Wide Release #5

Will I see you at IND/EX?

The largest gathering of independent film exhibitors starts tomorrow in downtown Chicago and runs through Thursday, June 25.

IND/EX was co-created by Film Festival Alliance (FFA) and Art House Convergence (AHC) in 2024 as an evolution of the beloved Art House Convergence annual conference, which took place in Utah just before the Sundance Film Festival. Its last edition was in January 2020. In 2021 and 2022, FFA took up the mantle and hosted its virtual version: FilmEx. And now, here we are, on the cusp of the second IND/EX gathering. Bravo to all the staff and board members who have been working tirelessly to put on this event. It’s incredibly demanding work and I remain amazed and grateful to all those who have dedicated their time to putting it on. Thank you.

I love this gathering. I’m a community organizer at heart - I love bringing people together, and particularly when the goal is to share knowledge and learn from each other. I’m also a deep believer in third places and I’ve watched how communities thrive when they have access to a local movie theater or film festival. The conversations they spark; the friendships they build; the sense of connection that emerges.

After fifteen years in the independent film ecosystem, and after attending (and often co-organizing) these gatherings since 2012, I’ve observed much. What keeps coming up for me is this: without audience development, there is no future. Most indie exhibitors are focused on bringing in adult audiences, which makes total sense: the current indie film ecosystem primarily produces films for adults, adults are the primary ticket buyers, and adults have the financial capacity to be meaningful donors, all critical components for running a thriving film exhibition organization today.

I’m thinking further into the future. While folks are focused on the audiences of today, I want to turn my attention to the audience of tomorrow: kids. My thesis? If we don’t get kids ages 6-11 into the movie theater now, we won’t have a sustainable moviegoing audience in a decade. How can we tackle this as a community and what would need to be true for every kid in America to experience the movie theater at least once a year?

This week, I’m looking forward to talking to people about how they’re engaging young people in their spaces. How are they thinking about audience development? How are they reaching those younger audience members? What is effective? What is unique? How has their fundraising language evolved? How are they bringing in younger donors? How do they define young people?

If you’ll be at IND/EX and want to chat kids & the glorious experience of moviegoing, find me on the conference slack or in-person wandering around and marveling at all the fabulous sessions on offer.

To a radical future…🫜