Film Festival Alliance

2020 Art House Convergence Schedule is LIVE!

Posted on: December 11, 2019

The full conference schedule is now live for the 2020 Art House Convergence, the largest annual gathering of art house cinema and festival professionals, community leaders, and service providers. Art House Convergence features  four days of panels, workshops, networking opportunities, and film screenings, with 55 sessions spread across 7 tracks.

2020 Film Festival Panels:

Bread & Butter: Festivals and Filmmakers
It’s time to end “us” vs. “them” mentality and foster a collaborative environment. What responsibilities do festivals owe filmmakers, and vice versa? Dive into the economics and ethics of this relationship including discussions about screening fees and programming transparency. We’ll also examine our power as micro-distributors, the value festivals can bring to filmmakers, and the value filmmakers bring to festivals. How can we effect change and achieve mutually beneficial outcomes for all?

Breaking Ground: From Festival to Cinema
Hear from film festival organizations who have taken the plunge into cinematic waters. What does a cinema look like? Should we do this, and if so why? Learn from festival panelists in various stages of starting or operating cinemas about budgeting, planning,  and earning buy-in from your staff, board and community. Then decide if this is the right option for you.

We the Tastemakers
Just because we aren’t a ‘Market’ Festival, or don’t have high-profile industry in attendance doesn’t mean we don’t matter. In fact, we may be the most important tastemaker in town! As part of the majority of festivals sustaining our industry, we can drive a dialogue where premiere status and red carpets aren’t of tantamount importance, but collaboration is. Let’s discuss how we fit in both our community and the larger ecosystem of film consumption.

The Other 360 Days A Year
Many festivals take place once a year… so how do festival organizers maintain their curation aesthetic for audiences and filmmakers, when their physical presence disappears for 11 months, and why is this so important? From finding people and touch points in our community for collaborations, to social media and non-traditional or abstract ideas, we’ll hear how festivals are uniquely maintaining their brand presence within their communities and securing buy-in for next year.

Exit/Enter: Effective Leadership Change
An organization can outlast its founder, and sometimes needs to. How can leadership change affect, develop or reinforce the values upon which an organization is built… or go terribly wrong? When is it time to evolve to enable growth? How do we shape leadership change and legacy planning, particularly when staff and board have an even faster turnover? We’ll give panelists and attendees permission to speak in rough draft about this potent, often emotional topic.