RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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When I launched In Development in May 2025, Hollywood was starting to realize that the whole "Stay alive until '25!" thing might not work out. And with never-ending layoffs, dystopian mergers, and Hollywood as a production desert, '26 didn't lend itself to snappy one-liners. So, now what?
In a town that never admits its own ignorance, it was kind of nice to see people rally around the shared realization that they had no clue.
I didn't either, but it was a great time to start asking questions. My initial thesis was to probe what it now means to have a sustainable career in the film industry. I imagined extracting best practices, truths about the way Hollywood really works, etc. Related Stories Indie Film’s Next Money Doesn’t Want Your Passion Project IndieWire Names Brent Lang Editor-in-Chief, as Longtime Leader Dana Harris-Bridson Departs
Turned out, best practices and secret truths are useless when optimism comes from the willingness to reconsider everything.
What if success ties to the strength of the community you build? Why A24's deal with a 17-year-old Kane Parsons actually bought an ecosystem. Talking to Markiplier weeks before he released "Iron Lung." Hollywood cannot elbow its way into YouTube. (Dhar Mann's story about the friend who tried to prove otherwise still echoes in my head.) The standing ovation is not a distribution strategy. Brands want story . Investors want story . It was exciting, unnerving, and gave me a brand-new perspective on the world I'd covered for 30 years. Best of all were the conversations, DMs, emails, and LinkedIn connections. So many people were seeing and experiencing the same things, and I'd never have connected with them if not for In Development.
I joined IndieWire in December 2011 as its second editor-in-chief, when it was indie news, festival dispatches, and film criticism. Today I'm proud of how IndieWire's ethos remains even as its shape changed. We went bicoastal from my kitchen table, added TV coverage as the medium exploded, built awards coverage into a year-round beat, moved into video, and won lots of awards.
But what I'm proudest of is the team that wrote brilliant criticism and impactful journalism, who worked hard and stayed kind while doing it. Turns out everything lives downstream of culture you create. And I think IndieWire can take some credit for seeing indie film become part of a much larger cultural conversation. (Just saying.)
And now I'm leaving IndieWire because I see something forming that doesn't have a home yet — brands financing films, creators launching studios, producers building their own IP, capital chasing story more than content.
I'm creating the thing that covers it. It's called Flamingo and I'll be building it as part of the Beehiiv Media Collective . Much more to come on that. I'd love for you to be first to know more. Click here and I'll keep you posted .
So grateful to IndieWire and its team, and for leaving them in the excellent hands of Brent Lang. It's been a pleasure, and I am so damn excited to show you Flamingo. Signing off, but only for now — Dana Harris-Bridson
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