The ITVS Indie Roundup
A curated list of indie news and recommendations from ITVS’s Rebecca Huval.
Female directors are way more likely to have directed a documentary at Sundance than a narrative film — 34.5 percent of documentaries were directed by women, compared to 16.9 percent of narrative films in the last decade of the festival. One filmmaker at Sundance, Sarah Polley, proudly declared her preference for documentaries in an interview: “I’ve always liked documentaries more than fictional narrative films. I can sit through any documentary and it will be educational even if it’s terrible, but a bad feature film can make me want to die.” But more women than ever are competing in the dramatic competition at Sundance this year, and the topic of sexism in the film industry is out in the open. Check out videos of a Sundance panel featuring six female directors as they air out their gender-based challenges.
A short meditation on the documentarian’s gaze — at what point should filmmakers give their subjects’ control of the camera and empower them to tell their own stories? Learn how Hollywood became a place where actors get married for publicity. The Virginia Quarterly Review takes us through the history of Hollywood PR, back to when Florence Lawrence became a household name because a fake 1910 new story proclaimed her death. At this point, with the many avenues for self-distribution, is a theatrical release just for the sake of the indie filmmaker’s ego?
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ITVS Responds to Rescission Vote
July 18, 2025[July 18, 2025] Carrie Lozano, President and CEO of the Independent Television Service (ITVS), issued the following statement in response to Congress' vote clawing back congressional approved funding for public media.Congress’ decision to pass the rescission package that removes the $1.1B of previously approved federal funds for the Corporation of…
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Protecting Our Future and Charting the Course Ahead
June 4, 2025We are sharing the sad and difficult news that ITVS is reducing its staff by 13 individuals across the organization. For a staff so committed to our mission and to each other, this 20% staff reduction is a painful moment. Our dedicated staff have made important contributions that are part of ITVS' legacy and success story. In the past few months, ITVS has…
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ITVS Documentary "Greener Pastures" Honored by the Television Academy
May 1, 2025The Television Academy announced that the ITVS-supported, Independent Lens documentary Greener Pastures will be celebrated at the 18th Television Academy Honors. Established in 2008, the Television Academy Honors Award recognizes “Television with a Conscience” and seeks to celebrate programs that inspire, motivate, and harness the power of…