The lineup of speakers is taking shape for SHOOT‘s first ever Directors Symposium, which is being held in conjunction with SHOOT‘s 8th Annual New Directors Showcase Event.
The daytime learning/networking Symposium will be held May 11 at the DGA Theatre in New York, as will the evening’s New Directors Showcase. Register here.
Among the panelists confirmed thus far are:
o Laura Belsey, director, Shadow Pictures and C-Entertainment, & teacher, “Commercial Directing,” Graduate Film School of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts
o Wayne Best, executive creative director, JWT New York
o Caleb Deschanel, director/cinematographer, Dark Light Pictures
o Bob Giraldi, director, Giraldi Media, & teacher, “The Project Class” & “Evolutionary Dynamics in Advertising”, School of Visual Arts, NY
o Bonnie Goldfarb, founder & executive producer, harvest
o Jeffrey A. Greenbaum, managing partner, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz
o Nick Iannelli, VP, Deluxe Postproduction, Toronto
o Kevin Kerwin, director, Authentic Films, & 2009 Showcase director
o Craig Leffel, partner/senior colorist, Optimus
o Stacey Mokotoff, president, Bird Bonette Stauderman Inc.
o David B. Perry, executive VP/head of TV production, Saatchi & Saatchi, New York
o Allison (Ally) Polly. head of strategy and brand partnerships, Filmaka Entertainment Studios
o Bobby Sheehan, producer/director/writer/cameraman/co-founder, Working Pictures Inc.
o Kristi VandenBosch, CEO, Publicis & Hal Riney
The Directors Symposium (9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., including lunch) will feature a series of panel discussions and Q&A sessions with leading directors, agency creatives, production company entrepreneurs and other notable artists and executives who will share their expertise, helping to define opportunities in an evolving marketplace spanning advertising and entertainment (and the coming together of those two worlds). Speakers and panelists will also relate their experiences with emerging tools and processes, and delve into the art of building an individual director’s brand. Talent from past New Directors Showcases will share how their careers have since progressed, providing inspiration for our latest crop of directors to be introduced in the evening.
The decision to expand the reach of the New Directors Showcase with the launch of the Directors Symposium was spurred on by several dynamics, including this being the year SHOOT celebrates its 50th anniversary as well as the Showcase’s scheduling to coincide with CreativeWeekNYC (May 10-14), a week-long series of events, such as The One Show, that will be attended by creatives and creative management from all over the world.
The evening’s New Directors Showcase (6-10 p.m.) will feature: a screening of the Showcase reel consisting of 25 to 30 pieces of work culled from submissions from this year’s New Directors Search; a panel introducing six of the new directors with two industry pros providing insight and perspective; and an after-party downstairs at the DGA.
Registration for the Directors Symposium Daytime Event includes the Symposium, lunch and guaranteed seating to the evening’s New Directors Showcase Event & After Party. Individual tickets are $195. (Early bird rate of $175. through Friday, Apri. 16th!) Groups of three or more receive a 10 percent discount. Event details and registration info are available at www.shootonline.com/go/register.
Utah Leaders and Locals Rally To Keep Sundance Film Festival In The State
With the 2025 Sundance Film Festival underway, Utah leaders, locals and longtime attendees are making a final push — one that could include paying millions of dollars — to keep the world-renowned film festival as its directors consider uprooting.
Thousands of festivalgoers affixed bright yellow stickers to their winter coats that read "Keep Sundance in Utah" in a last-ditch effort to convince festival leadership and state officials to keep it in Park City, its home of 41 years.
Gov. Spencer Cox said previously that Utah would not throw as much money at the festival as other states hoping to lure it away. Now his office is urging the Legislature to carve out $3 million for Sundance in the state budget, weeks before the independent film festival is expected to pick a home for the next decade.
It could retain a small presence in picturesque Park City and center itself in nearby Salt Lake City, or move to another finalist — Cincinnati, Ohio, or Boulder, Colorado — beginning in 2027.
"Sundance is Utah, and Utah is Sundance. You can't really separate those two," Cox said. "This is your home, and we desperately hope it will be your home forever."
Last year's festival generated about $132 million for the state of Utah, according to Sundance's 2024 economic impact report.
Festival Director Eugene Hernandez told reporters last week that they had not made a final decision. An announcement is expected this year by early spring.
Colorado is trying to further sweeten its offer. The state is considering legislation giving up to $34 million in tax incentives to film festivals like Sundance through 2036 — on top of the $1.5 million in funds already approved to lure the Utah festival to its neighboring... Read More