Life is busy – you’re celebrating Black History, Super Bowls, Valentines, and Angela Bassett doing the thing. It can be tough to stay up-to-date on all the latest 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 (February 2023)

How to Turn a Good Cry Into Good Cinema (via Gabe Cohn for The New York Times)
The secrets to getting a good on-screen cry.

The Latest Cinema Projector Isn’t a Projector At All (via Danny Baldwin for Danny Baldwin Rambles)
A peek inside Amazon’s new LED-screen movie theater.

‘Disrespectful to the Craft:’ Actors Say They’re Being Asked to Sign Away Their Voice to AI (via Joseph Cox for Vice)
How voice actors are trying to protect their instruments.

Should Child Acting Just Be Banned Already? (via Monica Torres for HuffPost)
Former child actors are coming out about their exploitation in the film and TV industry.

The Upstart Shark of the 2023 Awards Season (via Tara Bennett for Paste Magazine)
How composer Mark Smythe got his low-budget indie work into the awards race.

How to Maintain Your Body in the Camera Department According to Movement Specialist Liz Cash (via A.E. Hunt for Filmmaker Magazine)
Tips for when the Steadicam is being a real pain in the neck.

Sundance and Women Write Now Are Giving Black Women Writers a Vital Storytelling Platform (via Jameelah Nasheed for Teen Vogue)
The up-and-coming Black female voices being uplifted at Sundance.

Inside the Strange and Prickly World of Ad-Supported Indie Film Distribution (via Brian Welk for IndieWire)
Learn all about AVOD.

The Hijacking of Snakes on a Plane (via Scott Tobias for The Reveal)
Remembering the time the internet gave a studio script notes.

Meet the Superusers Behind IMDb, the Internet’s Favorite Movie Site (via Stephen Lurie for Wired)
Filmography lists aren’t going to write themselves (yet).

Can TikTok Save the Cinema Industry? (via Ellie Calnan for Screen Daily)
From M3GAN to Minions, how film marketers are tapping into a new demo.

From Dave Bautista Collapsing in Glass Onion to Military Marches in All Quiet on the Western Front, Stunt Coordinators Detail ‘Invisible’ Stunt Work (via Zoe Hewitt for Variety)
Stunts: They’re more (and smaller) than just fistfights and explosions!

Cate Blanchett’s #TárNation Is Hollywood’s Hottest New Cult (via Jasmine Valentine for The Daily Beast)
The Carol army has been overthrown.

The New Black Film Canon (via Aisha Harris and Dan Kois for Slate)
Filmmakers and critics pick the 75 best films by Black directors.

 

In case you were ignoring us (aka blatant self-promotion)

2023 Sundance Film Festival Recap
Award-winners, favorite films, and more highlights from Sundance ’23.

Film Independent Directors Close-Up 2023
Another year of virtual and in-person talks with this year’s Spirit Award-nominated artists.

Filmmaker Interview: Jamie Dack, writer/director/producer of Palm Trees and Power Lines
Chatting with the award-winning filmmaker about adapting her short into a feature.

 

A video worth watching

Everything Everywhere All at Once‘s SAG Award victory turns into a James Hong tribute (via Netflix)

 
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.

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