The 2020 Film Independent Forum is underway.

The 2020 Film Independent Forum is underway.

We were thrilled to kick things off Friday, July 31 with so many conversations and sessions!

   Day 1 began with an inspirational Executive Keynote
   given by Elissa Federoff, President of Distribution,
   NEON. Catch up with our recap here.
  
   Finding Your Funders and Collaborators with Sarba Das     (A24), Lisa Kleiner Chanoff (Catapult Film Fund), 
   Dana Merwin (IDA Enterprise  Fund), Hajnal Molnar-
   Szakacs (Sundance Institute), Luis Ortiz (Latino Public
   Broadcasting), moderated by Anayansi Prado (Director/ Producer, Maid in America). 

Production ReSet (Part I – Pre-Production) with Justine Avera (ABI Insurance), 
Amanda Marshall (Producer; Swiss Army Man, Don’t Think Twice), Katie McNeill (Hunting Lane) and Duncan Crabtree-Ireland (SAG-AFTRA), moderated by Josh Welsh (President, 
Film Independent.) 

Fiction Case Study: Give Me Liberty with Spirit Award-winning feature with writer/ producer Alice Austen, moderated by Avril Speaks (Producer, Jinn).

Day 1 wrapped with an Opening Night Screening 
and Live Q&A of Magnolia Pictures and Topic Studios' 
THE FIGHT, with producer Kerry Washington, directors/ producers Elyse Steinberg and Josh Kriegman and director/producer/editor Eli B. Despres – plus ACLU 
lawyers Brigitte Amiri, Lee Gelernt, Dale Ho and
Joshua Block.

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   Day 2, Saturday, started with an insightful Filmmaker
   Keynote from writer/director Lulu Wang, moderated by director Judd Apatow. Read the recap here.

   Production ReSet (Part II – Production) with
   Stephen Love Jr. (Made with Love Media), Alison Roney 
   (BRON), Kelly Todd (Endeavor Content) and  Daniel
   Uslan (UCLA Health), moderated by Josh Welsh 
   (President, Film Independent). 

Festivals, Awards and Beyond (Part I – US) with Eugene Hernandez (New York Film Festival), David Magdael (David Magdael & Associates), Lorenza Muñoz (Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences) and Janet Pierson (South by Southwest), moderated by Setu Raval (Film Independent Spirit Awards). 

Coalition Building and Systemic Change with Victoria Chalk (A-Doc), Alexandra Lazarowich(COUSIN Collective) and Okema Moore (MOOREthanEnuff Media), moderated by Day Al-Mohamed (FWD-Doc) and Set Hernandez Rongkilyo (Undocumented Filmmaker Collective).

Fiction Case Study: The Garden Left Behind, 
with producer Roy Wol and director Flavio Alves, moderated by Avril Speaks (Producer, Jinn).

Documentary Case Study: Hail Satan?, with 
director Penny Lane, moderated by Avril Speaks (Producer, Jinn).

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If you registered but missed any of these sessions, you will have access to all the Forum content on-demand through October 2020. Just sign into the Echo360 platform link you received via email. Instructions on accessing the content can also be found here, and we encourage you to experience the upcoming live events. See the full schedule here. 

Coming up on Day 3:

   Don't miss this Documentary Keynote delivered by award-
   winning filmmaker Dawn Porter, director of timely 
   documentary John Lewis: Good Trouble, taking place 
   today, August 2 at 12:00 pm PT.

   Shopping Your Project 3.0: A Financing Clinic
   (US Market): Observe how a pitch plays out in the 
   virtual space with specific, real-time feedback. 

Festivals, Awards, and Beyond (Part II – International): Programmers, curators, awards representatives and strategists will discuss the current and future cycle of film festivals.

Documentary Case Study: Apollo 11, with producer/director/editor Todd Douglas Miller

Fiction Case Study: The Climb, with writer/director/actor Michael Angelo Covino and writer/actor Kyle Marvin.