TheBacklight
Maida LynnObservations of the independent film ecosystem from the vantage point of a career in the nonprofit sector
| Platform |  | Pricing | Only free issues | Publishes | Weekly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Issues | 6 | Founded | 4 months ago | Last Issue | 15 days ago |
| Active | |||||
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thebacklight.orgLatest Issues
Dispatch From the Future
A souvenir sticker from a student film festival at my alma mater
A few weeks ago an email hit my inbox with the subject: “Lick-Wilmerding Film Class Needs You!” I opened it because Lick-Wilmerding1 is my alma mater and the author of this l...
Thank You
The Golden Gate is pretty, sure, but this is what San Francisco looks like if you grew up there.
Hello from San Francisco.
Even though I’ve lived in LA for almost four years, SFFILM is my home festival. My family moved from Connecticut to...
Above The Line and Under the Radar
I’m celebrating Tax Day 2025 with an exploration of your favorite subject and mine: the charitable deduction. I’d understand if pouring through the IRS tax code isn’t exactly your favorite pastime, so I hope to provide a bit of a public ser...
Market Failure or Public Good?
Photo by Tommy Lau
In my previous post I offered a perhaps oversimplified formula illustrating the basic conditions responsible for the existence of the US Nonprofit Cinema Ecosystem. To repeat:
Late stage capitalism + minimal federal art...
Welcome to The Backlight!
Those of us making and watching movies in the United States do so in a unique economic context. I think there’s a strong case to be made that our version of capitalism inhabits the extreme edge of shareholder profit maximization, monopoliza...
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Authors
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Maida Lynn is the founder of Facet (https://facet.ltd/), board co-chair of The Roxie Theater, and fascinated by the nonprofit NonDē film world.
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