A new film festival is on its way to Southern California, and it’s arriving sooner than one would think.

IndieWire can exclusively announce the inaugural Ojai Documentary Film Festival will take place October 26-30 at the historic Ojai Playhouse. The new festival promises to bring together an eclectic lineup of acclaimed documentaries and series, in-person filmmaker conversations, special screenings and experiences designed to connect audiences directly with the artists behind the work.

The Ojai Documentary Film Festival stems from a continued collaboration between Hotel El Roblar owners Eric Goode and Jeremy McBride, who also happen to be the filmmakers behind Emmy-nominated docuseries “Tiger King” and “Chimp Crazy,” as well as recent HBO documentary “Monsters of God,” and David Berger, who recently acquired and relaunched the historic Ojai Playhouse, which has since become a frequent awards season destination.

The new annual event will be dedicated specifically to documentary storytelling, celebrating nonfiction in all its forms, spanning vérité, hybrid, experimental and the wholly unclassifiable, from contemporary releases to influential works of the past.

“The best documentaries introduce you to a world you didn’t know existed, and usually the truth turns out to be stranger than anything you could make up,” Eric Goode said in a statement. “Those films often are collaborative to make, and the people behind them rarely get to sit in a room with their audience. Ojai has always attracted eccentrics, artists and independent thinkers, and with David’s Playhouse and Hotel El Roblar working together, we can bring those filmmakers here and let people meet them up close.”

“An independent theater is only as strong as its programming and the community that shows up for it,” said David Berger. “When we restored the Playhouse, we wanted it to be a mix of past, present and future. There’s nothing like sitting in a dark room with your neighbors, sharing the same story at the same moment. That collective experience is why we brought this theater back, and when Eric and Jeremy came to us with this festival idea, it felt like exactly what the Playhouse was built for.”

“David brought back the collective experience of going to the movies in Ojai, and we wanted to build on it,” added Jeremy McBride. “The idea is to take the best documentary work of the year and share it in a thoughtful, experiential way. We believe event-driven programming is the future of cinema, extending each film beyond the screen, with food and drink and live music. We think of Hotel El Roblar and the Playhouse as one, so the night carries from dinner to the bar to your seat in the theater.”

Over five days, the festival seeks to offer audiences the opportunity to discover extraordinary films, meet filmmakers, and engage with the people shaping the documentary landscape today.

The inaugural festival will feature a wide-ranging slate of documentaries and series, including:

• “Musk” — Alex Gibney (HBO)

• “Everest: The Other Side” — Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin (National Geographic)

• “Once Upon a Time in Harlem” — William Greaves & David Greaves (Neon)

• “Jean-Michel” — Quinn Wilson (Netflix)

• “You Can See Everything” — Nathan Fielder & Lance Oppenheim (A24)

• “The History of Concrete” — John Wilson

• “Nuisance Bear” — Jack Weisman & Gaby Osio Vanden (MUBI), winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, with the filmmakers in person

• “The Bend in the River” — Robb Moss (Netflix), with Moss in conversation with Lauren Greenfield

• “Boatbuilders” — Luke Lorentzen, with the filmmakers in person

• The Best Summer” — Tamra Davis, with Davis in person

• “Soul Patrol” — JM Harper (Kino Lorber)

• “Barbara Forever” — Brydie O’Connor (Strand Releasing)

• “Remake” — Ross McElwee (Music Box)

• “The Story of Documentary Film,” Chapters 1–3 — Mark Cousins

The festival will also present a series of special revival screenings with the filmmakers, including “The Queen of Versailles” with Lauren Greenfield, followed by a signing of her new photography book, “The Queen of Versailles: An American Allegory”; “Punishment Park” with Joan Churchill; and “Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell,” introduced by Matt Wolf. Additional filmmakers and special guests will be announced.

“Arthur Russell didn’t follow the rules of genre or the conventional model of being an artist, and that’s the spirit of this wonderful festival. I can’t think of a better place to share his story with a new audience,” said Matt Wolf, director of “Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell,” as part of the festival announcement.

The Ojai Documentary Film Festival will also feature conversations exploring the creative, legal and financial realities of documentary filmmaking today. “See You in Court: Documentaries Under Fire,” moderated by Wade Gentz, Head of U.S. Litigation at Netflix, will bring together attorneys Michael C. Donaldson, Diana Palacios and Russell Smith to discuss defamation, fair use following Warhol, and recording without permission. “The New Financial Playbook,” moderated by Kim Masters, will feature Ted Hope in a conversation about how independent documentaries are financed, produced and sold today. Additional conversations and special guests will be announced.

The festival also plans to have a strong local and educational component, welcoming high school students from across the Ojai Valley to attend screenings and talks throughout the week. The initiative intends to give students the opportunity to experience documentary filmmaking firsthand and engage directly with working filmmakers and industry professionals.

Other collaborators on the festival include veteran documentary producer Emily Osborne and filmmaker and Show&Tell founder Keith Ochwat. Daytime and after-hours programming for festival guests will be announced in the coming weeks.

The full schedule and ticket information for the inaugural Ojai Documentary Film Festival is available on its website.

EXCLUSIVE: The highest grossing movie ever at the domestic box office, and the third highest grossing of all-time worldwide, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, is getting a re-release, we hear.

Sources are buzzing that the Destin Daniel Cretton directed, Tom Holland and Zendaya starring movie, will have extra footage that includes, but is not limited to, Rosario Dawson’s character Claire Temple.

Temple is a nurse who gives medical aid to vigilantes, and has appeared in the first and second season of Marvel TV’s Daredevil (2015-2016), Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, Luke Cage, and spinoff The Defenders. In interviews, Dawson has mentioned she shot a scene for Brand New Day, but it was cut. We also understand there will be more surprises as well in the extra footage.

This news comes in the wake of Disney posting some serious cash this past weekend with the re-release of the Russo Brothers’ Avengers: Endgame: Encore which minted $86M around the globe ($26M domestic) and moved its current lifetime cume to $2.885 billion, still the second highest grossing movie ever behind Avatar‘s $2.92B. And that reissue was a marketing stunt for Disney/Marvel Studio’s Avengers: Doomsday hitting theaters on Dec. 18.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is still playing in theaters in every corner of the world with the pic’s current global tally at $2.495B as of yesterday ($950.7M of that coming from North America). Natch, Brand New Day is also Sony’s highest grossing movie ever, having unseated 2021’s Spider–Man: No Way Home some weeks ago ($1.92B).

No word yet as to when the re-release will happen. Logic dictates that Sony would have some sort of access to premium large format screens during a quiet time at the box office. In the past, the Culver City lot re-released No Way Home over Labor Day weekend 2022 (which made $9.3M in its domestic run). Going way back during Labor Day weekend 2002, Sony did a double-feature re-release of Sam Raimi’s original Spider-Man from that summer with Men in Black II.

It’s a never-ending war between Marvel vs. Marvel as Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s chase of Avengers: Endgame isn’t over. The current gap worldwide for Brand New Day to overtake the latter is, wow, $389.7M.

This summer Holland and Zendaya also starred in Universal’s highest grossing movie ever, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey which currently counts $1.75B WW.

Right now, Spider-Man: Brand New Day weighs in with a running time of 2 hours and 25 minutes.

Avengers: Endgame‘s original cut was 3 hours and 1 minute, however, Encore included six minutes and 17 seconds of extra footage from Doomsday for those who purchased tickets in Disney’s certified PLF format, InfinityVision. Those who watched the pic on non-Imax/Infinity Vision screens only got a bonus of two minutes and six seconds.

Sony didn’t return request for comment.

Raúl Torquemada is a busy man. He is the director of the Madrid Film Office, the audiovisual office of Madrid’s City Council, which is working with local and global film, series and advertising productions that are shooting in the Spanish capital and featuring it in prominent roles.

For 2025, the Madrid municipal office disclosed that feature film shoots set a new record of 71, handily exceeding the previous high of 47 set in 2022.

From next week, Woody Allen is scheduled to shoot his latest movie in Madrid. Still untitled, the filmmaker is understood to have agreed that “Madrid” will be part of the title. Also among the conditions for the city’s financial backing of the project is that it must showcase Madrid via a certain percentage of exterior scenes in the film.

Film and series buffs have in recent years spent screen time with the Spanish capital thanks to such series as AMC‘s The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon and Netflix’s Money Heist and spinoff Berlin, with such recent productions as Netflix’s Safe Houses and HBO’s Carlota joining that illustrious company. Among the movies that the city has recently hosted have been 2026 festival circuit favorites, such as Florian Zeller’s Bunker, starring Penélope Cruz, Javier Bardem, Stephen Graham, Paul Dano and Patrick Schwarzenegger, La bola negra (The Black Ball), directed by Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, and Pedro Almodóvar’s Bitter Christmas.

Torquemada will be among the busy attendees of this week’s sixth edition of Iberseries & Platino Industria, which brings Spanish- and Portuguese-language content creators and executives from Europe, Latin America and the U.S. to Madrid.

THR caught up with the Madrid film commissioner by email to find out what is new and how Madrid continues to go from strength to strength.

Has Madrid further enhanced its appeal as a production hub over the past year or two with financial incentives or qualitative support programs, or how do you explain the city’s continued success in attracting film and TV productions?

It is not just an impression. Madrid hosted the filming of 71 films and 52 series in 2025, reflecting the strength of an industry built over many years. Its appeal combines outstanding creative and technical talent, experienced production companies, diverse locations and excellent international connectivity. The City Council supports this through close collaboration with the industry and practical assistance from Madrid Film Office, part of the Madrid City Council’s Tourism Area, helping productions find locations, connect with local professionals and navigate filming in the city.

Alongside Spain’s national tax incentives, the City Council’s grants for film production, promotion and distribution had provided nearly €15 million ($17 million) between 2021 and March 2026. This year, we also launched support for the development of series and miniseries. Our commitment is long-term as we want productions to choose Madrid with confidence, generating skilled jobs and opportunities for local businesses while bringing the city’s identity and cultural richness to audiences worldwide.

What do you think is the most overlooked reason for Madrid’s success in attracting film and TV shoots and companies? I feel everyone by now knows about the beauty of the city, its great food and its skilled crews…

Perhaps the most overlooked factor is the confidence Madrid gives producers. Beyond its locations and skilled crews, the city brings together the connections, accommodation, infrastructure and specialist services needed to organize a complex production. This makes Madrid a practical base for projects filming across Spain and gives companies strong foundations for establishing a lasting presence here. The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon is a very good example of that model.

That confidence also comes from having an experienced industry, a solid ecosystem, including VFX, animation, post-production, and virtual production and a city council committed to supporting it. Through Madrid Film Office, we help producers connect with local expertise and navigate the city. For a producer, knowing where to turn when a challenge arises can be decisive. For Madrid, those relationships help turn individual shoots into sustained investment, skilled employment and opportunities for local talent

What are some of the big films and series that have shot in Madrid in the past year?

Those titles are actually very good examples of the internationalization we are seeing. Florian Zeller’s Bunker, starring Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem alongside Stephen Graham and Paul Dano, filmed in Madrid and London and is a French-Spanish co-production involving Madrid-based MOD Producciones.

Safe Houses also filmed in Madrid in 2026: it is an Apple TV+ international espionage series, starring Ana de Armas and Jennifer Connelly, with a story that itself revolves around events in Madrid. And Carlota, the large-scale historical production from Sony Pictures Television for HBO Max, also filmed in Madrid and elsewhere in Spain, as well as Mexico and Colombia.

This year, Madrid is also receiving the filming of The Interrogator, a spy drama series for Fox, Love Affair, a Korean drama series for Netflix or the sci-fi show Murderbot for Apple TV+.

Those projects sit alongside the international productions we have been tracking over the last year or so, such as Day Drinker, directed by Marc Webb; The Beast, directed by Renny Harlin with Samuel L. Jackson; Ceniza en la boca, directed by Diego Luna; and further seasons of The Walking Dead: Daryl Dixon and Has Fallen.

And there is a very strong domestic slate too, including new works by Pedro Almodóvar, Los Javis and Rodrigo Sorogoyen, as well as series such as Berlín, Reina Roja and Anatomía de un instante.

What interests us is not simply the number of titles, but the range: Spanish projects, European and Ibero-American co-productions and increasingly ambitious U.S. and U.K. projects are all making use of the same Madrid ecosystem.

The word is out that Woody Allen’s new film will start shooting in Madrid next week and feature the city like a star. What can you share about how important a project that is for Madrid and its infrastructure and about the financial support the city and region provide for it? And is it true that Madrid will be in the film title under the contract with the city?

Woody Allen has a distinctive ability to make cities part of his cinematic legacy. New York, Paris or Rome have become integral to his stories, leaving images that stay with audiences long after the film ends. For Madrid, the opportunity lies in that lasting cultural presence, bringing the city’s character to international audiences while showcasing the talent and professional capacity of our audiovisual industry.

Filming is scheduled to begin on Oct. 5, with Madrid as its principal setting and much of the shoot taking place in locations in the city center. The project is a contemporary comedy produced by Wanda Visión, Gravier Productions Inc. and 3Six9 Studios, and the announced cast includes Alexi Wasser (Messy, Girls), Jemima Kirke (Girls, Sex Education), Peter Vives (El tiempo entre costuras, Velvet), Marton Csokas (El Señor de los Anillos, The Equalizer) and Jakob Oftebro (Kon-Tiki, Hamilton).

As already announced, the City Council is supporting the project through a €1.5 million ($1.7 million) institutional sponsorship aimed at promoting Madrid internationally and the announced plans include “Madrid” in the title. The regional government is also supporting the production; questions about its contribution are best addressed to them. Further creative and production details are for the filmmakers to share. Our focus is on the opportunity this represents for Madrid’s cultural profile and local creative economy.

Are there any key numbers that Madrid has hit in terms of TV and film productions in recent years?

The clearest record is film production. In 2025 alone, the city hosted at least 71 feature films, 52 series and more than 410 medium and large-scale commercials, while the Madrid Film Office provided more than 4,115 specialized assistance services, almost 7 percent more than the previous year. The 71 features are particularly significant because they comfortably surpass the 47 filmed in 2022, which had previously been our highest figure since the Madrid Film Office was established.

But perhaps the numbers I find most revealing are the economic ones. Our recent study with the Universidad Autónoma of Madrid estimates that feature films and series filmed in Madrid generated €1.54 billion ($1.75 billion) in economic output in the city between 2021 and 2024, supporting more than 10,100 full-time-equivalent jobs, generating €883.6 million ($1.0 billion) in gross value added and €367.3 million ($418 million) in tax revenues.

That gives us a much clearer picture of why filming matters and that the industry has a substantial multiplier effect across hospitality, transport, construction, professional services and many other parts of the city’s economy. This enables us to gradually build an increasingly detailed and comprehensive picture of the audiovisual sector’s contribution to the city and the region, incorporating data from the various studies we carry out as part of our strategic focus on the generation and analysis of quantitative data.

How important is Iberseries & Platino Industria for showcasing Madrid as a production and creative hub?

It has been enormously valuable because it allows Madrid to demonstrate something we consider fundamental to our positioning: we are not only a location or a production center, but also a meeting point between Europe and Ibero-America. Iberseries & Platino Industria brings platforms, broadcasters, producers, creators, distributors, buyers, financiers and talent together in Madrid, creating opportunities for co-production, financing and internationalization.

The fifth edition attracted more than 2,700 accredited professionals from 50 countries, half of them international, as well as over 1,500 companies and more than 180 buyers and commissioners from 30 countries.

For the Madrid Film Office, our support has been sustained from the beginning because the event fits perfectly with our wider strategy. We want Madrid to be the place where an Ibero-American creator can meet a European producer, where a Spanish company can find an international partner and where a global platform can discover talent, projects and production capacity. That positioning also connects with our support for initiatives such as ECAM Forum, the Platino Awards or the Film Academy Residencies, among other programs. In that sense, Iberseries & Platino Industria does more than showcase Madrid: by bringing international business and talent here every year, it actually helps build the ecosystem we are promoting.

Is there anything else you would like to highlight?

Our ambition is to ensure that growth in filming creates lasting value for Madrid. That means attracting international productions and co-productions while strengthening local companies and talent. In line with the decentralization strategy of the Madrid City Council’s Tourism Area, which oversees Madrid Film Office, we also want to spread filming activity more widely across Madrid’s 21 districts. Areas such as Usera, Villaverde, Carabanchel and Tetuán offer distinctive settings and new storytelling possibilities, helping extend the economic and cultural benefits of filming to more neighborhoods.

This growth must work for residents too. Our Best Practices Guide for Filming encourages positive coexistence between productions, residents and local businesses. Alongside this, we are developing screen tourism, promoting Madrid’s audiovisual heritage and connecting emerging talent with the industry. Better data will help us assess the sector’s impact and guide our work. Ultimately, we want productions to choose Madrid and companies, professionals and creators to find lasting reasons to stay, return and grow here.