Film Independent — Local services in Los Angeles

I hate to say it because I have been a member of Film Independent for years, and I appreciate what it has done for our community. However, I feel that their artist development labs have swung so completely in one direction that despite striving for diversity and inclusion, this organization has made others feel completely unseen and unwelcome.

Independent cinema should be about new voices - ALL new voices - from ALL backgrounds, races, and points of view who are passionate and have stories to tell outside the mainstream. But these days, if you look at who is getting the opportunities at Film Independent, you better be some intersectionality of non-white, gender fluid, etc. if you expect them to be supportive. The people who run these programs are only looking out for their own friends and their own kind.

Film Independent: If you say you believe in diversity and representation in film, then it must be more than of one’s body, but of one’s ideas. We don't choose to be born what we are, and should not lose access because of it.

To fill out your application with 10+ different gender identities: does being "asexual" somehow make your voice and your story more important than someone else's?

Look, if you are striving to be an organization that ONLY supports underrepresented communities, then just say so, and save people who don't fit these categories the application fees. Or...

Help create opportunities for growth and prosperity for ALL emerging filmmakers. There simply are not enough programs out there that do this, and Sundance is doing the same thing you are. This business is brutal. Be careful that in your noble pursuit of showcasing certain folks, you are also not limiting dialogue and creativity from others who need...

It’s still sickening what’s been happening. If you’re straight and/or white, you are completely excluded. That’s called racism, not equity or “DEI.” I stop donating, and taking that money to a less ridiculous and confused organization.

Independent cinema should be about new voices from ALL backgrounds and perspectives, INCLUDING whites and/or straights, yet Film Independent now seems to prioritize identity over talent, supporting people who (some of them) put themselves into identity confusion.

If diversity and representation truly matter, they should include diversity of ideas, not just identity. No more money for Film...

becoming a member was a complete waste of money. I even paid for the highest membership thinking that would make a difference. Not only I wasn’t able to have my film at the Spirits award but I have been rejected from all the programs. Including the fiscal sponsorship program which was the program I was most interested in, since I already had the investors for it. It seems like Film independent only helps their friends. Maybe I’m wrong, but I was able to complete my feature film and got a distributor for it without the help of Film independent, since nobody wanted to...