We all have our awards season rituals, right? Catching up on all the nominated movies, placing friendly wagers, planning a screening party. Thankfully, our friends at Film Independent have continued their own awards season tradition of hosting the panel series DIRECTORS CLOSE-UP.
SAGindie co-sponsored the series, a hybrid of virtual and in-person talks with the artists nominated for 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards. DCU 2023 took place from February 1 – March 1, 2023, and we have the full schedule, highlights, and full panel videos below!
[Updated 4/3/23]
Schedule:
February 1 – Maiden Voyage: Best First Feature
Panelists:
- Elegance Bratton (writer/director, The Inspection)
- Jamie Dack (co-writer/director/producer, Palm Trees and Power Lines)
- John Patton Ford (writer/director, Emily the Criminal)
- Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic (co-writer/director, Murina)
- Charlotte Wells (writer/director, Aftersun)
- Moderated by Shelby Stone (Executive Producer, The Chi)
February 1 – Page to Screen: Best First Screenplay
Panelists:
- Joel Kim Booster (writer/actor/executive producer, Fire Island)
- Jamie Dack (co-writer/director/producer, Palm Trees and Power Lines)
- K.D. Dávila (writer, Emergency)
- Audrey Findlay (co-writer, Palm Trees and Power Lines)
- John Patton Ford (writer/director, Emily the Criminal)
- Moderated by Kyle Patrick Alvarez (Director, Homecoming; Tales of the City)
February 8 – Small Screen, Big Picture: Best Scripted Series
Panelists:
- Soo Hugh (creator, Pachinko)
- Annmarie Morais (showrunner/co-creator, The Porter)
- Patrick Somerville (creator, Station Eleven)
- R.T. Thorne (director/executive producer, The Porter)
- Moderated by Wendy Calhoun (writer/producer, Prodigal Son; Empire)
February 8 – The Spirit of Cassavetes: Low Budget Filmmaking
Panelists:
- Justin Benson (writer/producer/co-director/actor, Something in the Dirt)
- Araceli Lemos (co-writer/director, Holy Emy)
- Aaron Moorehead (producer/co-director/actor, Something in the Dirt)
- Martine Syms (co-writer/director/producer, The African Desperate)
- Max Walker-Silverman (writer/director/producer, A Love Song)
- Moderated by Nikole Beckwith (writer/director, Together Together)
February 15 – Reel Life: Best Documentary
Panelists:
- Snow Hnin Ei Hlaing (director, Midwives)
- Sierra Pettengill (director, Riotsville, U.S.A.)
- Laura Poitras (director/producer, All the Beauty and the Bloodshed)
- Shaunak Sen (director/producer, All That Breathes)
- Simon Lereng Wilmont (director, A House Made of Splinters)
- Moderated by PJ Raval (director, Call Her Ganda)
February 15 – A New Kind of Narrative: Best Non-Scripted Series
Panelists:
- W. Kamu Bell (director/executive producer, We Need to Talk About Cosby)
- Gabriela Cowperthwaite (director/producer, Children of the Underground)
- Ted Gesing (director/executive producer, Children of the Underground)
- Andrew Renzi (director/executive producer, Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?)
- Nanfu Wang (director/executive producer, Mind Over Murder)
- Moderated by Diane Becker (producer, Navalny)
February 22 – The World’s a Stage: International Storytellers
Panelists:
- Davy Chou (writer/director, Return to Seoul)
- Alice Diop (co-writer/director, Saint Omer)
- Martika Ramirez Escobar (writer/director, Leonor Will Never Die)
- Marie Kreutzer (writer/director, Corsage)
- Saim Sadiq (co-writer/director, Joyland)
- Moderated by Jenn Wilson (senior programmer, Film Independent)
February 26 – Directing Frame by Frame: Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills, CA
Panelists:
- Guillermo del Toro (writer/co-director/producer, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio)
- Mark Gustafson (co-director, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio)
- Brian Leif Hansen (animation supervisor, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio)
- Georgina Hayns (director of character fabrication, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio)
- Moderated by Jon Favreau (director, Iron Man)
February 28 – Casting and Directing Actors: Shrinking with Creator Jason Segel and Team
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills, CA
Panelists:
- Jason Segel (creator/actor)
- James Ponsoldt (director)
- Jessica Williams (actor)
- Brett Benner (casting director)
- Debby Romano (casting director)
- Moderated by Darrien Michele Gipson (Executive Director, SAGindie)
March 1 – The Spirit of Independence
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, Beverly Hills, CA
Panelists:
- Ellie Foumbi (writer/director/producer, Our Father, the Devil)
- Daniel Kwan (co-writer/co-director/producer, Everything Everywhere All at Once)
- Sarah Polley (co-writer/director, Women Talking)
- Halina Reijn (director, Bodies Bodies Bodies)
- Daniel Scheinert (co-writer/co-director/producer, Everything Everywhere All at Once)
- Moderated by Josh Welsh (President, Film Independent)
Film Independent Directors Close-Up 2023 is sponsored by SAGindie, Directors Guild of America, IMDb, and Wallis Annenberg Center for Performing Arts.
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