Thursday, April 8, 2010

8:30 am - Registration Opens

9:15 am - 9:30 am Opening Remarks by Conference Chair

9:30 am - 10:30 am Panel "What's Really Going on?"         

There has been a great deal of scrutiny on what some say are problems with the current festival model.  Take a step back to look at the big picture.  You spend all year with your nose to the grind and making your festival the best it can be, this is a great opportunity to hear from industry leaders and discuss where film festivals will be and what topics will be the most pressing over the next 5 years.  

Take an hour out of your year to focus on what festivals are doing right and make the good in your festival     

Moderator:  Javier Martín-Domínguez, Artistic Director, Seville European Film Festival

Despina Mouzaki, Director, Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Rutger Wolfson, Director, International Film Festival Rotterdam   
Mick Hannigan, Festival Director & CEO, Corona Cork Film Festival
Jørgen Ramskov, CEO, Copenhagen Film Festivals

10:30 am - 11:00 am Keynote Presentation "Fireside Chat"

Claudia Landsberger
Managing Director
Holland Film
Scott Roxborough
German Bureau Chief
The Hollywood Reporter

11:00 am - 11:30 am Introductions to Living Groups and Group Activity

Spend 15 minutes meeting with your conference ‘Living Group'.  Attendees will be grouped together so that starting on Day 1 you will have an opportunity to meet new contacts and maximize your conference experience.

The Living Group concept was developed at Harvard University to facilitate peer interaction. The living group is a powerful concept that brings together people of extraordinary cultural and professional diversity. With a small but diverse group of peers, you can test ideas, absorb new perspectives, and build lifetime bonds.  Upon meeting each member of your Living Group we encourage each delegate to briefly introduce themselves and describe why they are attending this year's summit along with some challenges your group is facing.

11:30 am - 12:00 pm Keynote Presentation

Laurent Marceau
Head of EuroSonic
European Broadcasting Union

Eurosonic is part of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which is the largest professional association of national broadcasters in the world (http://www.ebu.ch/).  The Union, whose headquarters are in Geneva, has 75 active members in 56 countries of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, and 43 associate members around the world.

EBU radio stations get access to music, via the Euroradio network that gives a perfect opportunity to promote artists through the broadcast of music events, hence offering a truly incredibly wide exposure to rock, pop, dance, and world music artists.

Eurosonic has developed joint ventures with artists and recording companies, as well as negotiating broadcasting rights for major events, such as Roskilde, Transmusicales de Rennes, Benicassim, Paléo, Montreux and many others.  Eurosonic broadcasts more than 400 music offers a year.

The EBU/Eurosonic is arguably the world's largest concert arena...

12:00 pm- 2:00 pm Break for Lunch

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Panel "The Rubik's Cube of Programming"

Don't miss this session on the subtleties of festival programming.  It takes an experienced cinephile to program an outstanding festival but there are still many great films from which to choose.  Take this opportunity to discuss how to prioritize selections on premiere status, release windows, distribution, media attention and more.

Moderator: Alex Fischer, Educator, Festival Organizer & Consultant, Bond University, Queensland Australia

Grainne Humphreys, Festival Director, Dublin International Film Festival
Kirill Razlogov, Program Director, Moscow International Film Festival
Andrea Galante, Director & Founder, Milano International Film Festival   

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Panel "Festival Funding Sources"

Wondering how you can draw more funding consistently throughout the year? Do you relay predominantly on public funding, sponsorship or grants?  Is your fest's bottom line hurting from the global recession? If you answered yes to any of these questions your festival can't afford to miss this panel.

Hear proven strategies to diversify your funding sources and get more money on a consistent basis from this panel of industry vets.

Moderator:  Lawrence Atkinson, CEO, Public Relations Ltd

Arnaud Pasquali, Head of Media, Promotion MEDIA
William Fenton, Director, Sponsorship Consulting Limited  
Astrid Hallenstvedt, Sponsorship Manager, Stockholm International Film Festival
Tiina Lokk, Director, Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival

4:00 pm - 4:30 pm Afternoon Networking Break

4:30 pm - 5:45 pm The Unconference

An Unconference is a meeting where the participants drive the activity. There is no set agenda and no set presentations, but a discussion that people leave and join where they see fit. Don't miss this guided open forum to engage your colleagues and gain insight to the most pressing issues you and your festival are facing. This session will provide attendees an opportunity to both, ask questions and get answers on specific issues facing their music festival. Come prepared to engage one another and share pearls of wisdom that have been learned over the years.

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Have a Drink and Relax!

After a full day of presentations, interactive panel discussions and networking events take the edge off with a cocktail and toast an end to the first day of this year's summit.  The time has finally come to get out and explore Amsterdam, get drunk and divulge all your festival secrets!

8:00 pm- 9:30 pm Dinner with Strangers 

Dinner with Strangers is a unique program at this year's summit that will allow attendees a unique and fun opportunity to meet and dine with festival colleagues from all over the world.  Dinner will be at your own expense but we've negotiated a special rate at the host restaurant.

Friday, April 9, 2010

8:45 am Registration Opens

9:15 am - 9:30 am Opening Remarks by Conference Chair

9:30 am - 10:30 am Panel "United We Stand - why and when should festivals get together as a group?"

There are several examples of associations of festivals in Europe. These come up in regions where large spectrums of festivals have flourished that are all active players in the audiovisual sector. Each festival has its own approach, programming, or specifities, but they often have many interests and concerns in common. Getting together as one group of festivals represented by a clear entity can be instrumental as a lobbying force, but also for resource sharing, developing think tanks, networking, stirring debate and sometimes sharing a vision.

This panel will share inspiring examples of this in a context not unlike that of the objectives often set by festivals themselves. Especially when times are hard - How does the solidarity work? What do these clusters of festivals do? What are their goals and objectives? What image or ethics do they promote? How do they publicize festivals? How do they reach out to the audience? What kind of common programme do they establish? What kind of surveys do they conduct?

Moderator: Laurent Crouzeix, International Selection Committee, Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival & Market

Lucas Casanova, Producer, LesGaiCineMad & VP, FilmAd
Chris Williams, Festival Director, Animex International Festival of Animation and Computer Games
Marta Rodríguez Llado, Technical Secretary, CI & VI
Deborah Young, Director, Taormina Film Festival

10:30 am - 11:00 pm Keynote Presentation "Being a Festival Director: It's a Wonderful Life?"

Mick Hannigan
Festival Director & CEO
Cork Film Festival

The position of Festival Director can be a stressful and, at times, a lonely one. Heading up a film festival brings with it a complex range of demands from a unique range of stakeholders - funding bodies, sponsors, Board , press, public. In straightened circumstances the expectations of those stakeholders doesn't lessen though resources and support can be reduced. What is the answer? What steps can Festival Directors take to maintain their moral as well as their effectiveness?

11:00 am - 11:30 am Morning Networking Break

11:30 am - 12:00 pm Keynote Presentation

Katrina Larkin
Creative Director
The Big Chill

12:00 pm - 2:00 pm Break for Lunch

2:00 pm - 3:00 pm Panel "Industry Meetings & Professional Development at Festivals"

Festivals are more and more invested in helping in the filmmaking process. Festivals of all sizes, from the largest established marketplaces to more intimate events, all try to create a favourable environment to launch the next great indie film.

Hear from some landmark pro events happening at film festivals. Learn how to best manage an industry meeting and educate filmmakers. What specific skills are required? What formats have proven efficient? What are the new trends? How is the matchmaking done? What are the extra special ingredients that help building a successful pro event?

Moderator:Laurent Crouzeix, International Selection Committee, Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival

Adriek van Nieuwenhuyzen, Head of Industry Office, IDFA
Angeliki Vergou, Coordinator, Crossroads, Thessaloniki International Film Festival
Christian Dorsch, Managing Director, German Film Export Union
Katrine Kiilgaard, Head of Nordisk Panorama Industry, Filmkontakt Nord
Erich Schultz, Director, London Independent Film
Javier Martín-Domínguez, Artistic Director, Seville European Film Festival

3:00 pm - 3:30 pm Presentation "Conceptualizing Festival Operation"

Complex-interconnected-paradoxical: three accurate descriptions of festival operation. The ability to engineer an event capable of accommodating the different and often conflicting demands of filmmakers, sponsors, government funding bodies and distributors is a balancing act that challenges the diplomacy and creativity of festival organizers worldwide regardless of event size, scope or focus.

Conceptualizing Festival Operation is a presentation that examines the fundamental components of festival functionality. The goals of this approach are to simplify operation and develop an understanding of festivals as open systems. Through an open system paradigm festival organizers are able to systematically interpret and assess the operational longevity of their individual event; providing a basis in which organizers may make considered operational modifications and adjustments when encountering environmental conditions that have the potential to increase or disrupt resource importation.

This presentation is a must attend for festival organizers interesting in developing a more effective means of attracting external participants and gaining a competitive advantage over rival events. Additional topics covered include the identification of operational strategies characteristic of successful festivals and methods useful in reducing the detrimental impact ceremonial obligations have on operational efficiency.

Alex Fischer
Educator, Festival Organizer & Consultant
Bond University, Queensland Australia

3:30 pm - 3:45 pm Afternoon Networking Break

3:45 pm - 4:45 pm Panel "Media Trends & Digital Technology"

Wondering how to get your festival's films to a wider audience?  Some view the trend toward new media as a threat or rival to the festival industry. Effectively utilizing VOD, streaming media and other online tools can turn this potential foe into a profitable friend. Our panelists will take on the situation and share their own experience.

Moderator: Bruno Chatelin, COO, Filmfestivals.com

Gareth Jones, Executive Producer, Gareth Jones Media Services
Lars Henrik Gass, Director, International Oberhausen Short Film Festival
James Fabricant, Business Development & Strategy, MySpace.com
Aaron Koenig, Festival Director, Bitfilm Festival
Håkan Durmér, Project Manager, Hultsfred Festival
Jean François Michel, Secretary General, European Music Office
Karin Karlsson, Project Manager, Malmöfestivalen

4:45 pm Closing Remarks and Farewell

*Schedule subject to change.