THB #471: Festivals & Their Future

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…