Film Independent, the group behind the Spirit Awards and L.A. Film Festival, has unveiled the six scribes chosen for its 19th annual Screenwriting Lab. "This extraordinary group of artists brings a breadth of fresh and dynamic voices to the 2017 Screenwriting Lab," said Jennifer Kushner, Director of Artist Development…

Film Independent, the organization behind the Spirit Awards and LA Film Festival,  has unveiled the six directors chosen for its 17th annual Directing Lab, an intensive eight-week program designed to support emerging independent film directors in prep on their feature films. As participants, the directors are provided…

Film Independent has announced the three winners of its 2017 Spirit Awards filmmaker grants. The organization, which produces the Spirit Awards and the LA Film Festival, named the winners today during its annual Spirit Awards Nominee Brunch, which was held at BOA Steakhouse in West Hollywood. The event was hosted by…

Film Independent has unveiled the screenwriters selected for its 18th annual Screenwriting Lab, a five-week program designed to help writers improve their craft and take their current scripts to the next level. See the list below. Lab Fellows participate in individualized story sessions, are advised on the craft and…

Film Independent announced the winners of its trio of Spirit Awards Filmmaker Grants today at the annual Spirit Awards Nominee Brunch at the BOA Steakhouse in West Hollywood. Mel Eslyn received the Piaget Producers Award which goes to emerging producers who overcome highly limited resources to demonstrate the…

“Soooo, this is a bit awkward,” director Jon Chu says in his opening keynote remarks Saturday at Film Independent Forum. He and Jason Blum set out to make a live action movie adaptation of 30-year-old classic animated TV show Jem And The Holograms. They made it “with little resources, all in L.A.,” he said. “It looks…

It is hard to believe that on Saturday the Independent Spirit Awards will be celebrating their 30th anniversary in that giant tent erected each year on the Santa Monica beach. I remember as a young producer of movie coverage at Entertainment Tonight attending one of the earliest Spirits gatherings in 1988 at the 385…

Fox Searchlight’s Birdman leads the 30th Film Independent Spirit Award nominations with six nods — best actor for Michael Keaton, director Alejandro G. Inarritu, supporting actress Emma Stone, supporting actor Edward Norton and cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki. Boyhood, Nightcrawler and Selma follow with five noms…

UPDATE 10:15 AM: Somebody out there got an itchy finger and published the full list of nominees; which went out on PR Newsire.  Scroll below in our blog to see what was nominated.  We’re also adding fun factoids. PREVIOUS: 9:50AM: Deadline is live blogging the nominations announcement for the 30th Film Independent…

The creator of Amazon Studios' acclaimed Transparent has an endgame timetable planned out for the streaming series, she said today. "In my mind, it's 5 years It's 5-years because Six Feet Under went for 5-years, " Jill Soloway told me after delivering the filmmaker keynote Saturday morning at the Film Independent…

Those who can’t make it to the 2015 Spirit Awards won’t have to wait until later in the evening to watch a delayed broadcast. For the first time, the Film Independent-produced trophy show, which honors the best in independent film, will air live on IFC at 2 PM PT/ 5 PM ET on February 21. "We wanted to shake things up…

UPDATE, 4:47 PM: If you can't wait for the live onstage reading of Quentin Tarantino's The Hateful Eight later this month, your prayers are answered. Today, "due to unforeseen scheduling issues," the world premiere of the now-shelved script was moved up to April 19 from April 24. The reading, to be directed and cast…