deadCenter Film’s Executive Director Alyx Picard Davis: Regional Film Fests killing it (versus being killed) during the year of COVID

deadCenter Film’s Executive Director Alyx Picard Davis: Regional Film Fests killing it (versus being killed) during the year of COVID

In addition to being the publicist for several regional film festivals across the country, I am also the publicist for the Film Festival Alliance, which has brought together hundreds of film festivals committed to best practices and establishing a consistency, legitimacy, and integrity among the film festival community and industry.

Year-in and year-out, the FFA has hosted workshops, roundtables, and meetings among its member fests, encouraging the sharing of information to assist the people that produce film festivals and work within the fabric of the organizations – programming, working in development, with volunteers, event production, and marketing and promotion, to be better as businesses and organizations.

FFA has also worked to ferret out the bad actors and create a uniform standard of quality so filmmakers could be assured of being taken care of, supported, promoted, and be given every opportunity to utilize their film festival appearances and “tours” to their best advantage.

And then COVID-19 happened and beginning in March, as the entire world turned upside down and/or shut down, film festivals – built on trying to encourage as many people as possible to gather in theaters to watch films and then hobnob at parties, etc. were suddenly adrift. There was no way around it. Film festivals were done until a vaccine was developed, that was it – a done deal.

But it wasn’t a done deal.

As every major market film festival flailed or crashed due to their own hubris and inability to maneuver and adapt in the face of the crisis, the majority of the regional film festivals didn’t just manage, didn’t just eke by, didn’t just “survive”.

No, many surprised themselves with the success of their pivot (a word I’ve heard way too much by this point) to virtual presentations, drive-ins, and innovations to the approach and outreach to their fans, sponsors, and ultimately their filmmakers. Bluntly, many of the regional film festivals thrived this year.

Why is that?

How is it that the frequently dismissed and taken for granted regional film festivals were able to stay on their feet as the ground shifted underneath them, when giant market film festivals like SXSW didn’t just cancel, but actually are now in a tenuous “Will they or won’t they even come back?” status.

Well, I decided to send some questions to the heads of some of these film festivals that by all accounts have managed the hell that has been 2020 quite well to find out what the similarities are.

Let’s look at what has worked since March as so many film festivals went virtual with a vengeance, then drive-in screenings, and various combinations of both.

Our first film festival topper to weigh in is deadCenter Film’s Executive Director Alyx Picard Davis.

FGW:  Alyx, why, does it seem to you (if that is the case) as though many regional fests fared much better than the larger, market-based fests?

Alyx: I believe that regional film festivals are able to pivot more easily because their imprints and scale are smaller. Expectations can easily be managed and adapted to the virtual model in real time, as smaller organizations can accelerate progress and remain agile, unencumbered by a larger think tank/processes/ procedures (structure) that typically exist in the larger organization culture(s).

FGW: Programming-wise, what did you discover doing this year’s edition of your fest that you had not anticipated (if anything)? What was communication like with the filmmakers? What adjustments did you make in that regard?

Alyx: Q&As were much more meaningful and diverse. We programmed over 100 new hours of panels, classes, events for the virtual space. Communication on the whole was rapid-fire and in real time during the transition and to be honest we could have used a little more support to manage all the different channels during the festival as well as the lead up to it all.

FGW: Presentation-wise, how were the growing pains for the virtual shift? The biggest challenges and also the pleasant surprises? And what about doing drive-in screenings? What are your thoughts following doing the fest this year as you look ahead to 2021’s edition?

Alyx: We had very little time to pivot prior to our festival dates. The biggest challenge was capacity, both financial and staff. We were thrilled to have the reach and participation we did. Drive-in and carless drive-ins were well attended, uneventful (in a good way), and a huge success. Our three outdoor events were our only true opportunity to get “festival photos” this year. We are moving forward with a hybrid model for 2021.

FGW: Audience-wise, what did you personally see as the participation, enthusiasm, the actual numbers?

Alyx: Actual numbers were based off of streams and an exit survey. Participation ramped up on social media – we were able to see how attendees adapted the festival to their 2020 COVID life. Enthusiasm remained high – reflected in a record-number of pass sales and engagement.

FGW: Staff-wise, what did you do this year to make it all work? How will that affect next year?

Alyx: It blew our nervous systems to hell, LOL! We had a very small staff that worked very long, very hectic, scattered days where we wore even more hats than normal. We added a week of pre-production to film most of the pre-recorded content. Next year, we will have a game plan ready and be able to staff differently removed from some of the health/spacing challenges of this year.

FGW: Sponsorship-wise, and financially in an overall sense, what worked to even make having your film festival possible and keep the organization going not just for 2020’s edition, but also looking ahead to 2021?

Alyx: Eventive Virtual Festival was critical to bringing our festival online and keeping that “deadCenter” feel to it. We had already had about 50% of our sponsors and passes committed before announcing the pivot, so being able to honor those commitments was key.

FGW: Finally, none of us operate in a vacuum, Film Festival Alliance held weekly Zoom meetings addressing each of these concerns and production elements with member fests comparing notes, etc. Beyond the obvious, how did that help you specifically? Did you and do you have a sense that FFA took/takes a leadership role throughout the process? 

Alyx: YES! Early on, the FFA calls were a lifesaver and brain saver. FFA held a collaborative, safe space for festival organizers to brainstorm and innovate as a whole. Personally, I would have been a bit rudderless without them and the pandemic has galvanized the value of contributing to and participating in FFA programming.

deadCenter Film’s Executive Director Alyx Picard Davis: Regional Film Fests killing it (versus being killed) during the year of COVID