Here isthe agenda for the conference running December 7 - 9, 2014 in Austin Texas.
A few adjustments will be made.
Meanwhile you can ask for the Filmfestivals.com DISCOUNT CODE FOR A PREFERED 300€ RATE.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
11:00am – 12:00pm
Registration & Exhibit Floor Opens
12:00pm – 12:15pm
Orientation
12:30pm – 1:30pm
The Anatomy of A Festival
1:30pm – 2:30pm
It’s been a hard day’s night! 2014 Recap-State of the Industry
You spend all year preparing, executing & cleaning up after your festival. Lest you forgot to look up and see where the marketplace is heading, we’ve got you covered. Let us take the guess work out of the year as we review 2014 and hear our industry’s top experts provide the picks & pans of the year’s top trends. Even better? We’l’l take an inside look at what they forecast for 2015 as you begin to plan your event.
2:45pm – 4:00pm
Living Groups
Back by popular demand you’ll have the opportunity to meet with your conference ‘Living Group’. Attendees will be grouped together so that starting on day one you have the chance to meet new contacts and maximize your conference experience.
In addition to meeting your Living Group for the first time you will also take part in an interactive discussion and problem solving activity on some of the most pressing issues festivals are currently faced with.
4:00pm – 5:00pm
The Songs in the KEY (of Life) Note
As we program our festivals, we know that music, sound and soundtracks play a vital role in the feel and emotional tone of the films we select. It manipulates us, and our audiences, in ways we can’t even imagine. What films got it right? Think CRASH, The Illusionist, Silver Linings Playbook, August:Osage County and The Tillman Story. Who got it right? Our keynote, Richard Glasser, who music supervised CRASH & The Illusionist and produced film soundtrack albums for Silver Linings Playbook, August Osage County and The Tillman Story. Hear him tell us how he connects with music and musicians for films and why the paradigm is shifting in the world of film and music.
5:00pm – 7:00pm
Dedicated Solution Center Networking, Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres on the Exhibit Floor
Join us on the exhibit floor and you can enjoy a cocktail in a space just right for making connections and establishing new partnerships while you learn about the latest solutions for your event.
Monday December 8, 2014
Conference Chair:
8:30am
Opening Remarks, Registration & Exhibit Floor Opens
9:00am – 10:00am
Track 1
Technology:
Sell Out Your Festival with Big Data
Panelists will discuss how festivals can leverage the vast amount of data on concerts, bands, managers and other sources to maximize attendance. Learn the tools and strategies that festivals are using to leverage Big Data to drive ticket sales and marketing.
Panelist: Sean O’Connell, Director, Hangout Music Festival
9:00am – 10:00am
Track 2
Film
Sponsorship 101: Create a winning Deck
Stuck in a rut? Does your deck need a makeover? Learn from our panel how to brainstorm yours and create a buzz-worthy sponsorship package that excites your sponsors & maximizes your branding. Bring yours and we may highlight you! Let’s Brainstorm with our brain trust.
Moderator: Liana Bender, Development Director, California Film Institute
Panelist:Beau Blanchard, Development Manager, California Film Institute
10:15am – 11:00am
Centerpiece
Friends with benefits: A conversation with Actor-Directors that revel in the festival world
Join us as Christopher Lowell, wearer of many hats, gathers with other actor-writer-directors to discuss the specific trials & tribulations of acting, writing, & directing films and what it means to your festival. Special bonus track: Get a sneak peek at their latest projects.
11:00am – 11:30am
Mid-morning Coffee Break
11:30am – 12:30pm
Track 1
Technology
All roads lead to WiFi: How To Perform A ‘Technology Site Inspection’
Learn best practices to evaluate if a venue will work well with your event technologies. Hear which architectural and infrastructure features can support your events and which won’t. Learn how to find out if prospective venues are “tech friendly” and can help guarantee the execution of your Wifi—a great checklist for making sure the places you’re holding events can help or hurt bringing your digital+live festival to life.
Panelist: Chad Issaq, VP Partnerships & Business Development, Superfly Presents
11:30am – 12:30pm
Track 2
Film
The Greatest Show on Earth-Programming the Film Festival
Premieres, stars, competing festivals, submissions vs. curated, studio vs indie, audience vs auteur. Let’s get to the bottom of it all, if we can…
12:45pm – 1:30pm
Track 1
Technology
Are You Kicking Ass with Social Media or Is It Kicking Your Ass?
Everyone is obsessed with social media channels including Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. Attend this session and learn how to create a world-class social media experience at your festival including amplifying your live experience with social photo-activation. Understand how to measure social media ROI. Hear about tools and techniques festivals are using to build their audience and fan base.
12:45pm – 1:30pm
Track 2
Film
Marketing Your Film Festival
Banner ads, street teams, experiential marketing, word of mouth, traditional advertising, digital branding, social media, tweeting, FB liking, radio, tv, publicists…..exhausted yet? Can you measure what’s working or are you throwing it all up against the wall in hopes that something sticks? Let’s break down the tools and figure out how to optimize each one to benefit your organization.
12:45pm – 1:30pm
Track 3
Film
Film Festivals and Film Commissions
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Lunch
2:30pm – 3:30pm
Drill Downs
Prepare to ask questions as our Drill Down facilitators address industry topics on a more intimate level providing insight, advice and feedback to your questions you can’t get answered anywhere else!
Festival Careers
Festival Fundamentals–Starting a festival
Sponsorship
Marketing
Social Media
Ticketing
Programming
Budget & revenue streams
Celebrity Talent
Fundraising
Media
Filmmakers & Artists
Board Development & nonprofits
Distribution
Digital Strategies for festivals
Grant Writing
Strengthening online & year-round presence
Print Traffic, DCP, and other digital issues
Risk Management
Technology Solutions for Volunteer Management and Recruitment
Venues
Solving Projection Problems
3:30pm – 4:15pm
Track 1
Technology
Analyze, Synthesize, Measure: Measuring Digital Experiences
Festivals often have difficulty measuring the digital and experiential elements they build. Using case studies, you’ll learn how to collect data from digital+live programs, how to analyze the data collected (i.e. nice-to-have vs. must-have metrics) and how to use that information to inform decision making.
3:30pm – 4:15pm
Track 2
Film
Distribution-What A Tangled Web We Weave
The days of opening with a studio film, sandwiching a few mini-majors in, programming with a few Sundance hits & featuring local filmmakers is over. The studios are largely irrelevant, mini-majors highly selective & submissions largely a thankless task. All of that being said, there are still great films being made & distributed (they always show up at the Oscars & Spirit Awards), so the challenge is, where do we find them and how do we get to program them? And once picked up, how are distributors selecting the festivals that get to show them? And how do festivals get to participate in exhibiting great films without being a known name festival? Let’s hear from the big guns as we consider the state of cinema in the 2010’s.
Panelist: Alex Nohe, Partner, Circus Road Films
4:15pm – 5:00pm
Keynote Speaker
5:00pm – 7:00pm
Dedicated Solution Center Networking, Cocktails & Hors d’oeuvres on the Exhibit Floor
Join us on the exhibit floor and you can enjoy a cocktail in a space just right for making connections and establishing new partnerships while you learn about the latest solutions for your event.
Tuesday December 9, 2014
Conference Chair:
8:45am
Opening Remarks, Registration & Exhibit Floor Opens
9:00am – 10:00am
Track 1
Crossover Panel
I’m Every Woman- Women in Film and Music
We all know it can be lonely at the top, lonely at the bottom…and even in the middle. We’ll explore how women can support each other and bring unity, clarity & a complementary voice to the festival experience & workplace. In fact, our panel of experts have done it quite nicely, thank you. No grumbling allowed. And we play nice with boys too!
9:00am – 10:00am
Track 2
Film
Get Schooled- Education and The Festival
Festivals function in the educational sphere on a number of levels. The relationship between educational institutions & film festivals is symbiotic & serves two masters and many students… Learn from a case study festival how they harnessed the resources of a university and became the little festival that could.
Panelist:Christina Schultz, Executive Director, DOCUTAH
10:15am – 11:00am
Track 1
Technology
Finding the Right Balance Between Digital & Physical Festival Experiences
For user engagement, do digital tactics inspire more emotional connections to a brand than its physical counterpart? This session shares live comparisons of digital and physical experiences, exposes when and why a physical experience is better than digital—as well as how you can improve both to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts..
10:15am – 11:00am
Track 2
Film
Formats, Festivals & Financial Considerations, From Submissions to Screenings
11:0am – 11:30am
Trade Show Floor & Closing Coffee Break
11:30am – 12:30pm
Track 1
Technology
Sharing Events: How to get them Talkin’
With today’s events, it’s imperative to create “social chatter.” Yes, festivals must give audiences, bands and sponsors the ability to share content, but more importantly, you must create content they want to share. Get insights on what shareable content is, and what it’s not. Bonus! – get a rundown of tips for creating festival content and engagement everyone will be talking about.
Panelist: Kelli Richards, President & CEO, The All Access Group, LLC
11:30am – 12:30pm
Track 2
Film
Special Challenges of Large Film Festivals ($500k + budget)
How do festivals deal with the battle over premieres? What policies should be in place regarding protection from piracy of the film that balances the needs of the distributor vs. the audience? Should festivals function as a distributor? Does a simultaneous day and date hurt a filmmaker’ s chance with distributors?
There are a myriad of issues that larger festivals must contend with that include premiere status, piracy, distribution and simultaneous streaming during the festival. Let’s dig in and find some ways to solve them with our panel of experts.
11:30am – 12:30pm
Track 3
Film
Niche, Small and New Festival Track -We want more, more, more….
Where do we start? Show me the money is ground zero. Understanding your identity, budgeting, nonprofit vs for-profit status, community involvement, grants, local sponsorship & using local media & talent to grow your regional festival for pennies on the dollar will be the starter menu..
Panelist: Michael Fox, Executive Director, Mendocino Film Festival
12:30pm – 1:30pm
Lunch
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Track 1
Crossover Panel
Music & Film Festival Legal 101- The Firm
The three dreaded words from every festival organizers lips- Call our lawyer. Off the clock but on the ball, our team of lawyers have represented festivals large & small. They are here to walk you through the issues you should be thinking about (contracts, entity organization, Intellectual property, liability concerns to name a few) & answer your questions (without a meter running).
Moderator: Stephanie Furgang Panelist: Christiane Cargill Kinney, LeClairRyan Panelist: Tomy McDonald Panelist: Jonathan Blaufarb
1:30pm – 2:30pm
Track 2
Crossover Panel
Help!
Every festival relies on volunteers to manage their operations (Film or music). What are the pitfalls and benefits that each organization should examine before, during & after engaging volunteers. Use a professional company or recruit from within? With the law in a state of flux over the use of volunteers, our panel of experts will discuss the legal, operational and budgetary implications of each.
2:30pm – 3:30pm
Closing Keynote
4:00pm – 5:00pm
Closing Reception
Ask for the Filmfestivals.com DISCOUNT CODE FOR A PREFERED 300€ RATE.