Hello  ✨ 

Weather is getting warmer and things are heating up for us here at TLL🔥🥵Our laptops have been burning up (JoBros joke if you didn’t catch that) and working overtime so we can bring you the best events, news, skill building and more in this edition.

• ⭐NEW INTERVIEW⭐⁠⁠⁠ Meet Dylan Mars Greenberg! Dylan is a queer, trans filmmaker, video artist, musician and performer from New York City. Multifaceted and almost entirely self-taught, she has been behind and in front of the camera since childhood, and makes music videos professionally. Her work has been featured in Vice, PAPER, the New York Times and more. Read our interview with her here!

• Losing a television series you love can feel crushing. You’re left as a fan with questions that will never get an answer! In this month’s “What We’re Watching,” read our team’s roundup of shows that ended just too soon. Which ones would you add to the list?

• Can’t get enough of the period piece trend? Daisy Leigh-Phippard dissected a scene from Sealskin, her graduation film inspired by Celtic selkie folklore, on the TLL YouTube channel! Sealskin won Best Student Drama at the Royal Television Society Awards 2020 (Southern Centre). See how Daisy brought fantasy and feminism together in her short!

• Sumayyah S was able to find her confidence after working a paid freelance gig she found via the Light Leaks. Watch her share her story!

• Vanesa M is one of our VERY first project spotlight features from back in 2017. Now, with her latest short, she’s crowdfunding to create the Lesbian cottage core grief piece of her dreams. Can you help her with her vision? Please share this link!

• Mentorship can be tricky to find, and even trickier to keep up. Learn how one rising filmmaker was able to create a strong bond with an artist she admired!

• Meet your next collaborator in our private Facebook group for our online community filled with 200+ filmmakers and creatives.

• As a volunteer team, Patreon helps us pay freelance writers, cover site and small business costs and plan for a future where we can be compensated for our work in this community. If you want to support TLL, check out our different membership tiers starting at $1 monthly 💞 

• Thinking about making a movie, show or web series? Learn the “Art of the Pitch” at our FREE DIGITAL TLL x Seed&Spark event this Monday, May 24, 2021 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM EDT. RSVP HERE!

• We have 6 buttons and 6 enamel pins left in our shop! Shop now, you’ll look cute AND all proceeds help us sustain TLL! 

• Want to join a writer’s group? Our friends at In the Cut are hosting a mixer to meet others for a writer’s group.

• The 2021 season of Philadelphia Latino Film Festival is back with NEW local and international films. Experience #PHLAFF2021 FREE and virtual from March 30 - June 6!

• The pandemic has impacted EVERYTHING, including the diversity landscape in Hollywood. UCLA’s College of Social Science has crunched the numbers why and how in the first part of their Hollywood Diversity Report, taking a look at the top 200 theatrical and all streaming film releases in 2020, ranked by global box office and total household ratings. Check out if your faves made the cut!

• “New Girl” actress Megan Fox is speaking out on how the film industry treats moms, and she says it’s unforgiving. "There is that thing in this industry of like, 'Are you giving up? Are you just a mom now?'" she said on the Kelly Clarkson Show.

• Shrill’s final season is streaming now😫💔. There’s a sense of mourning in the air. Seldom has the fat experience been shown on screen realistically for a mainstream audience. What happens next?

• Whether you spent your Mom’s Day being the Mom Friend, with your chosen fam, as a mom or with your mom, it's the perf opportunity to take some time to chill out and check out some movies about moms. Here’s a list of cinematic portrayals of mothers, and like our own relationships with our moms, they get complex.

• Pitches are now open! We’re looking for personal narratives, feminist analyses⁠ and genre pieces⁠. We only accept work from women and nonbinary creatives in (or aspiring to be!) in the film/tv industry, this is a paid opportunity!⁠

• Interested in reading more about screenwriting and production? We created this master list of free PDFs for download! Why? Education should be accessible, duh.

• Starting and completing a script can be so difficult. For this edition of "The Hustle," Alex H helps us out with her best tips for writing in your free time.

• Are you combining STEM and film? SFFILM will award fellowships to filmmakers in the screenwriting phase of developing a screenplay that tells a story related to science or technology! This includes a $35,000 cash grant and a two-month residency. Apply here! Final Deadline: Friday, May 14, 2021 at 5:00 pm (PST)

• And don’t forget that our creative opportunities Airtable is ALWAYS updated with new programs, fellowships, grants and more!

• Here at TLL, we value our community's needs and creative ideas. That's why we created The Light Leaks Feedback Form. Is there something you want to see more or less of from us? Submit your thoughts and let us know!

• Like what you see? Be sure to follow us on social for more highlights, more empowerment, and more education. Here's to spreading light! ✨