SXSW explored the market and process of fiction podcasting as a new storytelling medium in its panel, Back on Script, yesterday afternoon. The panel included Benoni Tagoe from Issa Rae Productions, Mimi O’Donnell from Gimlet, Chris Littler of “36 Questions" and "Limetown," and Tiffany Square from Stitcher as moderator.
One of the things they brought up early was how to nail a pitch. “I think that whenever you’re pitching something, you always have to be able to prove why you’re the person who should be telling that story,” Tagoe said.
He said he looked for two things. Is it salacious enough? That’s the marketing component for podcasting, something tantalizing that will draw listeners, and is it intimate? Is it a world where you get to hear a person’s inner thoughts? This is the personal side that will keep listeners around.
For O'Donnell, uniqueness is key.
“I think a big question is how does it work for audio? For sure,” she said. “At Gimlet, I feel like we also have the opportunity to find stories that maybe someone else won’t take a chance on and risk. So I try to find things that people wouldn’t maybe have seen before or heard before.”
If it's a story that could happen in another medium, that's less attractive as a property, in her opinion.
"You want to be hungry when you go into the pitch room. You don’t want to be starving."
Littler added that a pitch should encourage a listener's curiosity. “It also asks good questions,” Littler said.
For example, is the idea exciting to you? If you pitch to a stranger, do they ask good questions, or are they disinterested? Another big issue is when your audience is only asking, "Why?" or maybe "What for?"
As a practical matter, Littler pointed out that podcasting is not usually an incredibly lucrative outlet, so he and others have to supplement their income with other jobs. He urged the audience to remember to take care of themselves.
"You want to be hungry when you go into the pitch room," he said. "You don’t want to be starving."
What are some of your favorite podcasts and do you think they would work for television too?
Here at No Film School, we love independent film, and we love seeing filmmakers get recognized for their hard work.
2024 was a really fun year for indies, with breakout hits like I Saw the TV Glow, which seemed to go viral on TikTok, and big horror like The Substance, which dominated conversations.
This morning, we were excited to see some other really cool works be nominated for the Spirit Awards.
Take a look at who's up for what award below!
The 2025 Indie Spirit Awards Nominations
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer)
Anora Producers: Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan
I Saw the TV Glow Producers: Ali Herting, Sam Intili, Dave McCary, Emma Stone, Sarah Winshall
Nickel Boys Producers: Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, David Levine
Sing Sing Producers: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Monique Walton
The Substance Producers: Tim Bevan, Coralie Fargeat, Eric Fellner
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)
Dìdi Director/Producer: Sean Wang Producers: Valerie Bush, Carlos López Estrada, Josh Peters
In the Summers Director: Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio Producers: Janek Ambros, Lynette Coll, Alexander Dinelaris, Cynthia Fernandez De La Cruz, Cristóbal Güell, Sergio Alberto Lira, Rob Quadrino, Jan Suter, Daniel Tantalean, Nando Vila, Slava Vladimirov, Stephanie Yankwitt
Janet Planet Director/Producer: Annie Baker Producers: Andrew Goldman, Dan Janvey, Derrick Tseng
The Piano Lesson Director: Malcolm Washington Producers: Todd Black, Denzel Washington
Problemista Director/Producer: Julio Torres Producers: Ali Herting, Dave McCary, Emma Stone
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000. (Award given to the writer, director, and producer)
Big Boys Writer/Director/Producer: Corey Sherman Producer: Allison Tate
Ghostlight Writer/Director: Kelly O’Sullivan Director/Producer: Alex Thompson Producers: Pierce Cravens, Ian Keiser, Chelsea Krant, Eddie Linker, Alex Wilson
Girls Will Be Girls Writer/Director/Producer: Shuchi Talati Producers: Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne
Jazzy
Writer/Director/Producer: Morrisa Maltz
Writer/Producer: Lainey Shangreaux Writers: Andrew Hajek, Vanara Taing Producers: Miranda Bailey, Tommy Heitkamp, John Way, Natalie Whalen, Elliott Whitton
The People’s Joker Writer/Director: Vera Drew Writer: Bri LeRose Producer: Joey Lyons
Olivier Bugge Coutté, Olivia Neergaard-Holm The Apprentice
Anne McCabe Nightbitch
Hansjörg Weissbrich September 5
Arielle Zakowski Dìdi
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Given to one film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast
His Three Daughters 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 DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
Gaucho Gaucho Directors/Producers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw Producers: Christos Konstantakopoulos, Cameron O’Reilly, Matthew Perniciaro
Hummingbirds Directors: Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía “Beba” Contreras Co-Directors/Producers: Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Diane Ng, Ana Rodriguez-Falco, Jillian Schlesinger Producers: Leslie Benavides, Rivkah Beth Medow
No Other Land Directors/Producers: Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor Producers: Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning
Patrice: The Movie Director: Ted Passon Producers: Kyla Harris, Innbo Shim, Emily Spivack
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat Director: Johan Grimonprez Producers: Rémi Grellety, Daan Milius
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
All We Imagine as Light France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg Director: Payal Kapadia
Black Dog China Director: Guan Hu
Flow Latvia, France, Belgium Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Green Border Poland, France, Czech Republic, Belgium Director: Agnieszka Holland
Hard Truths United Kingdom Director: Mike Leigh
PRODUCERS AWARD
The Producers Award, now in its 28th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality independent films.
Alex Coco Sarah Winshall Zoë Worth
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 31st year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.
Nicholas Colia Director of Griffin in Summer
Sarah Friedland Director of Familiar Touch
Pham Thien An Director of Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 30th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.
Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie Directors of Sugarcane
Carla Gutiérrez Director of Frida
Rachel Elizabeth Seed Director of A Photographic Memory
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color Executive Producers: Idris Elba, Johanna Woolford Gibbon, Jamilla Dumbuya, Jos Cushing, Khaled Gad, Matt Robins, Chris Muckle, Sean David Johnson, Simon Raikes Co-Executive Producer: Annabel Hobley
Hollywood Black 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 Burkhart Co-Executive Producers: David C. Brown, Laurens Grant
Photographer Executive Producers: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Pagan Harleman, Betsy Forhan Co-Executive Producers: Anna Barnes, Brent Kunkle
Ren Faire Executive Producers: Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Eli Bush, Dani Bernfeld, Lance Oppenheim, David Gauvey Herbert, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez Co-Executive Producers: Abigail Rowe, Christian Vasquez, Max Allman
Social Studies Creator/Executive Producer: Lauren Greenfield Executive Producers: Wallis Annenberg, Regina K. Scully, Andrea van Beuren, Frank Evers, Caryn Capotosto
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)
Baby Reindeer Creator/Executive Producer: Richard Gadd Executive Producers: Wim De Greef, Petra Fried, Matt Jarvis, Ed Macdonald
Diarra From Detroit Creator/Executive Producer: Diarra Kilpatrick Executive Producers: Kenya Barris, Miles Orion Feldsott, Darren Goldberg Co-Executive Producers: Ester Lou, Mark Ganek
English Teacher Creator/Executive Producer: Brian Jordan Alvarez Executive Producers: Paul Simms, Jonathan Krisel, Dave King Co-Executive Producers: Kathryn Dean, Jake Bender, Zach Dunn
Fantasmas Creator/Executive Producer: Julio Torres Executive Producers: Emma Stone, Dave McCary, Olivia Gerke, Alex Bach, Daniel Powell Co-Executive Producer: Ali Herting
Shōgun Creators/Executive Producers: Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks Executive Producers: Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Luca, Michaela Clavell Co-Executive Producers: Shannon Goss, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Brian Jordan Alvarez English Teacher
Richard Gadd Baby Reindeer
Lily Gladstone Under the Bridge
Kathryn Hahn Agatha All Along
Cristin Milioti The Penguin
Julianne Moore Mary & George
Hiroyuki Sanada Shōgun
Anna Sawai Shōgun
Andrew Scott Ripley
Julio Torres Fantasmas
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Tadanobu Asano Shōgun
Enrico Colantoni English Teacher
Betty Gilpin Three Women
Chloe Guidry Under the Bridge
Moeka Hoshi Shōgun
Stephanie Koenig English Teacher
Patti LuPone Agatha All Along
Nava Mau Baby Reindeer
Ruth Negga Presumed Innocent
Brian Tee Expats
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES