Watch Film Independent Educational Content at Home and on Demand
Without a doubt, one of the greatest benefits of Film Independent Membership—which, nudge nudge—is the ability to treat yourself, free of charge, to any one of our Tuesday, after-hours educational events here at 5670 Wilshire. These events have covered topics as diverse as brand building, on-set sustainability, crowd funding, music licensing, drone photography, VR and lots, lots more. Need tips from a real-life Hollywood intimacy coordinator for filming that (very tasteful, very necessary) sex scene? We’ve got you covered.
Really, the only bad part about these events is the fact that you have to change out of your pajamas to attend—seeing as, y’know, you’re an adult in a public space and all. That, and your inability to freeze our guest speakers eerily in place, Saved by the Bell style, while you take a quick 10-1 or go make a sandwich (but hopefully not at the same time.) Plus, you might not live anywhere near Los Angeles, which until now has made attending these events impossible.
Until now. Starting next month, issues of convenience will officially cease to be an issue. That’s right: with the support of Sharon Powers, select Film Independent Education content will be available as video on demand, at zero cost to Film Independent Members. Here’s how it works:
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT
Don’t worry—you don’t need to sign up for some sort of weird third-party application that’ll sell exclusive legal rights to your DNA code to the Yakuza. You just need to find the event you’d like to view and simply RSVP to watch on-demand. You’ll be sent an exclusive link within 48 hours of the event, which will be active for approximately one week after you get it.
On each event page, there will be two separate RSVP buttons: one to attend in-person at Film Independent’s offices, and one to receive a link to view on-demand, complete with any visual material that week’s speaker may have presented. If you’re attending in person, you can still RSVP to receive the on-demand link, in case there’s any part of the event you’d like to revisit.
Just remember: video links are not live. So stop shouting questions at your laptop—the Kickstarter Guy can’t hear you. And after their first week of availability, events will be archived. So be sure to watch promptly, or else you’ll have to recreate the event on Sweded VHS à la Michel Gondry’s Be Kind, Rewind.
‘MS. PURPLE’ CASE STUDY
Now that you know how it works, mark your calendar for September 10’s Ms. Purple Case Study with producers Alex Chi and Alan Pao, Director of Photography Ante Cheng and writer/director Justin Chon—our very first on-demand event. Chon won the 2018 Someone to Watch Award at the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards for his sophomore feature Gook (also: a Grand Jury Prize winner at the 2017 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival.)
Ms. Purple premiered at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and will be released September 6. The film—a coming-of-age drama about a sister and brother (Tiffany Chu and Teddy Lee) who find themselves struggling with familial conflict emotional wounds while stuck in Koreatown caring for their dying father—screened in March, as part of the Film Independent Forum.
Chi, Pao and Cheng will join Chon to help take Members behind the scenes into the making of Ms. Purple—from development and financing, through production, festival premiere and eventual release. So basically everything you’d ever want to know about how an indie production builds on the momentum of its director’s previous breakthrough.
So! We hope you’ll be a part of our launch for this exciting new way to connect with expert filmmakers from comfy confines of your own home (or desk at work when the boss isn’t watching—don’t worry, we won’t snitch.) It’s all part of Film Independent’s ongoing efforts to grow our community of filmmakers worldwide.
To learn more about upcoming Educational events, click here. Not a Member? Click here to experience the Ms. Purple Case Study and more all year.