[ICYMI] THB #471: Festivals & Their Future

Originally Published January 13, 2024

The conversation about the future of film festivals is not new, but it certainly accelerated during COVID and then, in the wake of COVID. Not only was there a year or years of a real impact on the form and function of these festivals, but there was also a lot of transition in the leadership of these organizations… torches being passed in the worst possible circumstances.

I started going to Sundance in 1989, before I was a journalist and before the festival got super hot. I started going to Telluride in 1997, my way paid for by TNT Roughcut, before the festival became a media stop for early Oscar season hype. And from there, that same year, I went to my first Toronto International Film Festival. I used to do about 50 - 70 days a year of film festivals… before I had a kid. I have consulted and sat on advisory boards and had the ear of various festival leaders.

I even ran a festival for a year - unfortunately, the February just after 9/11 - taking over for the founder of the festival wit…