Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the LA Film Festival, announced the winners of its three Spirit Awards filmmaker grants at its annual Spirit Awards Nominee Brunch held at BOA Steakhouse in West Hollywood. Sterling K. Brown and Issa Rae co-hosted the event and handed out the honors.
“Discovering and supporting new filmmaking talent is at the heart of what we do all year long,” said Film Independent president Josh Welsh. “This year’s filmmaker grant recipients are remarkably talented and I look forward to seeing the work they go on to create in the years to come.”
Jordana Mollick received the Piaget Producers Award. The award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The annual award, in its 20th year, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget for the 10th year. Finalists for the award were Lisa Kjerulff and Melody C. Roscher & Craig Shilowich.
Anna Rose Holmer, director of The Fits, received the Kiehl’s Someone to Watch Award. The award recognizes talented filmmakers of singular vision who have not yet received appropriate recognition. The award is in its 23rd year and includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851. Finalists for the award were Andrew Ahn, director of Spa Night; Claire Carré, director of Embers; and Ingrid Jungermann, director of Women Who Kill.
Nanfu Wang, director of Hooligan Sparrow, received the Truer Than Fiction Award. The award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not received significant recognition. The award is in its 22nd year and includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant. Finalists for the award were Kristi Jacobson, director of Solitary, and Sara Jordenö, director of Kiki.
This year marks the 32nd edition of the awards show that celebrates the best of independent film. Nick Kroll and John Mulaney will co-host the show. Joel Gallen of Tenth Planet Productions returns for his third year as executive producer; producer Shawn Davis returns for his 15th show. Danielle Federico and Andrew Schaff will be co-producing the awards.
Winners for the remaining categories will be revealed at the 2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, February 25. The awards ceremony will be broadcast live exclusively on IFC at 2 pm PT/5 pm ET.
In addition to celebrating the broad spectrum of independent filmmaking, the Spirit Awards is also the primary fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round programs, which cultivate the careers of emerging filmmakers and promote diversity in the industry.
Ex-OpenAI engineer who raised legal concerns about the technology he helped build has died
Suchir Balaji, a former OpenAI engineer and whistleblower who helped train the artificial intelligence systems behind ChatGPT and later said he believed those practices violated copyright law, has died, according to his parents and San Francisco officials. He was 26.
Balaji worked at OpenAI for nearly four years before quitting in August. He was well-regarded by colleagues at the San Francisco company, where a co-founder this week called him one of OpenAI's strongest contributors who was essential to developing some of its products.
"We are devastated to learn of this incredibly sad news and our hearts go out to Suchir's loved ones during this difficult time," said a statement from OpenAI.
Balaji was found dead in his San Francisco apartment on Nov. 26 in what police said "appeared to be a suicide. No evidence of foul play was found during the initial investigation." The city's chief medical examiner's office confirmed the manner of death to be suicide.
His parents Poornima Ramarao and Balaji Ramamurthy said they are still seeking answers, describing their son as a "happy, smart and brave young man" who loved to hike and recently returned from a trip with friends.
Balaji grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and first arrived at the fledgling AI research lab for a 2018 summer internship while studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. He returned a few years later to work at OpenAI, where one of his first projects, called WebGPT, helped pave the way for ChatGPT.
"Suchir's contributions to this project were essential, and it wouldn't have succeeded without him," said OpenAI co-founder John Schulman in a social media post memorializing Balaji. Schulman, who recruited Balaji to his team, said what... Read More