Life is busy — you’re celebrating Pride Month, Juneteenth, and air conditioning. It can be tough to stay up-to-date on all the film industry news, profiles, analysis, and advice. That’s why we’ve curated some essential reads you may have missed over the past month. So take some time to catch up with this month’s good reads!
This Month’s Good Reads (June 2024)
Welcome to the Era of Garbage Film and Television Streaming (via David Moscrop for Jacobin)
Private equity has turned its sights on streaming platforms.
How to Make Your Screening an Unforgettable Experience (via Lydia Muir for No Film School)
Go beyond the Q&A format.
In Powwow Highway (1989) Native American Anger Gets the Care and Consideration It Deserves (via Angelica Jade Bastién for Madwomen & Muses)
Reflections on the Sundance Award-winner on its 35th anniversary.
The Blair Witch Project Actors Call Out ‘Reprehensible Behavior’ After Missing Out on Profits for Decades: ‘Don’t Do What We Did’ (via Adam B. Vary for Variety)
The stars of the iconic indie horror open up about the toll the film took on their lives.
Sony Buys Alamo Drafthouse Theaters With an Eye on Bolstering Crunchyroll (via Austen Goslin for Polygon)
The first studio-owned theater chain since the Paramount Decrees of 1948.
With Hollywood Shedding Jobs, Here is Help for Coping with the Slowdown (via Vanessa Franko, Jon Healey and Karen Garcia for Los Angeles Times)
Tips and resources for mental health and financial assistance for creatives.
Film Festivals: A Place for Found Family & Cultivating Community (via Cortlyn Kelly for RogerEbert.com)
How to win friends and influence people (while also watching movies and supporting local cinemas!).
The Story Behind the Lesbian Movie to End All Lesbian Movies (via Dan Kois for Slate)
How filmmaker Lilly Wachowski and sex columnist Susie Bright made Bound into a classic queer thriller.
Donald Sutherland Was an Actor of Everyday Profundity (via Stephanie Zacharek for Time)
Evaluating the legacy of the Don’t Look Now and Ordinary People star.
June Squibb Made It (via Rachel Handler for Vulture)
A day in the life of a 94-year-old action star.
Hollywood Talks Big on Climate. But What Is It Really Doing? (via Gary Baum for The Hollywood Reporter)
Major studios have pledged to reduce their carbon footprint. Is it working?
Film and TV Crew Members Reach Deal with Hollywood Studios to Avert Strike (via Dani Anguiano for The Guardian)
IATSE gets a tentative deal.
A Crisis of Faith: Have Funders Lost Faith that Art Films Can Make an Impact? (via Anthony Kaufman for Filmmaker Magazine)
Participant’s collapse and Cinereach’s refocus are two examples of a disturbing shift.
The High-Wire Energy of Great Ensemble Acting (via Isaac Butler for The Criterion Collection)
How large casts elevate films like The Women, Dazed and Confused, The Royal Tenenbaums, and more.
In case you were ignoring us (aka blatant self-promotion)
SAGindie Co-Creator Tom Bower, 1938-2024
We remember the Waltons and Die Hard 2 actor who helped pave the way for SAGindie’s creation.
Filmmaker Interview: Erica Tremblay, writer/director/producer of Fancy Dance
We talked to the Seneca-Cayuga filmmaker about making her feature debut, starring Lily Gladstone.
Videos worth watching
Jim Cummings’ mini film school (via @jimmycthatsme)
The Beta Test documentary was created to be a free film school for anyone to learn how we found success making movies. Here it is in full. Feel free to tag someone you love in the film industry. I'm gonna try to make one of these for all of our movies. pic.twitter.com/sUorCVFjkC
— Jim Cummings (@jimmycthatsme) June 3, 2024
How ’bout you? Read anything good this month?
——
If you’re an independent filmmaker or know of an independent film-related topic we should write about, email blogadmin@sagindie.org for consideration.