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The American Cinematheque has announced the schedule of events and list of speakers for this year’s Proof Film Festival, which will take place from Oct. 18-20 at the Culver Theater. The festival will feature 46 official selections in addition to industry panels, special screenings, centerpiece conversations and the Proof Pitch Deck Show & Tell.

The in-person panelists include Margaret Cho, Carlos López Estrada, Danny Madden, Sean Wang, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Morgan Cooper, Valerie Bush, Karen Maine and more.

The festival has also chosen eight participants for its Proof Pitch Deck Show & Tell, which will give each team the opportunity to pitch their film decks to industry professionals. Those participants are “Eat the Children” from Andrew Merrill, “The Lambing” from Jillian Corsie, “Photocopy” from Mike Klubeck, “Silver Spoon” from Lucy Porter, “Poppyfields” from Maria Belafonte, “House of Dixie” from Netta Walker, “Paul Ruins a Wedding and Destroys an Entire Community” from Brad Roelandt...

American Cinematheque announced the lineup for its 2nd annual Proof Film Festival on Thursday, a program that boasts 46 proof-of-concept short films from burgeoning filmmakers around the world.

The fest focuses solely on the presentation of shorts to screen during the event, which is set to take place Oct. 18-20.

This year, the Proof Film Fest with also partner with Callo to pair select festival filmmakers with industry partners to help them expand their network and potentially turn their proof-of-concept work into something more substantial.

The fest will also include a Pitch Deck Show & Tell – which is an interactive session held on Oct. 20 where six of the filmmakers will pitch their project live to a film industry panel. The grand prize winner and runner-up will be announced at the film festival’s closing night award show.

“After the success of last year’s inaugural edition of Proof, we looked to bring...

Can television have its own New Hollywood moment?

Much like movies such as Bonnie and Clyde, The Graduate, Rosemary’s Baby and Easy Rider took the late 1960s by storm, a group of writers and directors are hoping that their own independent TV projects can break through and find their way to the small screen amidst the current Hollywood contraction.

After a number of web series such as Issa Rae’s The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl, Broad City and High Maintenance were turned into TV series over the past decade, writers and directors hoped that this would lead to more.

However, the rise of streaming originals saw the business go the other way, with incredibly expensive dramas and comedies, often led by movie stars, taking over. This trend is now waning and a new generation of creators hopes that cost-conscious companies will now pay more attention to their projects instead.

SeriesFest, the television event in Denver, drew dozens of independent creators over the last few days and has now handed out some awards for its pilot competition.

Some 45 pilots from around the world were in competition at the tenth iteration of the festival.

Check back later this week to hear from a number of the creators about their plans to breakthrough with their own independent projects.

Winners included Shazia Javed’s Potluck Ladies and Jesse Toledano’s Broken Toilets, while Anna Camp-starring Neo-Dome, from Mark and Matt Pfeffer scooped the audience award.

Potluck Ladies won the drama awards. It follows Sumaira, Azra, and Ruby, who live in “The Wives Condos” in the suburbs of Toronto with their children, while their husbands work in other countries. They initially meet at potluck lunches, a weekly guilt-free escape from the loneliness of immigrant life. At first glance, they seem to be living perfect lives,...