What if you could have a dream team of directors sit down and tell you—face to face, heart to heart—what’s up…  How they found their way to that magical performance. How the rise of VOD platforms is affecting their creative process. What’s the key to writing moving characters?

Directors Close-Up is just like having that dream team.

On February 3, Film Independent kicks off the annual five-week conversation series with Ava DuVernay, the visionary director behind one of this year’s most provocative feature films, Selma.

DuVernay is just one of the acclaimed filmmakers who will take to the stage at The Landmark—West Los Angeles next month to share behind-the-scenes stories, inspiring insights and reveal the real deal on everything from writing to shooting to financing.

The complete lineup is still in the works, but the current schedule is:
Tuesday, February 3, 7:30 pm: Ava DuVernay: The Road to Selma
Wednesday, February 11, 7:30 pm: In the Cutting Room with Richard Linklater and Sandra Adair (Boyhood)
Wednesday, February 18, 7:30 pm: The Independent Spirit with panelists TBA
Wednesday, February 25, 7:30 pm: Writing & Directing with panelists Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler), Gina Prince-Bythewood (Beyond the Lights), and writers Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski (Big Eyes)
Wednesday, March 4, 7:30 pm: Storytelling Across Platforms with Justin Simien, director; Lena Waithe, producer; and Phillip J. Bartell, editor (Dear White People)

For more information and to buy passes, go to Directors Close-Up 2015 at filmindependent.org. Passes are on sale now. A limited number of specially priced passes will be available during the early registration period, which ends this Friday January 16.

To give you a taste of what’s in store, here’s a rundown of some of our favorite moments from last year’s Close-Up.

“I kill the writer when I’m directing. I kill the actress when I’m editing.”
—Julie Delpy (co-writer/actor Before Midnight) on the complications of being a triple threat

“When you do one-shot deals with an actor, the process is a collaboration. The actor becomes your co-filmmaker, and it’s a strong collaboration between the writer, the director and the actor…explore the rhythm and the timing.”
—Alfonso Cuarón on working with Sandra Bullock on Gravity

“When you think about Amazon and Netflix, and really the fact that there’s all this money up there and it’s Silicon Valley Money. It’s Hollywood money and it’s in the hundreds of millions, if not billions. And all the CEOs up there have all been to Burning Man, so there’s no sense that there’s this corporate dude looking over my shoulder and deciding whether or not my content resonates with the straight, white, American male.”
—Jill Soloway (Transparent) on the difference between creating content for VOD platforms versus studios

“I never understood why I was making a movie to be watched by 20 people at the Sunset Five.”
—Miguel Arteta (Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day) on whether he laments the decline of the communal viewing experience

Pamela Miller / Website & Grants Manager