I’m sure I’m not the only person who wondered why the Sundance Institute and Women in Film Los Angeles needed to spend who-knows-how-much money and time to study whether women are getting a fair shake in the independent film world. The answer has two letters, and it starts with “n.”  Am I right, ladies?  Nevertheless, they went ahead with the research, and the resulting 43-page report, “Exploring the Barriers and Opportunities for Independent Women Filmmakers,” was released in January. Spoiler alert: The news is not good. While independent film has a higher percentage of women behind the lens, compared to mainstream […]

[PREMIERE SCREENING: Saturday, Jan. 19, Noon — Temple Theatre, Park City] In the spring of 2008, I read about the murder of Lawrence “Larry” King, a multiracial 15-year-old student who was reported as being gay. It was a story I just couldn’t get out of my mind. I first imagined exploring the issues in a fictional film, but once I attended a pretrial hearing for Larry’s accused murderer, Brandon McInerney, just 14-years-old, I immediately realized that a bigger story was just developing. It needed to be a documentary. So began my education as a first-time director, flying by the seat […]