Producer Alexandra Byer and Filmmaker Editor and producer Scott Macaulay discusses the challenges and opportunities in today’s independent film landscape.

Overview

From the challenge to find financing to the efforts to find crew, producers are facing today an altered landscape. Streamer and Marvel productions are scooping up cast and crew, inflation has hit independent film budgets and COVID protocols continue. In this frank conversation, producers Alexandra Byer (De La Mio, Funny Face as well as co-founder of the production company Rathaus) and Scott Macaulay (Filmmaker’s Editor as well as the producer of The Assistant) discuss the ways in which producers are adapting to today’s times.

ABOUT THE GOTHAM WEEK CONFERENCE
The Gotham Week Conference explores the art and business of film and media today. Seasoned mentors and industry leaders make the Conference the premier forum for creators to break through and take their careers to the next level. Through panels, workshops, and networking opportunities, creators access the tools they need to connect with audiences, expand their story’s reach, and build sustainable careers.

ABOUT GOTHAM WEEK
Back IRL for the first time in three years, Gotham Week 2022 will take place at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, September 17-23, and also includes virtual programming and events. Each year, Gotham Week connects groundbreaking talent in film, TV, and audio to the ecosystem of industry decision-makers, experts, and organizations that support their success. Through Project Market discoveries and acquisitions, innovative Conference programming, and the inaugural partner Expo, Gotham Week gives independent creators critical industry access, resources, and opportunities to grow their network. It provides a unique platform from which groundbreaking careers and projects have launched, celebrating the creativity, boldness, and determination The Gotham is all about.

Panelists

Alexandra Byer

Alexandra Byer is a Brooklyn-based producer and a co-founder of the production company RATHAUS Films. She produced Tim Sutton’s fifth feature FUNNY FACE (Berlinale 2020) and Cedric Cheung-Lau’s debut film THE MOUNTAINS ARE A DREAM THAT CALL TO ME (Sundance 2020). Byer was nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards for Tom Quinn’s COLEWELL (Gravitas Ventures). She also produced Diana Peralta’s DE LO MIO (HBO), Matt Porterfield’s SOLLERS POINT (Oscilloscope Laboratories), and Tim Sutton’s DARK NIGHT (Sundance Film Festival 2016; Arbelos Films). Byer also participated in the 2016 Cannes Producers Workshop as well as the 2015 Berlinale Talents lab.

Moderators

Scott Macaulay

Filmmaker Magazine - Editor

Scott Macaulay is the co-founder and Editor-in Chief of Filmmaker, the print magazine and website devoted to independent film published by the Gotham Institution for Film & Media. He is also an active New York-based producer. With Forensic Films, the company he co-founded with Robin O’Hara, he has produced and co-produced many independent features and international co-productions. Among his producing credits are Kitty Green’s The Assistant and Casting JonBenet; Peter Sollett’s Raising Victor Vargas; Elisabeth Subrin’s A Woman, A Part; Alice Wu’s Saving Face; Harmony Korine’s Gummo and julien donkey-boy; and Tom Noonan’s Sundance Grand Jury Prize-winning What Happened Was…. In 1998 he and O’Hara received a Spirit Award for Independent producing and in 2018 he was awarded the Cinereach Producing Fellowship.