By all appearances, after leaving one of the most mainstream universes on television, Carlson shifted gears dramatically by starring in a number of smaller, independent films. In 2018, directly following her "Blue Bloods" exit, the actor appeared in writer-director Patrick Wang's "A Bread Factory, Part One." The film was nominated for two different Independent Spirit Awards (via IMDb) and told the story of a beloved local art space that struggles to stay afloat after a celebrity couple moves to, and in-on, the surrounding community.
The following year, Carlson starred as bigwig music festival promotor Jerry Evans in Jared Barel's "The Incoherents." Written by Jeff Auer, the movie told the story of four middle-aged former bandmates who reunite to make one last go of leaving a lasting music legacy, and, like Carlson's last film, impressed a number of independent film critics. The movie either won or was nominated for best feature, best director, or best feature comedy across a variety of different cities' film festivals, and boasts an 80% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. By 2019, when Carlson appeared in writer/director Jason Wiles' also critically-lauded "Sunny Daze," it had become clear she knew how to pick a winning project on the independent film scene. This didn't mean, however, that Carlson was leaving television behind for good.
