Life is busy. Summer movie season is here! Yet, all our existential problems remain! It can be tough to stay up-to-date on 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 (May 2025)
National Endowment for the Arts Cuts Millions in Grants (via Isa Farfan for Hyperallergic)
Time to check in on your local arts/film nonprofit!
It’s the Death of the Screenplay Industrial Complex, and Not a Moment Too Soon (via Harrison Richlin for IndieWire)
ScreenCraft, The Script Lab, The Tracking Board, and Coverfly are gone, but (increasingly desperate) aspiring screenwriters can grow their own platforms.
At Milestone Films, Passing the Torch, but Keeping the Flame Alive (via Derrick Bryson Taylor for The New York Times)
Why the indie distributor’s founders Amy Heller and Dennis Doros decided to hand the company over to the Black Film Archive’s Maya Cade.
Andrew Karpen Remembered: Bleecker Street Media Founder Was a Force in Indie Film, Beloved for Integrity and Kindness (via Brent Lang for Variety)
A remembrance of the indie studio chief.
Children Make Movies (via Sophia Satchell-Baeza for Mubi Notebook)
When child labor goes behind the camera.
The Production Assistant’s Guide to the Lunch Run (via Drew Marquardt for Quote-Unquote)
How to keep your writers (or crew) fed.
Dying of Love: The Vivid, Musically Tragic Legacy of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (via Öykü Sofuoğlu for Letterboxd)
How Jacques Demy’s colorful musical romance influenced Spike Jonze, Damien Chazelle, Leos Carax, and more.
How Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood Discovered a New Generation of Stars (via Nate Jones for Vulture)
The Manson Family roots of Mikey Madison, Austin Butler, Maya Hawke, Margaret Qualley, Victoria Pedretti, and Sydney Sweeney.
Can Donald Trump Really Put a Tariff on Films? (via Emma Roth for The Verge)
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Anonymous Interview: The Indie Producer (via The Vane)
Hard truths from a mystery producer!
Generational Dynamics & Crisis Periods: A Filmmaker’s Guide to Navigating the Market (via Elliot Grove for Raindance)
The moviemaking landscape for Boomer, Gen X, Millennial, and Gen Z audiences.
Film Marketing Tactics Recommended by the Pros (via Stephen Fellows)
How to sell your movies.
Dogma 25 Movement Launches 30 Years After Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg’s Dogme (via Jordan Raup for The Film Stage)
The ’90s are so back!
The Soap Opera of the Future Is a Vertical Drama Made for Your Phone. But You’ll Have to Pay to See the Ending (via Shannon Cudd for Fast Company)
Chinese micro-dramas have made it to the States.
Hollywood Commission’s Workplace Misconduct Resource Opened Up to All Entertainment Industry Workers (via Katie Kilkenny for The Hollywood Reporter)
Misconduct resources are now available to everyone in the industry, not just union members.
“I Never Made a Movie to Just Go Make a Movie, It Was Always an Exploration of Filmmaking”: Our World Exclusive Interview with Tom Cruise (via Isabel Stevens for Sight and Sound)
A rare career retrospective from our most death-defying (physically and PR-wise) movie star.
In case you were ignoring us (aka blatant self-promotion)
2025 Cannes Film Festival Recap
Spike Lee, France, and more!
Videos worth watching
Meet some of Tom Cruise’s inspirations from the silent era (via Lost in Time)
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.