SESSION GUide
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The audience is the center of our ecosystem, whether we are film festivals, movie theaters, or film distributors. The shifting moviegoer demographics post-pandemic coupled with years-long uncertainty in audience development puts our sector at a critical point: evolve and thrive, or maintain and dwindle. These sessions will first help us identify who our audience currently is using data and tools before exploring new audiences and how to reach them through partnerships, values-based programming, and inclusive outreach.
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Engaging your organization’s staff, board, volunteers, and audience in a culture of philanthropy is critical to financial sustainability but how do you get everyone to pay attention? Survival of our cinemas and festivals require a philanthropic investment - philanthropy makes possible every aspect of our organizations from salaries to stanchions. These sessions will highlight organizations using philanthropy to make bold moves, develop a shared understanding of non-profit identity and its complexities, and get at the heart of what we all need to practice: stewardship on an individual, institutional, and field-wide level.
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Your mission is the guiding light, but your people are the power source. Addressing the longstanding challenges in the non-profit and film sectors is overdue, and organizations must be prepared to develop new tools and skills to retain their existing staff and volunteers, while simultaneously building the pipeline for future talent. These sessions will start with identifying our collective values before advancing to acknowledging problems and solution-building through collaboration.
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Whether it’s a global pandemic or the loss of a major local donor, our organizations need to better prepare for major change. While many of us survived the COVID-19 pandemic, many more did not. The future may be uncertain, but our field has always found a way to innovate and adapt. These sessions will lead us through field-wide issues like accessibility and inclusion, leveraging new technologies, addressing succession planning and institutional knowledge, and hybrid models like virtual festivals and cinemas; the goal is resiliency, but first we need to stabilize.
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Now more than ever, community partnerships and field-wide initiatives are critical to our shared success. Exhibitors, distributors, filmmakers, archives, critics, and more; we co-exist in the independent film ecosystem and we rely on each other in many different ways. We see the first step toward a bright future lies in rebuilding trust and reestablishing open lines of communication. These sessions will investigate and address ways we can work better together, identify successful collaborations within and outside of our field, and uplift our sector through collective action.
Monday June 24, 2024
Registration & Badge Pick-Up
1:00PM - 4:00PM | Agile Registration Hub, Gene Siskel Film Center
Movie Screening: TBA
6:00PM - 9:00PM | Music Box Theatre
Tuesday June 25, 2024
Registration & Badge Pick-Up
8:30AM - 4:00PM | Agile Registration Hub, Gene Siskel Film Center
Session TBA
8:45AM - 9:30AM | Theater #1, Gene Siskel Film Center
What is Belonging?
10:00AM - 10:30AM | 4th and 5th Floor Rooms, Chicago Cultural Center
#HumaneResources
Description forthcoming.
Repertory Revival
11:00AM - 11:45AM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
#AudienceDevelopment
Description forthcoming.
Implementing Values and Collective Power (pre-registration required)
11:00AM - 12:30PM | 4th Floor Meeting Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#HumaneResources
A4A’s (Alliance for Action) mission outlines how our gathering focuses on working, learning, and anchoring each other in considering and shifting the reality of how the intersections of people, power, and oppressive systems manifest in the film industry. For this interactive workshop-style session, we’d like to think through how we live those values out in an increasingly challenging and hostile industry to do so and what it looks like to be supported and have collective power in your organization, institution, etc. This session may not lead to concrete solutions, but we hope to provide a space for reflection, sharing, and collaboration!
Space in this session will be limited, and those interested in it will need to pre-register. Pre-registration responses will form the session. Communication regarding this process will come in late May/early June!
Building a Culture of Philanthropy
11:00am - 12:00PM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#Philanthropy
Description forthcoming.
Do You Know Who Your Audience Is? Think Again.
11:00AM - 12:00PM | 5th Floor Garland Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#AudienceDevelopment
Unlock the secrets of audience research and persona development in this panel session dedicated to understanding and engaging your audience on a deeper level! In today’s rapidly evolving landscape, connecting with your audience is more crucial than ever, not only for marketing but also programming and community partnerships. Join us for an insightful discussion led by industry experts on the art and science of audience research and persona development. Whether you’re looking to attract new audiences, retain loyal patrons, or enhance the overall audience experience, this panel offers invaluable guidance to help you tailor your efforts and achieve greater success.
Lunch
11:00AM - 2:00PM | Gene Siskel Film Center
Get to know your fellow attendees over lunch! Pick up your boxed lunch and head to the park, grab a seat in the Siskel Lobby, or head back to the Cultural Center for your next session.
Focus, Please! A Collegial Introduction to Projection
12:15PM - 1:45PM | 5th Floor Washington Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#AudienceDevelopment
As a programmer, you spend hours sourcing prints and negotiating with archives. As a development manager, you write grants emphasizing your institution’s unique technical capacities. As a marketer, you tout your cinema’s commitment to 70mm on social media. But you’ve never spent much time in the booth, you aren’t really mechanically inclined, and (shhh) you can’t really tell the difference between film and digital on screen. This crash course in the wonders of film projection will teach you how to understand and appreciate what goes on in the booth, how to communicate with tech colleagues, and yes, how to see.
Metrics That Matter
1:00PM - 2:00PM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
#AudienceDevelopment #Resiliency
Description forthcoming.
Session TBA
1:00PM - 1:45PM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
Big Bold Campaigns
1:00PM - 1:45PM | 5th Floor Garland Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#Philanthropy
Description forthcoming.
Cultivating Community Thru Shared Ritual
2:15PM - 3:00PM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
#Ecosystem
Moderated by Andrew Sherburne, FilmScene
Cinema is a communal art form. We all know the shared emotions of watching a movie with a crowd heighten our experience. But what about the shared rituals before and after the film? How can your cinema create moviegoing traditions that foster connection, strengthen audience relationships to your curatorial choices, and make a trip to the theater as much about community as cinema. Whether it be shared meals, collecting stickers, or preshow entertainment, we can build a sense of belonging through shared rituals. In this session, we examine success stories of authentic community building around regular series programming, and examine aligning marketing, programming, concessions and events teams to deliver a consistently engaging experience.
Complete the Story
2:15PM - 3:30PM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#Resilency
Dr. Grishma Shah (Artist, Psychologist, DEIA Consultant) facilitates an interactive workshop that helps us to expand our DEIA mindset and attract more moviegoing audiences. Join us for the 75 minute session called, “Complete The Story”.
Not Clickbait: Making Social Content Work For You
2:15PM - 3:00PM | 5th Floor Washington Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#AudienceDevelopment
Social media is not a one-size-fits-all enterprise—content that works well for a Massachusetts theater may not get good engagement in Arizona. Experimentation with social media is critical to discovering how your audience engages. This panel will address types of content (e.g. in-house videos, giveaways), what has worked (and what hasn’t) from marketers in the field, and how to balance time/budget constraints. Session participants will come away with creative ideas for new ways to reach, and engage, your audience
Narrating and Building through Changing Times
2:15PM - 3:00PM | 5th Floor Garland Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#Resiliency
Whether it’s the loss of a major donor, or a wildly successful night or festival experimenting with a new model our organizations need to better prepare for major change. While many of us survived the pandemic, many more did not and building a series of best practices that meet where the field is at right now and build a platform to develop it moving forward is paramount. The future may be uncertain, but our field has always found a way to innovate and adapt. These sessions will lead us through field-wide issues like accessibility and inclusion, leveraging new technologies, addressing succession planning and institutional knowledge, and hybrid models like virtual festivals and cinemas; the goal is resiliency, but first we need to stabilize. The aim for this session will be to begin to discuss best practices in this facet of organizational leadership by looking both within the film world and for reaching to experts who work across the creative sectors we will develop a series of best practices.
Happy Hour
Presented by Eventive
3:30PM - 5:00PM | Music Box Theatre Lounge and Garden
Hop on the Brown Line and join us up at the Music Box Theatre for drinks in their beautiful lounge and garden.
Event TBA
5:00PM - 6:00PM | Music Box Theatre Historic Screen
Art House Tales
6:00PM - 7:00PM | Music Box Theatre Historic Screen
Charming, hilarious, and heartwarming stories from five cinemas and festivals, highlighting their past, present and future. Thank you to Renew Theaters for overseeing Art House Tales for many years and passing the torch this year to IND/EX.
Movie Screening: TBA
7:00PM - 9:00PM | Music Box Theatre Historic Screen
WEDNESday June 26,2024
Registration & Badge Pick-Up
8:30AM - 4:00PM | Agile Registration Hub, Gene Siskel Film Center
Affinity Groups: TBA
8:30AM - 9:30AM | Gene Siskel Film Center
Distributor Presentations
10:00AM - 11:00AM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
Calling all programmers: come for a peek at what distributors have coming soon to a theater near you.
Session TBA
10:00AM - 11:00AM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
Setting Seasonal Staff Up for Success
10:00AM - 11:00AM | 5th Floor Washington Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#HumaneResources
Learn more about setting up your seasonal staff for success! This panel will touch on onboarding and offboarding best practices, wrap reports, and seasonal employee engagement.
How to Build (And Engage) The Right Board for you!
10:00AM - 11:30AM | 5th Floor Garland Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#Resilency
Boards -- we all know we need them, but what exactly are they, and what are they expected to do? Unlock the secrets of successful board leadership with a workshop that will navigate essential topics like board composition, expectations, onboarding, delegation, and empowering your board with the right tools (that they’ll actually use!). Face challenges with finesse, celebrate those shining moments, learn from the full spectrum of board experiences, and turn your biggest cheerleaders into your army! #BoardGovernance101
Lunch
11:00AM - 2:00PM | Gene Siskel Film Center
Get to know your fellow attendees over lunch! Pick up your boxed lunch and head to the park, grab a seat in the Siskel Lobby, or head back to the Cultural Center for your next session.
What is queer cinema? A community conversation
11:30AM - 12:15PM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
#AudienceDevelopment
An opportunity for queer-identified exhibitors and distributors to have a facilitated conversation with the wider ally community around defining queer cinema and visioning ways to support its distribution and exhibition. We will collectively discuss strategies for authentic programming, audience building and serving our communities.
Everybody Loves a Joiner: Membership Benefits for Nonprofits
11:30AM - 12:15PM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#Philanthropy
For cinemas and film festivals alike, getting people through the door is often a challenge in and of itself—and a membership ask on top of that can seem daunting. But membership cultivation doesn’t have to feel like such an uphill battle. Join this session of development and marketing professionals to learn how to build or revamp a membership program that is mutually beneficial for both your organization and your patrons. By looking at creative ideas for member benefits (as well as outdated benefit structures that no longer work), examining successful membership drives and promotional materials, and hearing testimonials from experienced theater and festival staff, you’ll come away with a better understanding of how membership can be a fruitful way to engage new patrons, keep audiences returning, and even turn members into donors.
Implementing Accessibility at NOFF: A Case Study
11:30AM - 12:15PM | 5th Floor Washington Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#HumaneResources
Like many festivals, New Orleans Film Festival has decided to invest in accessibility but where does one start? Session participants will engage in a recent Case Study focusing on NOFF's decision to require captions and reveal how the team created organizational buy-in and built the structures necessary to improve accessibility at their 2023 festival and beyond, followed by an audience-led Q&A on how to get started at your own organization.
Participatory Budgeting
12:15PM - 1:00PM | 5th Floor Garland Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#Philanthropy
Join us for a workshop on participatory budgeting. In this session we will share our experiences, learnings, steps and considerations for creating an organizational budget that prioritizes equity and agency for the entire team, while supporting organizational accountability and transparency. Attendees will leave with an understanding of the benefits and the processes for collaborative budgeting.
Session TBA
12:30PM - 1:15PM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
From Festival to Cinema
12:45PM - 1:30PM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#Resilency
Moderated by Alan LaFave, Hell’s Half Mile
So you run a film festival and you’re thinking about creating your own microcinema or buying an existing theater? What do you need to know to get started? What resources and financing is available? And which model works best for your organization and community? Whether you are a festival, film series, or a theater-passionate person, this panel will tackle some of the thornier questions towards taking the next step: a bricks-and-mortar cinema space.
Meet the Distributors
1:00PM - 3:30PM | G.A.R. Hall and Rotunda, Chicago Cultural Center
Hey programmers and bookers, all your favorites in one room! Stop by to check in with your theatrical reps and take some time getting to know new folks. Discover what titles are available and what plans distributors have for the upcoming year.
Safety First!
1:00PM - 1:45PM | 5th Floor Washington Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#HumaneResources
Safety plans should be comprehensive, but it’s often confusing knowing where to start or what falls under a safety plan. This session will walk through various frameworks of developing a safety plan for your organization or cinema, so you can identify the gaps in your own and leave with a plan for improving the plan, and the safety of your organization.
A Fair Shot: Strategies for Reducing Hiring Bias
1:45PM - 2:45PM | 5th Floor Garland Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#HumaneResources
Do you google job candidates as part of your search? What about scanning their social media accounts? While it’s not illegal, what you do with the information you discover may be. Recalibrating hiring processes to better align with inclusive recruitment practices is not only beneficial to attracting and finding the right talent, it can also help ensure all applicants get a fair shot. Through real-world examples, session participants will learn thoughtful strategies to consider when designing their next search plan.
Session TBA
2:00PM - 2:45PM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
Filmmaker Education: The Value of Developing Filmmaking Talent
2:15PM - 3:00PM | 5th Floor Washington Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#AudienceDevelopment
Developing emerging filmmaker talent is unique to the independent film sector - it is through our resources, knowledge, and support that many filmmakers can realize their fullest artistic abilities. And our screens and audiences are the beneficiaries. Filmmaking and exhibition are mutually dependent, and yet making the leap to creating a lab for independent filmmakers young and old can seem a daunting task. This panel will share successful lab and development programs for filmmakers tethered to festivals and art houses, diving into their founding, tracking their growth, and exploring the funding and staffing necessary to make them happen.
Succession Planning: From ED to Office Manager
2:45PM - 4:00PM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#Resilency
The last thing to be documented but the first question someone new asks: “How do things work around here?” How do you plan for leaders to retire, or a shift in leadership? Are you developing in-house talent to assume leadership roles, or are you planning to hire someone with a brand new vision? And how do you set the new leadership up for success with the staff and board? Succession planning is critical for every role at your organization and the value lies in the institutional knowledge. After an overview from panelists, participants will break out to discuss their own succession plans and the framework for developing an org-wide plan.
BFFs: Programming and Tech
3:15PM - 4:00PM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
As an organization that offers a variety of programming (digital/35mm/16mm screenings; hosting guests for lectures/keynotes/conference; producing live music events; synchronous virtual in-theater conversations, etc.] IU Cinema has spent considerable time building a knowledge base between our programming and tech staff that articulates the impacts programming has on technical processes and vice versa. This has allowed for streamlined operations and increased efficiency by creating a holistic understanding of the complete process of program production. Acknowledging that efficient operational knowledge between tech and programming staff can be lacking, the session will share the processes we’ve developed as one potential model to develop knowledge bridges between different departments and production functions.
Wednesday Evening Events supported by Filmbot
Happy Hour
Presented by Filmbot
3:30PM - 4:30PM | Gene Siskel Film Center
Pop over to the Gene Siskel Film Center lobby for a drink and a chat, unpacking all you’ve learned so far.
Trailer Wars
Presented by Filmbot
4:30PM - 6:00PM | Gene Siskel Film Center
A long-standing favorite, Trailer Wars is a battle-of-the-bands style competition to determine the best trailers of the art house and film festival world. Only one contender will survive to call themselves “Champion,” as determined by the audience.
Dinner Break - On Your Own
6:00PM - 8:00PM
Explore the city with your colleagues and new friends. Whether it’s deep dish pizza or Alinea, Chicago brings its A-game to dinner. After dinner, head to trivia or check out the fireworks and live music in Millennium Park across from the Cultural Center.
Film Trivia
Presented by MUBI
8:00PM - 10:00PM | Joe’s on Weed Street
Billed as the ‘hardest trivia to beat’ with rousing reviews such as “I had absolutely no idea” and “who even is that person?”, the Film Trivia event of the season is back. Whether you are a walking film encyclopedia or you just want to hang out with your pals, we promise you a great time with cool prizes and a trivia night you won’t forget.
THURSday June 27,2024
Registration & Badge Pick-Up
8:30AM - 4:00PM | Agile Registration Hub, Gene Siskel Film Center
Affinity Groups: TBA
8:30AM - 9:30AM | Gene Siskel Film Center
Meet the Vendors
10:00AM - 1:00PM | G.A.R. Hall and Rotunda, Chicago Cultural Center
Looking for a new ticketing platform? Planning a renovation of your cinema? Or looking for new solutions in the back office? Find it all at our Meet the Vendors event. Stop by to check in with all our vendors and learn about the latest technologies, software, and solutions for your cinema and festival needs.
Nurturing The Next Generation of Audiences
10:00AM - 11:15AM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#AudienceDevelopment
First, hear from a roundtable spotlighting programs which serve young people (and families) of a range of ages in and out of school time settings taking different approaches and working in different org and community contexts. We’ll then take those provocations into breakouts to germinate ideas for how to nurture next generations of viewers and makers at your home org.
How to Make People Do What You Want
10:00AM - 11:00AM | 5th Floor Garland Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#Philanthropy
Led by Rene Bouchard, Cinema Arts Centre
Creating behaviors is a key skill for fundraisers and organizational leaders. How do we inspire those we serve (members, donors, patrons, staff, and other stakeholders) to take action? How do we bring the best out of the people around us? How do we support engagement in activities that advance our organizational goals? How do we get people to do what we want? This workshop will explore the fundamental principles that create buy-in, build trust, and inspire the desired actions that drive our success, and will include skill-building exercises and discussion.
Session TBA
10:15AM - 11:15AM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
Lunch
11:00AM - 2:00PM | Gene Siskel Film Center
Get to know your fellow attendees over lunch! Pick up your boxed lunch and head to the park, grab a seat in the Siskel Lobby, or head back to the Cultural Center for your next session.
Session TBA
12:00PM - 12:30PM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
No Platters Need Apply: Archival Prints in 2024
12:00PM - 12:45PM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#AudienceDevelopment
When 35mm prints were plentiful, exhibitors could program familiar classics and deep cuts with ease, especially if they knew the magic words, "We have a dual-projector archival booth with change-over." Today, the old triple-tier platter systems have (mostly) been junked, but merely running change-over is not always sufficient to secure access to prints from studio vaults and archives. This roundtable aims to bridge the gap between programmers and projectionists on the one hand and the archivists and asset managers on the other, demystifying the calculations that determine access in a world where prints cannot always be readily replaced.
Session TBA
12:00PM - 12:45PM | 5th Floor Washington Room, Chicago Cultural Center
Session TBA
12:45PM - 2:00PM | 5th Floor Garland Room, Chicago Cultural Center
Distributor Presentations
1:00PM - 2:15PM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
Calling all programmers: come for a peek at what distributors have coming soon to a theater near you.
Session TBA
1:00PM - 1:45PM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
Session TBA
1:00PM - 1:45PM | 5th Floor Washington Room, Chicago Cultural Center
Session TBA
2:00PM - 2:45PM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
Session TBA
2:15PM - 3:00PM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
Session TBA
2:30PM - 4:00PM | 5th Floor Washington & Garland Rooms, Chicago Cultural Center
Session TBA
2:45PM - 3:30PM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center
Session TBA
3:15PM - 4:00PM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
Dinner Break - On Your Own
4:00PM - 7:30PM
Explore the city with your colleagues and new friends. Whether it’s deep dish pizza or Alinea, Chicago brings its A-game to dinner.
Closing Night Party
Presented by Spotlight Cinema Networks
7:30PM - 10:00PM | Preston Bradley Hall, Chicago Cultural Center
Unwind with drinks and a ‘Taste of Chicago’ with light bites and desserts beneath the stunning Tiffany Glass Dome of the Preston Bradley.
Friday June 28,2024
Registration & Badge Pick-Up
8:30AM - 1:00PM | Agile Registration Hub, Gene Siskel Film Center
Affinity Groups: TBA
8:30AM - 9:30AM | Gene Siskel Film Center
Hosting Difficult Conversations in Your Cinema
10:00AM - 11:15AM | 5th Floor Millennium Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#AudienceDevelopment
This session will begin with a case study of a screening of Erin Axelman & Sam Eilertsen’s documentary, Israelism. Originally scheduled at Emerson College 11/9/23, this event was the target of a nationwide campaign to shut down screenings, as well as internal pressure from the college. After months of casemaking by the programmer, the film finally screened on 2/1/24 to a full house plus an overflow screening off-site, with over 240 moviegoers. What could have been a polarizing conversation in another setting became the conversation we all hope to create in our cinemas: one of openness, but also one that challenged audience members, asking them to step outside their long held beliefs and engage with those who they might otherwise dismiss. The case study will dive into how that space was created, and offer insights for how it can be created in other exhibition spaces. After the presentation, session participants will break into small groups to discuss their own experiences holding space for difficult dialogue and brainstorm strategies to share with the wider exhibition community.
Session TBA
10:00AM - 10:45AM | 5th Floor Washington Room, Chicago Cultural Center
Future Proofing Your Organization
10:00AM - 11:15AM | 5th Floor Garland Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#Philanthropy
Nonprofit film leadership often means working hard on the day-to-day issues just to survive, but our responsibility is to ensure an organization thrives past our tenure. This panel addresses tools needed for long term stability, such as capital funds, endowments and investments, accurate replacement planning, succession planning, training and redundancy in team positions, and more.
Lunch
11:00AM - 1:00PM | Gene Siskel Film Center
Get to know your fellow attendees over lunch! Pick up your boxed lunch and head to the park, grab a seat in the Siskel Lobby, or head back to the Cultural Center for your next session.
Hosting Good Q&As
11:15AM - 12:00PM | 5th Floor Washington Room, Chicago Cultural Center
#AudienceDevelopment
Description forthcoming.
Working Groups
12:00PM - 1:00PM | 5th Floor Rooms, Chicago Cultural Center
Closing Conversation
Presented by Filmbot
1:15PM - 2:00PM | Claudia Cassidy Theater, Chicago Cultural Center