Blogs

An (Informal) Exit Interview with our Executive Director Barbara Twist

By Gray Rodriguez posted 27 days ago
ICYMI: Film Festival Alliance is on the hunt for our next leader. We’re a strong organization with a dedicated membership, a supportive team, and a meaningful mission. As we look ahead, I chatted with our outgoing Executive Director, my colleague and friend Barbara Twist, to reflect on her time at FFA and discuss her hopes for our next era. You've been the Executive Director of Film Festival Alliance since 2022. What drew you to this role initially, especially coming from outside the film festival world? Exhibition is actually in my blood - my great-grandfather founded a chain of movie theaters in Michigan in the early 1900s. These weren't ...

Hiring: Executive Director of FFA

By Gray Rodriguez posted 10-30-2025
Film Festival Alliance (FFA) is seeking a visionary, collaborative, and strategic Executive Director to lead the organization into its next chapter of growth and impact. Scope and Summary The Executive Director serves as the strategic leader and public face of Film Festival Alliance (FFA), steering organizational direction through advocacy, field-building, and partnerships. The ED is responsible for advancing FFA's mission to serve film festivals and the people who run them by building a collaborative global community, advocating for a sustainable and inclusive independent exhibition ecosystem, and creating a powerful collective voice for the industry. ...

A Message from Film Festival Alliance

By FFA Admin posted 10-23-2025
Dear FFA Community, After six years with Film Festival Alliance, and four as Executive Director, I’ll be transitioning out of my role on January 9th, 2026. This has been a difficult decision to make as I am so grateful for, and proud of, the good work we’ve done together to move the film festival industry forward. Within a month of joining FFA in 2020, the pandemic kicked off, and we kicked into high-gear under the leadership of Lela Meadow-Conner, bringing the community together every week as we worked to understand the evolving world. After I became Executive Director in 2022, our work shifted to building a stronger foundation for festivals and ...

IND/EX RETURNS TO CHICAGO JUNE 22-25, 2026

By FFA Admin posted 09-18-2025
The Independent Film Exhibition Conference (IND/EX) will return to Chicago June 22-25, 2026, bringing together art house cinema and film festival professionals from around the country for four days of community education, networking, and industry advancement. The conference is a joint partnership between Art House Convergence (AHC) and Film Festival Alliance (FFA) and is dedicated to advancing the reach, impact, and sustainability of independent exhibitors and film festivals. Taking place in the Chicago Loop at venues including VenueSix10, Chicago Cultural Center, and other iconic Chicago locations, IND/EX 2026 will feature educational programs, skill-based ...

Building Fairer Futures for Film Festival Programmers (Guest Post)

By Justine Barda posted 04-07-2025
In June of last year, employees of Fantasia Fest, North America’s largest genre film festival, went on strike, seeking better pay and improved working condition In addition to securing substantial gains for the employees, the strike also drew attention to the situation facing many people who work at festivals. That situation, and the desire to bring attention to it, is why I’m excited to be working with the Film Festival Alliance on the Film Festival Workers Survey! While the study is designed to capture the experience of all kinds of festival workers, in this post I’m going to speak to my own experience as a film festival programmer. ...

Why the Festival Worker Employment & Compensation Study Matters — And Why We Need Your Voice

By Barbara Twist posted 01-21-2025
At Film Festival Alliance, we believe in the power of festivals to transform communities and create vibrant spaces for connection, culture, and creativity. Yet, behind every successful festival are the dedicated workers—programmers, marketers, operations staff, and countless others—whose contributions are critical to these cultural milestones. Unfortunately, there’s a significant gap in understanding the realities of working in the film festival industry. What are the prevailing wages? Are workers fairly compensated for the hours they put in? What benefits, if any, do they receive? These are fundamental questions that our Festival Worker Employment & ...

Film Festival Alliance adds New Board Members for 2025

By Gray Rodriguez posted 01-13-2025
Film Festival Alliance is pleased to announce the addition of six new board members for 2025. Get to know our new board members below, and check out our complete list of 2025 board members here. Meet the 2025 class: Ben Stilp, Sundance Institute Ben Stilp serves as Chief Financial Officer of the Sundance Institute , overseeing the $45M annual budget, $43M endowment, tax, audit, and treasury. Ben is a seasoned executive with 20 years of C-Suite experience overseeing all aspects of nonprofit organizations; finance and operations, board management, and strategic planning. Before Sundance, Ben served as the CFO/COO for the LA Cleantech Incubator, ...

Accessibility Office Hours: A New Benefit for FFA Members

By Gray Rodriguez posted 12-13-2024
Film Festival Alliance has launched the Accessibility Office Hours – a program designed to support our members in creating more accessible, welcoming film experiences for all audiences and filmmakers. Film festivals are more than just screening events. They're platforms for storytelling, connection, and cultural exchange. By prioritizing accessibility, we open doors to broader perspectives, diverse audiences, and more inclusive storytelling. We are proud to introduce Mikaela McParlan as our Accessibility Advisor. With over a decade of experience in film production and a proven track record of accessibility innovation at the Chicago International Film ...

Introducing: FFA’s Best Practices for Professional Film Festivals

By FFA Admin posted 10-31-2024
After years of development, Film Festival Alliance is releasing professional standards that represent a community-driven approach to improving film festivals. This project grew from conversations among board members, staff, festival organizers, and filmmakers. What started in zoom rooms and strategy sessions has become a framework for industry improvement. Leslie Raymond, Executive Director of Ann Arbor Film Festiva l and FFA Board Member, captures the heart of efforts: "As a former filmmaker, I understand how challenging it can be to know what happens after you submit a film to a festival. Our hope is that by sharing the details of their processes, ...

IND/EX returns in 2026

By Gray Rodriguez posted 10-21-2024
After much discussion, thoughtful attendee feedback, and stakeholder consideration, Art House Convergence (AHC) and Film Festival Alliance (FFA) are thrilled to announce the IND/EX conference will return in 2026. We had an incredible time convening with everyone in Chicago this past June and are excited to dive into planning for the next edition. For those looking to gather in-person in 2025, both AHC and FFA will be hosting in-person events throughout the year, starting with a joint event in Park City, UT at the Sundance Film Festival this January. Stay tuned to our newsletters and social media for announcements on dates, location, and ...

Nominations Now Open for 2025 Board of Directors

By Gray Rodriguez posted 10-17-2024
Nominations are now open for our 2025 Board of Directors Every year, we are excited to welcome a new group of Board members to serve on the Film Festival Alliance Board. The FFA Board members participate in, and advocate for, moving the organization forward, especially in this challenging time for film festivals and the film exhibition industry in general. The Film Festival Alliance has been a crucial and driving force in the industry, bringing festivals across the country together to learn from each other, to grow, and to positively impact our communities. There are some particulars about serving on the FFA Board: As a non-profit organization, ...

Film Festival Alliance to receive $65,000 Grant from the National Endowment for the Arts

By Gray Rodriguez posted 05-15-2024
Film Festival Alliance is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $65,000. This grant will support FFA's ongoing programming and resources for independent film exhibitors, including the 2024 Independent Film Exhibition Conference , hosted this June in Chicago. In total, the NEA will award 1,135 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling more than $37 million as part of its second round of fiscal year 2024 grants. “Projects like Film Festival Alliance's exemplify the creativity and care with which communities are telling their stories, creating connection, and responding ...

Film Festival Alliance adds New Board Members for 2024

By Gray Rodriguez posted 01-29-2024
Film Festival Alliance is pleased to announce the addition of six new board members for 2024. Get to know our new board members below, and check out our complete list of 2024 board members here. 2024 New Board Members: Serge Bakalian, Executive Director, Arab Film and Media Institute | Arab Film Festival Serge is a non-profit leader, science advisor, filmmaker and the founder of the Arab Film and Media Institute (AFMI), serving as its Executive Director. The California-based AFMI is a unique ecosystem to find, nurture, connect and develop Arab film and media projects, and home to the Arab Film Festival, the largest and oldest festival of its kind ...

Film Festival Alliance adds New Board Members for 2023

By FFA Admin posted 01-13-2023
Film Festival Alliance is pleased to announce the addition of three new board members for 2023. Get to know our new board members below, and check out our complete list of 2023 board members here. 2023 New Board Members: Carley Callahan, Seattle International Film Festival Carley Callahan is the Festival Producer at SIFF. Responsible for the planning and execution of SIFF’s festival programs, you can find her running around with a radio on at SIFF’s annual DocFest, Cinema Italian Style, Noir City, and flagship event - the Seattle International Film Festival. Before joining SIFF in 2017, Carley started out as a production assistant at the Telluride ...

Nominations Now Open for 2023 FFA Board of Directors

By FFA Admin posted 11-04-2022
Film Festival Alliance is seeking new Board Members to begin service in January 2023. A slate of candidates will be presented to the membership for voting in January and announced at the Annual Meeting. Nominations are open now through November 18th. Every year, we are excited to welcome a new group of Board members to serve on the Film Festival Alliance Board. The FFA Board members participate in, and advocate for, moving the organization forward, especially as film festivals and the film exhibition industry in general moves towards recovery. The Film Festival Alliance has been a crucial and driving force in the industry, and especially recently as the recovery ...

Introducing a new look for FFA

By FFA Admin posted 09-14-2022
Film Festival Alliance is proud to present our new brand identity to our colleagues and peers ahead of some exciting changes on the horizon for our organization. This is a project that began with an extensive search for a design partner, resulting in more than 100 responses from designers and agencies around North America. We are thrilled to have selected Blackbird Revolt as our agency for this project and cannot thank them enough for their thoughtfulness and patience as we worked together to develop this unique identity that will serve the organization for years to come. "As storytellers, we value the work of folks utilizing their voices to impact communities. ...

Festivals Run on People: What Are They Being Paid?

By FFA Admin posted 06-22-2022
The Film Festival Staffing, Workforce, & Compensation Survey, supported by Elevent and conducted by Sherwood B. Smith of Avenue ISR, looks at current salaries and wages across a range of roles within the festival landscape, current policies on organization culture, and offers insight into suggested best practices from festivals for hiring, retention, and workplace morale. The three objectives for the survey are: Learn from film festival leaders about their current approaches to using and compensating team members across a range of functions and roles. Determine current policies toward work from home, pandemic response, diversity/equity/inclusion ...

FFA Endorses Documentary Producers Alliance Letter

By FFA Admin posted 04-06-2021
The Film Festival Alliance is proud to endorse the Documentary Producer Alliance’s (DPA) initiative to provide a more equitable festival experience for film producers. The letter below from the DPA outlines the importance of producers, their requests, and why they are valuable members of film teams who deserve to be recognized. We hope all FFA member organizations will consider taking these actionable steps toward change to help improve our industry for all filmmakers. Read the full letter below. “An Open Letter to Film Festival Programmers, Marketing Directors, and Publicists, We are reaching out to you as the Documentary Producers Alliance (DPA) in ...

2020 Film Festival Organizer, Audience and Filmmaker Survey Results

By FFA Admin posted 02-15-2021
We’re thrilled to present some key takeaways from our 2020 Film Festival Organizer, Audience, and Filmmaker survey, conducted by Avenue ISR in partnership with The Gotham Film & Media Institute . These results were initially presented at the 2021 FilmEx Conference . The objectives of these surveys were: Understand how key film festival audiences are responding to the moment in 2020. Learn what is going well for festivals, filmmakers, and audience members…and where there are challenges. Identify actionable opportunities to strengthen festivals and the festival experience – both live and virtual. A profound thank you to the 6 ...

WATCH: Wrap Reports Webinar

By FFA Admin posted 04-30-2015
Every month, IFP Festival Forum hosts a webinar on a topic that will make your festival life easier, happier, and more productive. This month: Rosie Wong (Associate Director of Industry and Alumni Relations, Sundance Institute ) walked us through the best thing (daunting though it may be!) you can do for the future of your festival: how to assign, write and gather all-encompassing wrap reports. TAKING DOWN THE CIRCUS TENT: WRAP REPORTS 101 Having your staff write wrap reports is probably the most vital thing to planning your next edition. This is when they can include what they think went right, what didn’t, how to improve for next year—all crucial information ...