A two-day virtual event to help filmmakers demystify distribution.
Note: All panels that are currently only available with auto-generated captions will be updated to open captioning as they are completed.
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THU, MAY 2, 2024 • 9am PT
Keynote:
Now What? Navigating the Waters of Distribution as the Tides Change
15 min.
Marketing Strategist / Distribution Consultant Mia Bruno of Fourth Act Film starts us off with her take on the Distribution landscape and how we got here.
Mia Bruno
Marketing Strategist / Distribution Consultant
THU, MAY 2, 2024 • 9:15am PT
How To Prevent a Broken Heart in Distribution
30 min.
Unrealistic expectations can only compound one’s sense of failure within a distribution system that has been and continues to be broken. But staying with your film well into its distribution, assembling the right team to keep you on track, isolating the things that are in your control, and being nimble enough to pivot when things don’t go as planned are just some of the suggestions that feature writer/director and distribution consultant Liz Manashil will provide as she treads valiantly into rough terrain to give us all some much-needed insight—and perhaps even a glimmer of hope.
Liz Manashil
Distribution Consultant and Feature Filmmaker
THU, MAY 2, 2024 • 9:45am PT
Sales & VOD from an EU Perspective
30 min.
So, you have a hybrid distribution strategy going in North America and are looking towards International. Orly Ravid talks to two EU sales agents and a distribution consultant Wendy Bernfeld to discuss what’s possible for indies in the EU and beyond.
Orly Ravid
The Film Collaborative
Esther van Messel
First Hand Films
Tine Klint
LevelK
Wendy Bernfeld
RightsStuff BV
THU, MAY 2, 2024 • 10:30am PT
Accessibility & Distribution
60 min.
One of the best lines to come out of our preliminary discussions setting up this panel was, “If you don’t have Closed Captions and Audio Description, your film is not finished.” But even if one has those things in place, how can one make sure they are properly leveraged during film festival screenings and theatrical exhibitions? Can we get to a place where filmmakers whose projects revolve around accessibility or who they themselves have accessibility needs are not the only ones shouldering the burden of ensuring that venues provide more inclusive audience accommodation?
Day Al-Mohamed
FWD-Doc
Alison O’Daniel
Director, The Tuba Thieves
Reid Davenport
Director, I Didn’t See You There
Rodney Evans
Writer/Director/Producer, Vision Portraits
Mae Thornton Mehra
Producer, Being. Michelle
THU, MAY 2, 2024 • 11:45am PT
Case Studies:
Getting Butts 🇺🇸 (or Bums 🇬🇧) into Seats
75 min.
Filmmaker, author, and strategist Jon Reiss (8 Above) talks to director Signe Baumane and producer Sturgis Warner (My Love Affair with Marriage) and Sarah Mosses (Together Films) talks to Jeanie Finley (Your Fat Friend) about their respective—and very different—approaches to getting audiences to see their films in a theater.
Sarah Mosses
Together Films
Jeanie Finlay
Director, Your Fat Friend
Jon Reiss
8 Above
Signe Baumane
Director, My Love Affair With Marriage
Sturgis Warner
Producer, My Love Affair With Marriage
THU, MAY 2, 2024 • 2:00am PT
What is The Role Of Festival Distribution?
60 min.
Film festivals are generally the first steps in putting an indie film out into the world, and often the most pivotal. So why are they often seen as more associated with “marketing” than distribution, and how has this changed in recent years? Why do so many films that are hits on the film festival circuit struggle so mightily to secure buyers, and how can film festivals be used to fill in the gaps? Jeffrey Winter moderates a panel with TFC alums to discuss this…and more.
Trailers to these filmmakers’ films shown as part of the conference but can be viewed by clicking the hyperlink under their speaker photo.
Jeffrey Winter
The Film Collaborative
Sav Rodgers
Director, Chasing Chasing Amy
Daresha Kyi
Director/Producer, Mama Bears
Alex Lieberman
Beth Levison
Producer, Storm Lake, Women in Blue
FRI, MAY 3, 2024 • 9am PT
Reflections on Day 1
15 min.
A reflection of TFC Distribution Days - Day 1 and its most important takeaways.
Orly Ravid
The Film Collaborative
Liz Manashil
Marketing Strategist / Distribution Consultant
David Averbach
The Film Collaborative
FRI, MAY 3, 2024 • 9:15am PT
Real Talk with U.S.-based All Rights Distributors (with Q&A)
75 min.
Orly Ravid will ask distributors—such as Gravitas Ventures, AMC Networks Film Group, DeskPop Entertainment, Music Box Films, Magnolia Pictures, and Gravitas Ventures—what they are acquiring, what is working and possible these days in terms of distribution, and what type of films are getting streaming deals vs. simply TVOD (or AVOD).
Orly Ravid
The Film Collaborative
Bill Guentzler
Gravitas Ventures
Ryan Oeastreich
Music Box Films
Miranda Hill
Magnolia Pictures
Mat Levy
DeskPop Entertainment
Adam Koehler
AMC Networks Film Group
FRI, MAY 3, 2024 • 11:45am PT
Case Studies:
Making an Impact (with Q&A)
75 min.
Eliza Licht, Nyasha Laing, and Alice Quinlan of Red Owl Partners will present two Impact Case Studies with their respective directors and take your questions.
Eliza Licht
Red Owl Partners
Nyasha Laing
Red Owl Partners
Alice Quinlan
Red Owl Partners
Jamie Boyle
Director, Anonymous Sister
Hazel Gurland
Director, Storming Caesars Palace
FRI, MAY 3, 2024 • 2pm PT
This Does Not Constitute Legal Advice
30 min.
Orly Ravid, who, in addition to her duties at The Film Collaborative, is Associate Dean of the Biederman Entertainment & Media Law Institute at Southwestern Law School and runs the Entertainment and the Arts there, discusses what to watch out for before you sign a distribution ageement and takes your questions.
Orly Ravid
Southwestern Law School
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All “Meet the Educational Distributors” Interviews are Open Captioned without ASL Interpretation
Meet the Educational Distributors
The Cinema Guild
Peter Kelly, President
Meet the Educational Distributors
Califorina Newsreel
Rachel Poulain, Executive Director
Meet the Educational Distributors
Collective Eye Films
James-Michael Bower, Director of Operations
Meet the Educational Distributors
Journeyman Pictures
Emma Simpson, Head of Acquisitions and Development
Meet the Educational Distributors
Kanopy
Jason Tyrrell, General Manager
Meet the Educational Distributors
New Day Films
Myles Matsuno, Acquisitions Lead
Meet the Educational Distributors
ro*co films
Cristine Platt Dewey, Head of Educational Sales
Meet the Educational Distributors
Video Project
Michael Kuehnert, Director of Acquisitions
Meet the Educational Distributors
Women Make Movies
Kendra Hodgson, Managing Director
