Film Independent Forum 2014

Film Independent Forum 2014 

Friday: 

Film Independent held their 2014 forum at the Directors Guild of America on (7920 Sunset Blvd

Los Angeles, CA 90046) with a three day event. The first Friday was the screening of Nightcrawler director by Dan Gilroy and the protagonist played by Jake Gyllenhaal. After the screening Mark Olsen from the LA Times moderated a Q&A with the director/writer/producer Dan Gilroy, producer Jennifer Fox, and the film editor John Gilroy. 

Saturday: 

Watch Jill Soloway's Keynote HERE! 

Jill Soloway kick started the forum with her keynote speech restating how hard Hollywood was. Soloway has repeatedly stated her journey has by far been a rocky one. Even after she's written for "Six Feet Under" and served a show runner for "United States of Tara" and "How to Make it in America" she still had a long way to go. Three years ago she was going to give up her dreams of becoming a writer. She had a family and nothing was coming for her. Her pilot pitch to HBO did not make it and were "eating out of cabinets" and "hand washing clothes". 

She even had to take a loan from her agents to make a short film in time for Sundance. Her new "hot" show Transparent has been popular for quite sometime.

Soloway says at the end of her speech: 

"I am at a new place on the mountain. I actually do feel like I’ve made it, and I am looking for opportunities to dance. I have spent so much of my life trying. My new trying involves trying to be in my body enough to take in the feeling that I made something good, something that matters. 

And, yeah, I still have the rural dream. I do believe I’ll be there one day, but maybe not for another ten years. And maybe I won’t have any feminist poetry in my mind that needs self-publishing. The only part that really matters is the caftans with no underwear. And for now, I just go to the wardrobe trailer and pick out caftans for Maura. And keep challenging myself to walk that center line, be in flow, in balance, kind yet discerning, open yet grounded – and keep showing up, alive and taking responsibility for the privilege that comes with making art." 

International and Independent Film, ICM Partners Agent Peter Trinh, Producer Joanna Colbert, Producer Summer Shelton, Bold Films Chief Executive Officer Gary Michael Walters, Film Finances Inc. Vice President Paula Manzanedo-Schmit, Writer/director/producer Dennis Bartok, The Exchange CEO Brian O'Shea, President of Film at Indomitable Entertainment Stuart Pollok, and San Francisco Film Society's Filmmaker360 Director Michele Turnure-Salleo

The forum continued with helpful panels for anyone interested in independent films and independent productions. As it is hard to finance all parts of your work, there was a Money Matters panel which was moderated by Paul Manzanedo-Schmit the Vice President of Film Finances Inc. Panelists included Stuart Pollock, President of Film at Indomitable Entertainment, Michele Turner-Salleo the director of San Fransisco Film Society's Filmmaker 360, Gary Michael Walters the CEO of Bold Films, Brian O'Shea the CEO of Exchange, Peter Trinh an agent at International and Independent film ICM partners, Summer Shelton the producer of The Buried Life, Dennis Bartok the writer/director/producer of The Lord of Vinyl, and Joanna Colbert the producer of The Lord of Vinyl.
This panel mentioned a lot about funding and taking matters into your own hands. How much are you willing to use for your own film without becoming bankrupt. You have to take matters into your hands in order to make something out if it. They advice that were given from these panels were extremely insightful.

 Indigenous Media COO/Executive Producer of "WIGS" Jacob Avnet, Creator/Executive Producer of "Rectify" Ray McKinnon, Writer/Executive Producer of "The Killing" Nicole Yorkin, writer/Executive Producer of "Blackish" Kenya Barris and Indiewire TV Editor Ben Travers attend day one of the Film Independent 2014 Film Forum a

 Film Independent President Josh Welsh, Los Angeles Film Festival Director Stephanie Allain, FilmL.A., Inc. President Paul Audley, Office of Motion Picture and Television Production for the City of Los Angeles Director and Deputy Rajiv Dalal, IATSE 3rd International Vice President Thomas Davis, and Broad Green Pictures Producers & President of Production Victor Moyers