FILM INDEPENDENT CELEBRATES 2025 SPIRIT AWARDS WINNERS, ORGANIZATION’S HISTORY AT 40th ANNUAL CEREMONY!

Honors For Anora and Baby Reindeer Accompany Tributes to Past Work in an Emotional Celebration of Four Decades of Independent Storytelling.

This year’s ceremony, the 40th in Film Independent’s history, celebrated both the best of the past year in film and television as well as the organization’s storied history of supporting independent artists. This included paying touching tribute to Josh Welsh, the beloved longtime president of Film Independent who passed away recently after a courageous five-year battle with cancer.

For this year’s awards, Anora led the way in the film categories with three wins, including Best Feature, Best Director for Sean Baker and Best Lead Performance for Mikey Madison. Among the other films and artists honored, A Real Pain won Best Supporting Performance for Kieran Culkin and Best Screenplay for Jesse Eisenberg:  Jesse did Q & A for us backstage in the press room, as above photo shows.  Maisy Stella won Best Breakthrough Performance for My Old Ass, and she was nice enough to pose with us for photos as above (Stella on left) and below (Stella on right): Dìdi won Best First Feature, and Best First Screenplay for Sean Wang; Flow won Best International Film; No Other Land won Best Documentary; Best Cinematography went to Jomo Fray for Nickel Boys; and Hansjörg Weissbrich won Best Editing for September 5.

For the fifth time in its history, the Spirit Awards also honored exceptional content in television. This year’s major winners in the TV categories were:   Baby Reindeer, which won three awards including Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series for Richard Gadd, who was nice enough to pose with us in the above & below photos. In the above photo he is in the center with Margie on the left, and on the right is his wife: Actress Melanie Lynskey.  In the below photo Steve is holding the trophy with Richard on the right:Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series for Nava Mau and Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series for Jessica Gunning; Shōgun, which won Best New Scripted Series; Hollywood Black, which won Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series; and How to Die Alone, which won Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series. The 17th annual Robert Altman Award, which was created in 2008 in honor of legendary film director Robert Altman, who was known for creating extraordinary ensemble casts, was awarded to His Three Daughters Director Azazel Jacobs(on the left of the above photo) alongside casting director Nicole Arbusto, as well as ensemble cast members Jovan Adepo, Jasmine Bracey, Carrie Coon, Jose Febus, Rudy Galvan, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen(on the right of the below photo), Randy Ramos Jr. and Jay O. Sanders. See above photo for 3 of the winners of this excellent cast. Natasha (2nd to the right in both photos holding her trophy – above and below) and a few of the cast were nice enough to pose with our TV Show Host: Margie Rey (2nd from the left below): Girls Will Be Girls was honored with the John Cassavetes Award, given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000. Also celebrated were the previously announced honors including Sarah Friedland of Familiar Touch with the Someone to Watch Award, recognizing a filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition; Rachel Elizabeth Seed of A Photographic Memory with the Truer Than Fiction Award, presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has yet to receive significant recognition; and Sarah Winshall with the Producers Award, honoring emerging producers who demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films with limited resources.Backstage during the show:

The award-winning Actress and Producer: Demi Moore was also so nice to take photos with us, as in the below and above photos. Demi was born November 11, 1962. After rising to prominence in the early 1980s, she became the world’s highest-paid actress by 1995!  She was nominated at these awards for Best Lead Performance for her performance as an aging celebrity in the body horror film The Substance (2024), winning a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress!  Demi Moore has been married three times. From 1981 to 1985, she was married to musician Freddy Moore. From 1987 to 2000, she was married to Bruce Willis, with whom she has three daughters. She was married to Ashton Kutcher from 2005 to 2013.

Last year’s Academy Award Winner for Best Actress for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” – Michelle Yeoh, was nice enough to take the time to pose for photos with us:  Michelle Yeoh (/joʊ/), is a Malaysian actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including last year’s Academy Award for Best Actress for “Everything Everywhere All at Once”!   For her starring role as Evelyn Quan Wang in Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022), she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, becoming the first Asian to win the category, and the first Malaysian to win an Academy Award. She has since featured in the mystery film A Haunting in Venice (2023) and the musical fantasy film Wicked (2024). Rotten Tomatoes ranked her the greatest action heroine of all time, and she was chosen by People as one of the “50 Most Beautiful People in the World, and in 2009 the same magazine listed her as one of the “35 All-Time Screen Beauties”. In 2022, Time named her one of the world’s 100 most influential people, and its Icon of the Year. In 2024, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. 

All the award winners went to the backstage area press room for interviews and photos for all of the media.

At the very end of the show: 

Luke Tennie who stars on the hit show “Shrinking” on AppleTV, and is an Actor in the Oscar Nominated “Nickel Boys” was so kind to pose in the above photos with Margie on the right, and Luke right next to her- 2nd from the right:and in the below photo with Steve on the right, and Luke 2nd to the right: Earlier on the red carpet Luke gave our news crew a very insightful interview about acting in showbiz today.

The official after-party for this event was held this year at The Victorian, that is an iconic Santa Monica restaurant, bar, and nightlife spot located on Main Street just one block from the beach:

This party was the hottest ticket in town, that used all 3 floors of this gigantic house that has been converted into a fabulous restaurant and nightclub.

The place was packed with many of the top Actors, Producers, Directors, Writers, Spirit Awards Winners, Oscar Nominees, Presenters, and Celebrities in showbiz!

All 3 floors had DJs with live musical entertainment, and 4 bars, dancing, with shows on the 1st floor. There was delicious food and drinks throughout all 3 floors, with everyone having the time of their lives- that made this the most sought-after invitation of the day! Margie did a good in-depth interview with a beautiful young lady on the red carpet, and then we meet her again (see above photo) at this fun after-party: Ryan Destiny, who was nominated for Best Lead Performance, in “The Fire Inside.”

We also meet Adam Pearson- on the right with Steve, and on the left with Margie in the below photos:  who was nominated for Best Supporting Performance in “A Different Man” :

Earlier on the red carpet Margie did a great in-depth interview with Tonatiuh, who is now co-starring with Jennifer Lopez, in the hit musical – thriller movie: Kiss of the Spider Woman. He was nice enough to pose for photos with both of us as you can see in the below photo- right at the end of the show with Margie on the left, with Tonatiuh in the middle:  and in the below photo- in the after-party with Steve on the left with Tonatiuh on the right:The following is a complete list of the winners:

FILM CATEGORIES

Best Feature
Anora (NEON)
Producers: Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan

Best Director
Sean Baker, Anora (NEON)

Best Screenplay
Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)

Best First Feature
Dìdi (Focus Features)
Director: Sean Wang
Producers: Valerie Bush, Carlos López Estrada, Josh Peters

Best First Screenplay
Sean Wang, Dìdi (Focus Features)

John Cassavetes Award
(for best feature made under $1,000,000)
Girls Will Be Girls (Juno Films)
Writer/Director/Producer: Shuchi Talati
Producers: Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne

Best Breakthrough Performance
Maisy Stella, My Old Ass (Amazon MGM Studios)

Best Supporting Performance
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)

Best Lead Performance
Mikey Madison, Anora (NEON)

Robert Altman Award
His Three Daughters (Netflix)
Director: Azazel Jacobs
Casting Director: Nicole Arbusto
Ensemble Cast: Jovan Adepo, Jasmine Bracey, Carrie Coon, Jose Febus, Rudy Galvan, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Randy Ramos Jr., Jay O. Sanders

Best Cinematography
Jomo Fray, Nickel Boys (Amazon MGM Studios)

Best Editing
Hansjörg Weissbrich, September 5 (Paramount Pictures)

Best International Film
Flow (Sideshow and Janus Films)
Director: Gints Zilbalodis

Best Documentary
No Other Land
Director: Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor
Producer: Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning

Someone to Watch
Sarah Friedland, Familiar Touch

Truer Than Fiction
Rachel Elizabeth Seed, A Photographic Memory

Producers Award
Sarah Winshall

TELEVISION CATEGORIES

Best New Scripted Series
Shōgun (FX)
Creators/Executive Producers: Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks
Executive Producers: Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Luca, Michael Clavell
Co-Executive Producers: Shannon Goss, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Jamie Vega Wheeler

Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
Hollywood Black (MGM+)
Executive Producers: Shayla Harris, Dave Sirulnick, Stacey Reiss, Jon Kamen, Justin Simien, Kyle Laursen, Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jeffrey Schwarz, Amy Goodman Kass, Michael Wright, Jill Burkhard
Co-Executive Producers: David C. Brown, Laurens Grant

Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series
Nava Mau, Baby Reindeer (Netflix)

Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series
Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer (Netflix)

Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series
Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer (Netflix)

Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
How to Die Alone (Hulu)
Ensemble Cast: Melissa DuPrey, Jaylee Hamidi, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Arkie Kandola, Elle Lorraine, Michelle McLeod, who our reporter: Katy Ewalt interviewed on the red carpet, Chris “CP” Powell, Conrad Ricamora, Natasha Rothwell, Jocko Sims.

2025 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS BY DISTRIBUTOR:

DISTRIBUTOR	WINS	#
A24	I Saw the TV Glow, Producers Award	1
Amazon MGM Studios / MGM+	Nickel Boys, Best Cinematography My Old Ass, Best Breakthrough Performance Hollywood Black, Best New Non-scripted or Documentary Series	3
Focus Features	Dìdi, Best First Feature Dìdi, Best First Screenplay	2
FX	Shōgun, Best New Scripted Series	1
Hulu	How to Die Alone, Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series	1
Juno Films	Girls Will Be Girls, John Cassavetes Award	1
NEON	Anora, Best Director Anora, Best Lead Performance Anora, Best Feature	3
Netflix	Baby Reindeer, Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series Baby Reindeer, Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series Baby Reindeer, Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series His Three Daughters, Robert Altman Award	4
No Distributor	A Photographic Memory, Truer Than Fiction Award Familiar Touch, Someone to Watch Award No Other Land, Best Documentary	3
Paramount Pictures	September 5, Best Editing	1
Searchlight Pictures	A Real Pain, Best Screenplay A Real Pain, Best Supporting Performance	2
Sideshow and Janus Films	Flow, Best International	1

Film Independent, the nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering independence and inclusivity in visual storytelling, handed out top honors today at the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Hosted for the second year in a row by acclaimed comedian Aidy Bryant, the awards ceremony was broadcast live on IMDb’s and Film Independent’s YouTube channels. The Spirit Awards are Film Independent’s largest annual celebration, making year-round programming for filmmakers and film loving audiences possible while amplifying the voices of independent storytellers and celebrating their diversity, originality and uniqueness of vision.

Film Independent Spirit Awards are supported by Premier Sponsor Lavazza Coffee, Principal Sponsor IMDbPro and Official Partners Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, FIJI Water and Miraval. Easterseals Disability Services is the accessibility partner. Hotel Casa del Mar and The Georgian are the Official Hotels. Pentagram is the Visual Branding Partner. Getty Images is the Official Photographer. Vision Media is the exclusive screening partner. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Caffeine Post, Cast & Crew, eTech Rentals, Illuminar and Town and Country Event Rentals are Official Providers.

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