Founded by longtime residents and movie veterans alike, Film Invasion Los Angeles looks to showcase the best undiscovered movies in the heart of Los Angeles.

As an indie festival in Los Angeles, FILA emphasizes the work of filmmakers from diverse backgrounds and communities. It is our philosophy to honor their work as filmmakers and not place these filmmakers in separate categories based on race, sexual orientation, or gender identification. We have been proud to honor films from every community as Official Selections and Prize Winners, honoring their work as filmmakers and not "Black filmmakers" or "LGBTQ filmmakers" or "Women filmmakers." At FILA, all of our filmmakers are filmmakers and we honor them equally.

REGARDING COVID-19
We plan to hold FILA 2020 rain or shine. Our theater is quite small, but we will decide exactly what to do based upon what is happening in early-June. We may be able to go about business as usual or we may have to hold screenings, record Q&A's, and present awards with only filmmakers in attendance. Whether our 2020 screenings include the public or not, there will be a FILA 2020 event.

TV Series + Podcast Interviews
Filmmakers who receive Grand Jury Prizes, as well as several Official Selections, receive interviews on the "Discover Indie Film" podcast with head programmer Jeff Howard. This allows filmmakers to talk about their work and their history more extensively than a festival Q&A allows. In 2019 the TV series "Discover Indie Film" premiered on Amazon Prime Video. This series is an anthology of short films selected from the filmmakers he has interviewed on the podcast.

FILA is proud to announce the Hollywood professionals who comprise our Board:

Mike Flanagan: Director (Oculus, Hush, Before I Wake, Ouija 2)
Jonathan Stern: Producer (Children's Hospital, Wet Hot American Summer: 10 Years Later)
Michael Lynn : Television Producer (True Hollywood Stories)
Jamie Ball : Television Executive (Disney Channel)
Zac Reeder : Entertainment Executive (Head of Domestic Distribution at Electric Entertainment)
Shannon Makhanian: Casting Director (The Brothers Bloom, Unknown, Mysterious Skin)
Dan Mirvish: Producer/Director (co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival)
Glen Reynolds: Producer/Manager (Conversations with Other Women, Night Train)

Awards & Prizes

SPONSOR PRiZES
Best Visual Effects - sponsored by aescripts + aeplugins (aescripts.com)
Best Science Fiction Film - sponsored by EntertainmentEarth (entertainmenteart.com)
Best Art Direction - sponsored by Art Dimensions (artdimensionsonline.com)

GRAND JURY PRIZES (chosen by selection jury)
Best Feature Film - Narrative
Best Feature Film - Documentary
Best Short Film – Drama
Best Short Film – Comedy
Best Short Film – Horror
Best Short Film – Documentary
Best Short Film - Experimental/Arthouse
Best Music Video
Best Director, Feature Film
Best Director, Short Film
Best Actress in a Lead Role
Best Actor in a Lead Role
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Best Performance by a Full Cast
Best Screenplay
Best Cinematography
Best Screenplay (Produced)
Best Screenplay (Unproduced)

AUDIENCE AWARDS (audience selections)
Audience Award, Feature Film
Audience Award, Short Film
Audience Award, Documentary Film

FILMMAKERS AWARDS (Jury of filmmakers from past festivals)
Outstanding Short Films
Outstanding Directors
Outstanding Screenplay
Outstanding Acting, Cast
Outstanding Acting, Individual
Outstanding Cinematography

PROGRAMMER'S PRIZE
(festival programmer's discretion)

Rules & Terms

Categories:

Feature Length Films (narrative & documentary): run time over 45 minutes in length

Short film (narrative & documentary): run time of 45 minutes or less.

Screenplay (Movie and/or TV): no page minimum or maximum, standard format and standard title page recommended.

Rules:

Film entries must be sent on DVD or via online digital submission of DVD quality or better.

Script entries must be uploaded as PDF or Final Draft files.

The director and/or producer of each project are welcome to be part of a Q&A session immediately following their screening. Cast are also welcome to participate.

Participants agree that their project and material related to their project may be used and/or published in the Film Invasion L.A. program, website and for promotional purposes related to Film Invasion L.A.

Copies of movies, scripts and promotional materials submitted to Film Invasion L.A. are not required to be returned to their owner.

If selected, all commercial/private property including all trademark/copyrighted materials shown or recorded on the project is the responsibility of the filmmaker. Film Invasion L.A. does not take responsibility for any infringement of copywritten materials.

The cost of delivery and pick-up of all materials is the responsibility of the filmmakers.

Rules are subject to change at any time without prior notice.
47 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Emily Kirk

    I had a really lovely time participating in this festival with our short, Happenstance.
    Beautiful, thoughtful films were screened and all of the virtual screenings and mixers were very personable and nice. I can only imagine how much better things would have been if the world wasn't all having to deal with a pandemic.
    Would strongly recommend this festival to filmmakers and artists. We appreciated our experience very much :)

    September 2020
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  • Jonathan Latona

    My experience with FILA was incredible!! They adapted very well due to the covid 19 pandemic to stream all their films, and even gave away awesome incentives to those who payed to watch the streams even though they were free. Jeff and his team were amazing and I was thrilled to screen my feature with their festival. Can’t wait to be there LIVE but for what it was worth, it was very exciting to be part of a festival where the support was enormous from all sides.

    August 2020
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  • Erik Ros

    Film Invasion Los Angeles has been one of my best festival experiences so far in the pre-festival communications. It was my first online festival, so I can't compare it to other online festivals. I would have loved to participate in the offline version had it not been canceled due to the s*** virus.

    July 2020
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  • Max Silver

    Film Invasion LA is a wonderful, boutique festival that's just over the hill from Hollywood, but couldn't be further from the superficial reputation of Hollywood itself. The festival's director, Jeff, is a wonderful leader who cares deeply about the films and filmmakers he invites to screen. He is a true fan of the art of film, and an ardent supporter of up-and-coming filmmakers. His passion and enthusiasm for the festival is contagious. I wish more festival directors were like Jeff! Definitely make this festival a stop on your screening run.

    July 2020
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  • Rosalie Alspach

    Film Invasion LA was an incredible experience. I was so impressed by the efforts of the director Jeff Howard, the organization, and communication. Official selections went out at the beginning of the pandemic when LA shut down and Jeff went to great lengths to convert the festival to being online so we could still get the most out of it. We had multiple zoom mixers which were very organized and worked perfectly to meet and talk with the other filmmakers. Jeff recorded Q&As with everyone and attached it to the end of the film blocks to make up for the live Q&A we'd normally have in the theater. I felt like I got a lot out of this film festival and thoroughly enjoyed it!

    July 2020
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