Life is busy – the weather is hot, the gas is expensive, and the lettuce is poisoned. It can be tough to stay up-to-date on all 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 (August 2026)
L.A. County Weighs a Grant Fund to Keep Indie Films from Leaving (via Cerys Davies for Los Angeles Times)
A new initiative to keep low-budget films in LA.
Studio Ghibli’s Deepest Secret Is What Comes Next (via Sohee Kim and Felix Gillette for Bloomberg)
Investigating the Miyazaki family’s succession plans for the legendary animation studio.
YouTube Makes Monetization Harder – New Partner Program Rules Explained (via Nino Leitner for CineD)
A higher threshold has been implemented for YouTube creators to get paid.
The Massive Moviemaking Exodus from Hollywood (via Daniel Miller for Politico Magazine)
How Illinois (like Georgia and Louisiana and New York before it) is taking on California’s film industry.
11 Bay Area Filmmakers Got a Crash Course from Hollywood Heavyweights. Here’s What They Learned (via G. Allen Johnson for San Francisco Chronicle)
How Roman Coppola, Rafael Casal, Cheryl Dunye and more advisors shepherded The Bay List, a collection of up-and-coming NorCal screenwriters.
In Jane Schoenbrun’s Blood-Soaked World, Intimacy Is the Greatest Horror (via Abby Monteil for Them)
The indie auteur on making their biggest movie yet, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma.
The Letterboxd Video Store to Distribution Deal Pipeline (via Chris Cassingham for Filmmaker Magazine)
How It Ends received a Neon theatrical distribution deal after premiering on Letterboxd’s VOD platform.
Why Do Movies Look Like That Now? (via Kyle Turner for The A.V. Club)
Explaining the “Netflix look” of current movies, according to cinematographers, colorists, and camera operators.
As Directors Rise From YouTube, What’s Film School For, Then? (via Matthew Frank for The Ankler)
To YouTube, or to USC? That is the question.
Colorado Is Eager for Sundance. But How Much Has It Done for Indie Films? (via Parker Yamasaki for The Colorado Sun)
Is the Centennial State becoming a filmmaker-friendly haven outside of its new flagship festival?
Paramount Is Promising 30 Films Per Year, But What Would That Look Like? (via Jeremy Fuster and Drew Taylor for The Wrap)
Doable distribution promise or bound-to-fold bluff? A look at David Ellison’s 30-film “guarantee.”
I Was a Child Actor. No One Deserves That Fate. (via Alison Pill for The New York Times)
The Scott Pilgrim vs. the World actor reflects on a youth spent on film sets.
Keep Chasing That Bird: The Oral History of Coyote vs. Acme (via Alan Siegel for The Ringer)
The creation, cancellation, and resurrection of the live action/animated hybrid.
The Reticent Auteur (via Bilge Ebiri for The Yale Review)
Exploring our fascination with filmmakers who stopped filmmaking.
In case you were ignoring us (aka blatant self-promotion)
Filmmaker Interview: Adam Meeks, writer/director of Union County
We spoke with the filmmaker behind the new Ohio-set drama starring Will Poulter and Noah Centineo.
Videos worth watching
RIP Dolly Parton, underrated movie star (via Be Kind Rewind)
How ’bout you? Read anything good this month?
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If you’re an independent filmmaker or know of an independent film-related topic we should write about, email blogadmin@sagindie.org for consideration.
