TheFilm Independent Spirit Awards (Fi Spirit Awards), once known as theFINDIE orFriends of Independents Awards, and later as theIndependent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually toindependent filmmakers by Film Independent.[1][2] Founded in 1984 as the FINDIE Awards (Friends of Independents),[3][4] the event was renamed the Independent Spirit Awards in 1986. The ceremony is produced by Film Independent, anot-for-profit arts organization that used to produce theLA Film Festival. Film Independent members vote to determine the winners of the Spirit Awards.[5]
The awards show has been held in a tent on a beach inSanta Monica, California, historically on the Saturday before the Academy Awards.[6] In 2023, the ceremony was moved to the week before the Oscars, with the expectation that its winners could influence the final days of Oscar voting.[7] The show was previously broadcast live on theIFC network in the US until 2023, when it was moved toYouTube,[8] as well asHollywood Suite in Canada andA&E Latin America.[9] Winners were previously presented withacrylic glasspyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the bare budgets of independent films.[10]
In 2020, new categories were announced for the36th Independent Spirit Awards, which would honor the best in television productions and performances. These categories includedBest New Scripted Series, Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series, Best Male Performance,Best Female Performance, and Best Ensemble Cast.[11] In 2022, it was announced thatgender neutral acting categories would be implemented and that the previous gendered film categories —Male Lead,Female Lead,Male Supporting andFemale Supporting — would be retired in favor of a Best Lead Performance and a Best Supporting Performance categories, which would feature 10 nominees each. Other new categories added includedBest Breakthrough Performance and Best Lead and Supporting Performance in the TV section.[12]
As of 2024[update], films competing for Independent Spirit Awards must have budgets lower than $28 million, but no budget cap exists for television shows.[13]
In 2026, the show will take place on February 15, 2026, at the Palladium in Hollywood.
By 1981,[16]Gregory Nava andAnna Thomas and a small semi-informal group of directors–filmmakers, writers and producers began to regularly meet, share knowledge and support each other's projects, eventually calling themselves was soon known asIndependent Feature Project/West.[15][17][18] Robert "Bob" Rosen,[19] former Dean of theUCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, was one of the founding board members.[20]
In 1984 the FINDIE Awards (Friends of Independents) were conceived by Independent Features Project/West board member Jeanne Lucas[21] and Independent Features Project/West President Anne Kimmel[22] and director/writer Sam O'Brien was an event producer.[21] The awards are voted on by a nominating committee.
In 1985,Peter Coyote andJamie Lee Curtis presented winners with a Plexiglas pyramid designed by Carol Bosselman, which contain a suspended shoestring, printed with sprocket holes, representing the shoestring budgets of independent films. The Reel Gold Award, also designed by Bosselman, was given to Steve Wachtel for allowing Independent Features Project/West continuing free use of his screening room. It was associated withFilmex.[4] In 1986, Bosselman designed and sculpted the Independent Spirit Award statue that is still given out today, using a lost wax bronze casting method.
Dawn Hudson was director of Independent Features Project/West in 1995.[24]
Barbara Boyle was Independent Features Project/West president from 1994 to 1999.[25]
By 2001,Independent Features Project/West becameFilm Independent.[26] The name Film Independent was adopted in 2005.[27]
In the late summer, we open up for submissions. Individual filmmakers and studios and distributors send their films to us. We assemble nominating committees in the fall. They’re composed of many different people within the industry.[28]
At the 2025 Independent Spirit Awards, acting president Brenda Robinson delivered a heartfelt tribute to longtime Film Independent president Josh Welsh, honoring the "visionary" who died on New Year's Eve at the age of 62 after a five-year battle with colon cancer.[29] Welsh, who had served as president since 2012, was remembered for his immense contributions to the organization and the film community.[29]
Formerly held at a restaurant, and a hotel, and a ballroom, it is most recently held the day before theAcademy Awards as a luncheon event in a tented parking lot next to the ocean in Santa Monica.[30]
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