Pandemic Effects: Film Festivals & Art Houses, First Thoughts
I’ve long been concerned that film festivals and art houses lag behind other arts organizations when it comes to thinking long-term about our organizations. And in the coming years, to survive… and hopefully thrive… I think we really need to challenge ourselves, structurally rethink our models, try new things… and stop re-learning the lessons that other orgs have known for years! (Please challenge me on this, if you think I’m wrong.)
For today… here are three quick items:
Yesterday, Americans for the Arts (an organization you should definitely know about, if you don’t already) hosted an impressive Webinar: “Arts and Culture Sector and the Coronavirus: What We Know and How to Move Forward.” It’s now available online… and a transcript should soon follow. Featuring national arts leaders, they covered a lot of territory that also relates to our corner of the sandbox. One concept that particularly resonated was the importance of implementing a Continuity of Operation Plan (COOP), if you don’t have one already. Jan Newcomb, the E.D. of the National Coalition for Arts’ Preparedness & Emergency Response led the conversation on that, and her organization has a lot of interesting resources that might help during this crazy time. (One question I have… Jan also briefly mentioned an “organizational will,” but didn’t go into detail. She’s talking about a plan for if/when a non-profit organization dissolves, and what happens to all its assets, programs, people, etc. I’ve never encountered a non-profit film organization that has one of these in place. Have you? Sadly, I think it may very well come up in the months ahead.)
On a more positive note… Colleen Dilenschneider is an exec at IMPACTS, a global leader in predictive market intelligence, and runs a fantastic blog called “KnowYour Own Bone” that provides impressive data and analytics about issues and trends in the arts. In her latest article, “Why Marketing Matters During COVID-19 Closures – Key Factors to Consider,” she addresses a critical question: “What should [cultural] entities do about marketing during this time in order to maximize investments and ensure opportunities for success (and recovering lost revenue) upon reopening?” She also introduces a fascinating metric – Lead time to visit – which is a great way to think about the visitation trends of our audiences. It’s all well-worth a read. (And if you dig into her site, you’ll find some incredible data on ticket purchases and membership trends at cultural orgs.)
Lastly… wanted to give a plug for Sub-Genre Media‘s Brian Newman and his near-weekly blog. It’s definitely worth checking out… and the latest issue “A few ways the film industry can respond to the crisis,” has some great items of note. Brian does a great job of providing links, context, and perspective on all sorts of issues facing the film biz. Probably you already know about Brian and his blog… but if not, definitely check it out. Like… right now, while we’re all having conversations about the future. One item that caught my attention in this issue is his suggestion that film orgs shouldn’t “move too fast [to put content online] because audiences will want less content in the short term than is being assumed.” Nearly every Fest I know is currently talking about some sort of online screening option. It’ll be interesting to see how this all shakes out.
It’s a new reality, for sure.