146 - How to Make an Indie Film in 2023

Dolby Creator Talks

Making an independent film today is even more challenging than it was in its heyday of the 1990s. So we’re bringing you a panel discussion with directors of two of the festival favorites at this year’s SXSW Film Festival. Directors Hannah Pearl Utt (“Cora Bora”) and Emma Westenberg (“You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder”) take a deep-dive into the state of the independent film industry and the challenges involved in making a film in 2023, including (perhaps most importantly) how to get the gig in the first place:

“I read the script and I pitched on it… And then when [the producers] were on board with my take… they said, ‘OK, now the next round is to pitch it to [producer and star] Ewan [McGregor].’ So I went on a Zoom [with him] and I pitched my take on it. Like how I would change the narrative slightly and make different turns. He was listening and then he said, ‘oh, I don’t like that at all.’ [laughs] I just turned beet red and in my head I was thinking — I can’t really back down now. Because this is the way I would tell the story and I don’t know how I would do it otherwise with conviction. So I tried to explain it to him… and then at some point he was like, ‘OK, yeah, maybe that is a good idea.’ I think also it was a little bit of a test to see if I would stick to my guns.”

— Emma Westenberg, Director and Executive Producer, “You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder”

This panel was moderated by independent producer Kennedy Davey at the 2023 SXSW Film Festival, where “You Sing Loud, I Sing Louder” and “Cora Bora” had their premieres.

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