Film Independent announced the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards nominations on Thursday morning and the bigger winner was A24 Films. The indie distributor took 18 nominations overall including two Best Feature nominees with “The Farewell” and “Uncut Gems” while the latter and “The Lighthouse” took five nominations each. Amazon Studios’ “Honey Boy” and Music Box Films’ under the radar “Give Me Liberty” earned four nominations each.

Continue reading ‘Uncut Gems’ & ‘The Lighthouse’ Top 2020 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations at The Playlist.

Film Independent announced the host of the 34th Independent Spirit Awards this morning and, surprise, it was not a third go-around of celebrated duo John Mulaney and Nick Kroll.  Instead, former Spirit Award winner Aubrey Plaza will take the reins of entertaining the intoxicated guests at the annual soiree in Santa Monica.

Best and Worst of the 2018 Spirit Awards: “Get Out,” Greta Gerwig, Elisabeth Olsen

In a statement released by Film Independent Plaza remarked, “I am truly honored and delighted to host the Spirits Awards this year.

Continue reading Aubrey Plaza To Host 2019 Independent Spirit Awards at The Playlist.

Running film festivals is a scary business so perhaps it’s fitting that Film Independent announced the end of the Los Angeles Film Festival (also known as LA Film Festival) on Halloween.   In a release, Film Independent, the organization that has run both LAFF and the Independent Spirit Awards, announced last month’s festival would be its last and they will fill in the gap moving forward with “year-round events aimed at building community and broadening its support of visual storytellers.”  Which, frankly, sounds like what it was already doing in the first place.  

Continue reading Los Angeles Film Festival Shockingly Says Goodbye at The Playlist.

The 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations were unveiled today, and as it always goes, there were some surprises and snubs. However, before I get too far along, here’s quick reminder about one of the official eligibility requirements for the competing movies. It will be useful information for one of the biggest snubs that people are talking about:

…we are only considering films that are made with lower budgets, ranging from microbudgets up to $20 million.

Continue reading 2018 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations: Snubs & Surprises at The Playlist.

The nominations for the 2018 Independent Spirit Awards were announced on Tuesday morning in Los Angeles. Tessa Thompson and Lily Collins revealed this years honorees, which were lead by “Call Me By Your Name,”  “Get Out,” “Good Time,” “The Rider” and “Lady Bird.”

A24 dominated the nominations with 17 followed by Sony Pictures Classics with 13 and upstart NEON earning 7.  

Continue reading ‘Call Me By Your Name,’ ‘Lady Bird,’ ‘Get Out’ Lead 2018 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations at The Playlist.

If you live in Los Angeles the slow death of the LA Film Festival has been sad to see. Ever since the event moved from downtown in 2010 to a hub around Culver City two years ago the annual June event has had a difficult time getting the industry and public’s attention. That’s a big deal when your festival is literally in the city “Hollywood” calls home.

Today, Film Independent, which runs both the festival and the Independent Spirit Awards, announced the 2018 festival will move from its traditional June time frame to a more awards-friendly September 20-28.

Continue reading LA Film Festival Throws Industry A Curve Ball Moving To September at The Playlist.