If you’ve kept up with the news coming out about the 2016 LA Film Festival, then you already know there’s no shortage of interesting story lines running through this year’s Festival—from the breadth of content on display in this year’s film program, to the Festival’s impressive diversity statistics, to the unprecedented number of world premieres set to make their debut under our ArcLight proscenium.

And sure, here at Film Independent we’re proud to tout each and every one of these laudatory stats and milestones. But nothing warms the ventricles of our (bleeding) hearts quite like seeing our talented, hard-working Members fill the ranks of our esteemed LA Film Festival writers, directors and producers.

In fact, this year’s LA Film Festival lineup features a total of 36 individual Film Independent Members as writers, directors and producers repping a whopping 29 different projects—a testament to our film community’s creative spark and dogged execution.

We’re proud of our Members, and excited to see their films take center stage at LA’s premiere festival showcase for independent film. So come celebrate with us—Festival passes and individual tickets are both on sale now.

Let’s raise a toast the center of the Venn diagram illustrating the overlap in Film Independent Members and 2016 Festival filmmakers—those laurels are a good look.

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Members with films in the 2016 LA Film Festival US Fiction Competition include:

• Laura Wagner, producer, Tracktown
• Danny Mendoza, producer, 11:55
• Mayuran Tiruchelvam, My First Kiss and the People Involved
• Amy Hobby, producer, Paint it Black
• Matt Ratner, producer, Destined 

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Members with films in this year’s Documentary Competition include:

• Deborah Riley Draper, director/writer/producer, Olympic Pride, American Prejudice
• Alexandre Peralta, writer/director/producer, Looking at the Stars
• Fenton Bailey, producer, Out of Iraq
• Randy Barbato, producer, Out of Iraq
• Anne Clements, producer, Political Animals
• Marc Smolowitz, producer, Political Animals
• Suli McCullough, producer, Dying Laughing

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Members with films in this year’s LA Muse section include:

• Melissa Finell, writer/director/producer, Sensitivity Training
• Alysa Nahmias, producer, No Light and No Land Anywhere
• Gustavo Bernal, producer, Actors of Sound

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Members with film in the World Fiction Competition include:

• Amanda Marshall, producer, Like Cotton Twines
• Derrick Borte, director, London Town

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Members with film in this year’s Buzz section include:

• Amanda Marshall, producer, Don’t Think Twice
• Morgan Neville, director, The Music of Strangers
• Caitrin Rogers, producer, The Music of Strangers

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Members with projects featured in this year’s Short Film Programs include:

• Billy Luther, director/producer, Red Lake
• Fenton Bailey, producer, Red Lake
• Randy Barbato, producer, Red Lake
• Jennifer Medvin, director/writer/producer, Little Hero
• Catherine Skipp, producer, Outside
• Steven Liang, director/producer, Outside
• Jeremiah Hammerling, director/producer, Use of Force
• Heika Burnison, producer, Lancaster, CA
• Yen Tan, director/writer, 1985

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Members with Web Series projects being shown at this year’s Festival include:

• Maggie Kiley, director, Caring
• Ellie Wen, producer, Caring and Fridays

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Members with projects in this year’s High School Shorts program include:

• Ryan Kim, writer/director, Tipping Scales: The Story of Lisa Jura
• Cheri Gaulke, producer, Astro, Naught

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Members with films featured in this year’s Limelight section include:

• Julie Lynn, producer, The Sweet Life

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And lastly, Members with film competing in the Nightfall section include:

• Seth Caplan, producer, Villisca

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So congrats, filmmakers! We’re proud to count you as members of the family. If you want to support any of the folks listed above (or any of this year’s LA Film Festival creators, participants or alums) then come to the Festival! Visit our website for more information, and click here for our complete Festival lineup.

Individual tickets are now available for purchase. Click here for more information. Regular screenings and events are $13 for Members and $15 for non-Members. Special screenings and events are $20 for Members and $25 for non-Members.

The 2016 LA Film Festival takes place June 1-9 at the ArcLight Cinemas in Culver City and Hollywood, with additional screenings at LACMA. And stay tuned to this blog for still more Festival announcements coming next week, May 17.

To learn how to become a Member of Film Independent, click here. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and follow the LA Film Festival on Twitter and Facebook.

(header: Paint it Black)