The Film Independent spirit Awards Pulls up anchors from the iconic Santa Monica beach which they have long called home. Just Two days after 2025 ceremonyA new report has announced that the Spirit Awards will no longer take place in their usual location by the sea. The move will start “as soon as next year”, as Deadline first reported. Indieview can confirm the move.
The change in place is due to the construction of new infrastructures to accommodate summer -Sos 2028, which will take place in Los Angeles. The deadline quoted that the bicycle part of the Olympic Games could be stationed on the beach where the prices of the Spirit are usually kept. The ceremony is looking for other arenas before planning a return to the Santa Monica beach when the 2028 Olympics have passed.
2025 Spirit Awards, which was hosted by Aidy Bryant, had big profits for “Anora.” The feature was already the most nominated film on Spirits with six nods; “Anora” won with the best feature, best director for Sean Baker and best lead performance for Mikey Madison. The Full Spirit Awards Winners List is here.
Writer/director Baker said during his Acceptance speech That movie Independent has been his “biggest supporter” throughout his career. The Spirit Awards annually honor the best in Indiefilm and TV in the past year.
“Indie film is currently fighting more than ever,” Baker said. “Gone are the days for DVD sales that enabled a greater risk of taking on challenging films. … Why am I talking about this today? Since I am an indie movie Lifer, and I know that there are other indie films in this room, those who do not see indie films as a phone card, those that do not make these movies to land a series or a studio film. Some of us want to make personal movies intended for theater emissions with topics that would never be green -lined by the big studios. We want complete artistic freedom and the freedom to throw that is right for the role, not who we are forced to throw considering box office value, or how many followers they have on social media. The system must be changed as this is simply unsustainable. “
Baker continued, “We create product that creates jobs and revenue for the entire industry. We should hardly get by. Creative that is involved in projects that extend over years must start to get higher – much higher – in advance fees, and again, because backend simply cannot trust anymore, we must demand it. If not, indie films will simply become call cards, and I know that is not what I registered for. So let’s demand what we are worth. I know that if you are in this room you have proven that you are worth it, so let’s no longer underestimate us. And we can work together, it can be filmmakers who work with agencies, work with financiers, film sales companies and distributors to make indie -film sustainable for creative and keep indie film alive. This is for all the Livers of Indie movies who are fighting for the good struggle. ”
Ryan Lattanzio contributed reporting.
