waithe, and we’re excited to share the details here today.

KEYNOTE: GINA PRINCE-BYTHWOOD

What:  From her groundbreaking debut Love & Basketball 25 years ago to the historical epic The Woman King, Prince-Bythewood has established herself as a true visionary. Her work across film and television is both personal and universal, and we look forward to hearing her insights and career reflections during this special conversation with the multitalented Lena Waithe (Master of None, The Chi), a trailblazer on her own terms.

When: Saturday, September 27 

Why We’re Excited: Gina Prince-Bythwood is has done it all, from indie darling and Spirit Award winner with her autobiographical debut, Love & Basketball, to reaching the top of the studio directing world while still bringing herself to her projects like The Woman Queen and The Old Guard. She’ll share insights and lessons from a hard fought and successful career. Lena Waithe will bring her experience and expertise to the conversation, as another creator who knows what it takes to get to the heights Prince-Bythwood has. There’ll be plenty to gain from these two sharing their combined knowledge and experience on stage.

THE NEW WAVE: ACTORS

What: A panel featuring a diverse group of talented performers who have broken into the industry and continue to deliver standout performances.

 When: Friday, September 26th

Why We’re Excited: We’ve got some serious talent from some of our favorite films and TV shows talking about what it’s like to navigate the both the artistic and professional side of acting.  Isabel Deroy-Olson (Fancy Dance, Dark Winds), Jessy Yates (Pulse, Me), Marissa Bode (Wicked) and Michael Cimino (Motorheads, Love, Victor) will talk about pushing boundaries and what authentic representation looks like on screen. Moderated by SAGindie Executive Director Darrien Michele Gipson. And oh yeah, there’s a happy hour after to celebrate our New Wave!

AND MORE…

Stay tuned for more updates and on Opening and Closing receptions, filmmaker mixers and other networking opportunities.  For a complete list of everyone currently scheduled—with more being added—check the complete 2025 Film Independent Forum schedule. See you at the Forum!

This year’s speakers include: 

Esteban Arango, Director, Ponyboi

Marissa Bode, Actress, Wicked

Pamala Buzick Kim, Founder, mavenverse

Wendy Calhoun, Writer/Producer, Empire, Justified

Lisa Callif, Partner, Donaldson Callif Perez LLP

Daniel Cardone, Senior Manager Nonfiction Programs and Fiscal Sponsorship, Film Independent

Michael Cimino, Actor, Motorheads, Love, Victor

Andrew Corkin, Producer, Rosemead, Pepsi Where’s My Jet?

Deniese Davis, Producer, Insecure, One of Them Days

Isabel Deroy-Olson, Actor, Fancy Dance, Dark Winds

Vera Drew, Writer/Director/Actor, The People’s Joker

Aaron T. Edmonds, Executive, Hartbeat

Darrien Michele Gipson, Executive Director, SAGindie

Lauren Greenfield, Director, Social Studies, Queen of Versailles

Angela Lee, Director of Artist Development, Film Independent

Zoe Lister-Jones, Writer/Director/Producer/Actor, Slip, Band Aid

Billy Luther, Writer/Director, Dark Winds

Adam Bhala Lough, Director, Telemarketers, Deepfaking Sam Altman

Lauren Mann, Producer, Swiss Army Man, Joyland

Missy Mansour, Producer, LOOT, Running Point

Josh Mingo, Location and Permit Consultant, Legend Locations LLC

Sam Mirpoorian, Director, Greener Pastures, Safe Place

Sev Ohanian, Producer, Sinners, Searching

Alex Orlovsky, Producer, Roofman, Lurker

Shari Page, Program Director, Half Initiative

Nina Parikh, Director, Film Mississippi

Anayansi Prado, Director, Uvalde Mom

Chris Quintos Cathcart, Co-Founder/Co-CEO, Unapologetic Projects

Brenda Robinson, Executive Producer, Passing, United Skates

Izzy Shill, Writer/Director, Going Nowhere, Piggy at the Pool Party

Annalisa Shoemaker, Distribution Strategist, To Kill A Tiger, Good Bad Things

Sarah Strunin, Producer, Jaripeo, burn, scar

Steffie van Rhee, Producer, Battleground, Earth to Michael

Trevor Wall, Producer, Ponyboi, Slanted

Tre Wesley, Video Producer, IMDb Originals

Kit Williamson, Writer/Director/Actor, Unconventional

Jessy Yates, Actor, Pulse, Me

Ryan Zacarias, Producer, War Pony, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

The 2025 Film Independent Forum is supported by Premier Partners Directors Guild of America, IMDbPro and SAGindie and Supporting Sponsors Mississippi Film Office, Plot Shift Media and Shotdeck. Easterseals Disability Services is the Accessibility Partner. Getty Images is the Official Photographer. eTech Rentals is the Official Technology Rental Provider.

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Created by showrunner Dan Erickson, Apple TV+’s dystopian workplace psychological thriller was nominated for three Spirit Awards in its first season, including Best New Scripted Series. One of its Executive Producers is Spirit Awards alum Ben Stiller, who directed 11 of the 19 episodes. Now in its sophomore year, the most nominated show this year with 27 Emmy nominations has won six prizes so far, after last weekend’s 77th Creative Arts Emmy Awards. One of the newly-minted Emmy winners is production designer Jeremy Hindle (Top Gun: Maverick, Zero Dark Thirty), who credits the absolute creative freedom on the set for the success of the show. “It’s not just that it’s collaborative, we all trust each other’s opinions and instincts, which is rare. I think that’s why the show works so well. Nobody’s trying to do something that someone else wants; we’re all doing what we feel is right. Everybody’s bringing their A-plus-plus-plus game and Ben creates a place where we can all do that.”

Centered around the fictional Lumon Industries, the series follows employees who have chosen a surgical procedure to permanently “sever” their work memories (“innies”) from their true selves (“outies”). Spirit Award nominee Adam Scott plays Mark, who finds himself stuck working on the Macrodata Refinement (“MDR”) team on the Severed Floor with colleagues Helly (Britt Lower), Irving (John Turturro) and Dylan (Zach Cherry). Delving deeper into Lumon’s history and its founder, Kier Eagan, this season, amongst the bizarre revelations include the Mammalians Nurturable department, where goats are raised for sacrifice rituals that purport to guide deceased humans “to Kier’s door,” and the creepy mural that greets everyone in the lobby.

We’re here to talk about Severance, but I just have to start by saying how much fun I had with Top Gun: Maverick!

Wow, thank you! During COVID, IMAX and Paramount gave my wife and kids a private screening in their IMAX theater a year before it was out. That was the best day!

That movie made me so happy. After I walked out of the theater, for about three minutes, it felt like all was good in the world. Not many movies can do that, and I watch movies for a living.

It’s such a fun movie! My kids are in their 20s, and they loved it too.

In Severance, the décor at Lumon has a 1970s feel. How did that idea come about?

It was described as just an office in the script, so I asked Ben for two days to come up with a distinct look. The first image in my lookbook was of [the film] Fargo, when William H Macy’s going to his car in the snow on the rooftop; it was insanely isolated and he’s very tiny, because we’re all tiny in this world. I wanted it to always be winter outside Lumon. For the interior, I used references for the stunning John Deere building in Chicago, which were designed by Eero Saarinen and Kevin Roche. If they’re only working for eight hours a day, as opposed to 16, all they need is a pen, pencil, computer, one photograph. It creates this workplace the way it used to be, which was beautiful and made people inspired to work, and not involve their family at work. That’s the theory behind the ’60s/’70s look.

What inspired the 1980s computers in the MDR cubicles?

If the innies ever escaped and tried to describe what it’s like, it would make no sense. So, everything had to make no sense to anyone in their right mind. That’s why the computers look really old even though they have modern features like touch screens and a track ball. When you first see Helly, she was lying on the boardroom table – why? Dan said it’s the birthplace of the office, it’s basically the womb of the office. So, we treated them like kindergarten children — the desks are playful and the carpets were green. Some of it was based on the 1967 movie, Playtime.

What inspired the look of the break room, where the innies are forced to watch that uprising video in Episode 1.

It was originally written as surveillance footage, but I thought since they’re children, let’s make one of those videos of David and Goliath or Burl Ives and use stop motion. I storyboarded it and Ben loved it. I’m good friends with [stop-motion animation director] Duke Johnson (Anomalisa) and got him to do it. To keep it in the same vein as instructional kids videos, the chairs and everything’s a little low, and we had the balloon lights. This is their playroom, so there’s a chocolate bar vending machine and the handball table with paddles that look like hands. It was hilarious and so much fun to come up with.

I really like the little white, purple chairs. What was behind that look?

The Nimrod chairs by Marc Newsom are new this season. They reminded me of the ones I had in kindergarten in northern Ontario. They’re just playful. We made multiples and picked the ones we liked and camera-tested everything. The show’s aesthetic is so particular that rarely does anything go on without being camera-tested.

Those chairs reminded me of the 1980s cartoon, The Jetsons.

Absolutely. All the stuff you grew up on eventually comes out of you, it’s all nostalgia. There’s a freedom now to just do what we like, and that’s usually based on our memories, right? This season is more like that for me, but season one was tricky because it was hard to know if this was going to work.

The show was mostly shot in Upstate New York?

Yes, and the soundstage was in the Bronx. We’re always hunting for something that no one’s ever seen, which is hard in a place that’s been shot a million times. It needs to be vastly dissimilar to what people have seen, say in Law & Order, because we can’t have things that could take you out of the story. The Utica train station where Burt and Irving say goodbye was four hours north where no one’s shot before. We filmed the Salt’s Neck episode (S2 E8) in Fogo Island, Newfoundland, when we got into the Kier Eagan lore and [former manager of the Severed Floor] Cobel’s (Spirit Awards alum, Patricia Arquette) backstory.

Was most of your team based in the Tri-State area?

They’re almost all from New York—construction, costumes, props, set decorators, buyers, painters. Only four of us are from L.A., me, one concept artist, a researcher, and one of our shoppers.

It’s very interesting that it’s crucial for the look of the show that it not be easily identifiable as any particular place — it can’t look like Chicago or New York.

Before we found Newfoundland, we looked at Iceland and Norway, anywhere that’s visually interesting but not easily recognizable. If you see something familiar, your brain starts to fill in the gaps, but we’re trying to make viewers put the pieces together. That’s why I wanted to design most of the stuff on the Severed Floor — in Gemma’s (Dichen Lachman) office, we custom-designed everything from the chairs, sofa, the fluoroscope, her bed, to the showers. So, it feels like something we’ve never seen before. The only way Lumon can keep this secret is to build most of it onsite. Wouldn’t it be fun if some day if we see where they built all this stuff (in the show)?

Did some of the props actually work?

Yes, we try to make them functional. All the computers on the MDR are functional, the keypads, trackball, touch screen and the program they use – they all work. That’s what makes it so believable because the actors can really engage with it. They’re not faking it.

One of the most notable pieces this season is the “Kier Pardons His Betrayers” mural, where four people—bloodied and sweating—are buried up to their necks in sand. It greets the innies as they exit the elevator. How did that idea begin? 

What Dan wrote was “four people with their heads above the sand,” and I crafted some backstory with Ben. Some of it’s Lumon’s history and we stylistically added things to tell more of the backstory. It was created by [New York-based illustrator and storyboard artist] Daniel Aviles. He started as a PA on Season One before realizing he could draw. So, he started doing some storyboards – the kid’s a genius. Most of Season One’s original paintings were done by [concept artist] Hugh Sicotte.

Once you have the concept, what was the process to produce these intricate art pieces?

First, we created the paintings digitally to tell the story with Ben. Once we love it, I sit with the painters to make it feel as three-dimensional as possible, making sure their eyelines are correct, etc. Especially the one when they’re all in the waterfall at the end, the layout and story we’re trying to tell are very particular. These are 12-foot paintings that are hand-painted, so we really got into the details, especially with lighting.

Designing the Mammalians Nurturable space must have been wild!

The word “mammalians” sounds ridiculous and hysterical to me. So, it’s a huge room because it’s ridiculous. You’ve got to be able to walk in and go, ‘What the heck is this?’ That really cues the design. The birthing cabin is another great one, it had two ceramic sculptures on the fireplace. When I asked Dan [Erickson] what the two sculptures would be in his imagination, he instantly said ‘Mrs. Kier pregnant and Mr. Kier pregnant,’ that’s it! He always has amazing answers because his head is full of these bonkers ideas.

Wow! What reactions did you get when the cast first saw them?

Nobody knew I was making them! Patricia just started laughing hysterically. She loved them, gravitated right to them and touched his belly. I’m always thinking of how to create a mood for the actors to play with that hopefully helps bring out honesty in their performances.

What were some of your inspirations and references to create this dreadful and isolated environment?

Since we’re underground, the office feels like a Kubrick spaceship in a weird way. We created the feeling of confined spaces with windowless rooms that feel claustrophobic. But it’s also about making people kinetically respond to things, not just mentally, but physically.

What are some signature pieces that you want to highlight from this season?

I loved doing the retreat in Episode 4, where we designed those tents. It was originally written for Irving to open his eyes in a forest. But what if he wakes up on a frozen lake instead? To me, that’s funnier. We probably scouted for 15-20 days, crafting that story on-location to make it feel like they really went on this journey. Even though it’s just on the backside of the office, it’s the biggest waterfall in the world. The bonding retreat is not comfortable at all because Lumon is always playing with their mental state. So, we designed things that were aesthetically pleasing but not comfortable — the benches they’re sitting on around the fire are made of steel. It’s that fine line of being a little torturous.

Were there any stark differences between the seasons?

It’s a bit more sophisticated this season. Gemma’s floor changes — the ceilings are higher, hallways wider, and other spaces bigger — because she’s now the main priority on this prison floor. Her space feels more clinical, not like an office anymore.

What inspired the aesthetics on the Testing Floor, where various experiments were performed on her?

The DP Jessica Lee Gagné (who also won an Emmy this year) also directed this episode—her first one—which is focused on Gemma and deals with loss, birth, and death. We had the luxury of having a year to come up with this. Originally, the plane [in the flight simulation room] was going to be full-size. But I thought it’d be funnier if they built a mini plane. Color-wise, each room has to be visually dominant so that anyone should be able to remember it. But the second she walks out, she doesn’t remember anything, which is why the chip works.

What is the real point of the Testing Floor and how does the décor tie in with that?

The Testing Floor is where they examine if her memories would leak into each other [between the outie and the innie]. The more absurd they are, the more you’d expect her to remember them. She handwrites Christmas letters hundreds of times every day and gets her teeth drilled every day. So how do we create a space that feels medical and prison-like? To survive in this windowless space, she’s got this UV light. We thought of every way she could survive for a few years but it also needs to be an attractive environment for us to watch. When she escapes, we lit more from the floor, whereas the lighting was all in the ceiling in MDR. When it gets into emergency mode, it comes out of the vents on the bottom. We tried to create contrast so you knew where you are at all times.

All episodes of Severance are streaming on Apple TV+.

And in a blink of an eye, we move from summer’s blockbusters (refreshingly scary this year), to the beginnings of award season once again. You know it’s really September when half of Hollywood escapes the late summer heat by heading to Colorado, to get a sneak peek of the next year’s Spirit Award winners at Telluride.

But have no fear, if you didn’t grab your gondola ticket to the fest, September still has plenty of indie gems for you. Let’s take a look at what you can look forward to at a theater near you this month.

PREPARATION FOR THE NEXT LIFE

When You Can Watch: August 25

Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents

Director: Bing Liu

Cast: Sebiye Behtiyar, Fred Hechinger, Alicher Adill

Why We’re Excited: Based on the 2014 novel by Atticus Lish, Preparation is a drama from Spirit Award winning documentarian Bing Liu (Minding the Gap). This romance pairs kitchen worker Aishe (Sebiye Behtiyar, Kill the Roses) with an American soldier named Skinner (Fred Hechinger, Thelma) on the streets of New York City. As they learn more about each other, their commonalities, trauma and concerns for the future rise to the surface. In an interview with IndieWire, Liu notes the similarity between his mother’s story and Aishe, crediting casting director Jen Venditti (Uncut Gems, Euphoria) for finding first year grad student Behtiyar. “Sometimes, you just see somebody who just has something that’s so watchable and magnetic, and that was very true of her. She has a hard time of not making it real, and so we recognized that right away.” Produced by Film Independent Members Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, edited by Anne McCabe.

 

 

THE BALTIMORONS

When You Can Watch: September 3

Where You Can Watch: Film Independent Presents

Director: Jay Duplass

Cast: Michael Strassner, Liz Larsen, Olivia Luccardi

Why We’re Excited: A Christmas movie in September! In this romantic comedy co-written by Film Independent Member and Spirit Award nominee Jay Duplass (The Puffy Chair) and lead actor Michael Strassner (Modern Family), Cliff (Strassner) breaks a tooth on Christmas Eve. Under the care of an attractive, no-nonsense dentist (Liz Larsen, Madoff), Cliff finds relief as well as a ride to pick up his towed car. As the unlikely pair faces a locked impound lot, their stories begin trickling out, instigating a series of misadventures around Baltimore. Despite the age gap – he’s in his 30’s and she’s a grandma – the two click, helping each other face unique difficulties in their respective lives, from a wedding celebration for Didi’s ex to a comedy show performed by Cliff’s friend, which poses a temptation for Cliff’s sobriety. THR’s David Rooney calls it “a stealth charmer with a low-key ‘After Hours’ vibe.” Film Independent Members Jay Deuby edited and Mel Eslyn was Executive Producer.

 

 

HIGHEST 2 LOWEST

When You Can Watch: September 5

Where You Can Watch: Streaming (Apple TV+)

Director: Spike Lee

Cast: Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera

Why we’re excited: This crime thriller is the fifth collaboration between Spirit Award winner Spike Lee (She’s Gotta Have It) and Denzel Washington (Spirit Award nominee The Piano Lesson), following bazillionaire record CEO David King (Washington) as his battle to regain control of his music company is interrupted by a kidnapping. Descending to the chaotic streets and subways of New York to deliver the ransom to Yung Felon (A$AP Rocky, Dope), we see the side of King that is a little past it – out of touch, missing the spark of the music that ignited his massive success. The music kicks in as King pursues and confronts the young villain and a rap battle ensues. “Some actors,” said Lee in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, “they freeze up when they’ve got to go against the greatest of the great. But Rocky, he’s from Harlem.”

 

 

A SAVAGE ART: THE LIFE AND CARTOONS OF PAT OLIPHANT

When You Can Watch: September 5

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Bill Banowsky

Cast: Tom Udall, Pat Oliphant, Adam Zyglis

Why we’re excited: Magnolia Pictures founder Bill Banowsky (Starving the Beast) takes his first turn in the director’s seat to showcase the work of Australian political cartoonist Patrick Oliphant (Writer/Animator, Choice Stakes). With interviews and a whole lot of cartoons, Art covers 50 years of Oliphant’s witty observations and critical eye, as well as the history of all political cartoons and their role in public discourse. Variety quotes Banowsky, “More than just the story of Pat’s life and extraordinary career, the film is a call to arms for journalists and citizens alike to speak truth to power in whatever ways they can.”

 

 

THE HISTORY OF SOUND

When You Can Watch: September 12

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Oliver Hermanus

Cast: Paul Mescal, Josh O’Connor, Chris Cooper

Why we’re excited: A mutual love for folk music brings together a Kentucky farmer turned opera singer, Lionel (Spirit Award nominee Paul Mescal, Aftersun) and upper crust musicologist David (Emmy winner Josh O’Connor, The Crown). As the two young men troop through Maine countryside in search of traditional songs, recording them on wax cylinders, along with the voices and stories of the people in the region. What starts as a beautiful project becomes a romance David and Lionel’s bond deepens. “It’s my attempt at a reflexive love story,” says director Oliver Hermanus, in an interview with Ellie Calnan at ScreenDaily.com. Hermanus was inspired by movies like The English Patient and Days Of Heaven. 

 

 

SUNFISH (& OTHER STORIES ON GREEN LAKE) – PROGRAMMER’S PICK

When You Can Watch: September 12

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Writer/Director: Sierra Falconer

Cast: Marceline Hugot, Adam LeFevre, Maren Heary

Why we’re excited: From Film Independent Lead Programmer Jenn Wilson:

Do you think about the lives of the people who live on the lake in Summertime?  The year-round residents and the newcomers?  Sierra Falconer’s debut film started on its journey earlier this year at Sundance.  It’s an anthology film in four parts with different characters but all the action is based around the same Michigan lake.  The first section is about a teenage girl who gets dumped with her grandparents after her mom suddenly runs off and marries a new man.  She’s pretty unhappy about it until she discovers her grandpa’s little Sunfish sailboat, and once he teaches her the basics, she pretty much teaches herself the rest.  The next vignette is about a stressed out teen music student who is studying at Interlochen, the arts camp, the third is about a man obsessed with catching the lake’s elusive giant fish, and the last one, a bittersweet tale of two sisters, the younger of which is about to lose her older sister who is leaving for school.  All sections are so well cast, acted, and directed that it’s a pleasure to watch it all play out.

Film Independent Members: Sierra Falconer, Writer/Director/Producer; Marcus Patterson, Cinematographer

 

 

HIM

When You Can Watch: September 19

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Justin Tipping

Cast: Julia Fox, Marlon Wayans, Tyriq Withers

Why we’re excited: Oo, a football biopic! No? No. Justin Tipping’s second feature (after Kicks) is a horror movie that mixes thriller and mystery with an extreme pursuit of greatness. Cameron Cade (former college wide receiver Tyriq Withers, I Know What You Did Last Summer) is a dedicated quarterback recovering from a major injury. When celebrity football player Isaiah (Marlon Wayans, White Chicks) and his wife Elsie (Julia Fox, Uncut Gems) offer to train Cameron, things go beautifully. At first. But Cameron’s hopes unravel as he gets closer to Isaiah and what drives him. As Fox put it in a panel discussion reported by Complex, “… if you’re not into sports, you can relate to yearning and wanting… and wanting something so bad and getting it and being like wait.”

 

 

XENO

When You Can Watch: September 19

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Writer/Director: Matthew Loren Oates

Cast: Lulu Wilson, Josh Cooke, Wrenn Schmidt

Why we’re excited: Film Independent Member Andrew Carlberg is an Executive Producer on this first feature from Writer/Director Matthew Loren Oates. Jim Henson Productions created the biological machine discovered by teenager Renee Rowen (Lulu Wilson, The Haunting on Hill House), who befriends the massive extraterrestrial and hides it in her basement. But unlike Elliott’s E.T.,  it turns out this is not the only other-worldly being who’s crash landed on earth. Jonathan Keyes (Omar Hardwick, Kick-Ass) tries to make Renee face the reality that her new buddy poses a desperate threat to humanity. But what Keyes doesn’t realize is that the threats Renee is already facing are a much more present danger.

 

 

CHAIN REACTIONS

When You Can Watch: September 19

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Writer/Director: Alexandre O. Philippe

Cast: Patton Oswalt, Takashi Miike, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

Why we’re excited: If your appreciation of the horror genre stems from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, then you’re in for a treat. The love for Tobe Hooper’s 1974 classic is richly explored in this unique approach to documentary filmmaking. In addition to clips from the movie and behind the scenes footage, Alexandre O. Philippe (Leap of Faith: William Friedkin on The Exorcist) gives his five interview subjects the space to tell their stories all the way through – one after the other. To Nadine Whitney at The Curb, Philippe said, “… Stephen King almost becomes really giddy when he says, ‘I admire it so much,’ and you can see for a few seconds he looks like a little boy who has just discovered something pretty cool.” 

DEAD OF WINTER

When You Can Watch: September 26

Where You Can Watch: Theaters

Director: Brian Kirk

Cast: Emma Thompson, Judy Greer, Marc Menchaca

Why we’re excited: This northern Minnesota thriller shows new sides of Spirit Award nominee Emma Thompson (Much Ado About Nothing) and Judy Greer (Jurassic World), each known for their comedic chops. In Winter, we get to see Thompson as an action hero disguised as a grieving widow (Barb) revisiting an important place from her marriage. When she crosses paths with a couple of kidnappers, Thompson goes up against Greer’s desperate villain in a way that The Guardian describes as, “quite outrageously enjoyable.” Like Liam Neeson’s Bryan Mills, Barb also has a special set of skills, though they originate from a very different sequence of life experiences. Leveraging familiarity with the Minnesota winters and outdoor sports like fishing and hunting, Barb is ready to bring the pain.

 

 

KEY

Film Independent Fellow or Member

Film Independent Presents Screening, Q&A

Microbudget

Filmmaker or Lead Characters of Color

Film Independent Spirit Award Winner or Nominee

Female Filmmaker

LGBT Filmmaker or Lead LGBT Characters

First-time Filmmaker

LA Film Festival Winner or Nominee

 

 

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