The Future of Festivals & Markets

The future of festivals and markets

covid-19 has hit festivals and markets hard, With many pivotinG to virtual events over the past year and a half. MAKERS looks ahead to 2022 to see Whether festivals and markets expect participants to return as in the past, or if the future is hybrid? Unable to hold physical events during the pandemic, most festivals and markets went digital. But now, as vaccination rates rise around the world, they are finally returning as in person events, but often with a digital element attached.

Indeed, the trend in recent months has very much been for a return to meeting in person.

Major festivals like Cannes and Venice led the way, with strict vaccine rules, managing to hold successful events that loosely resembled their 2019 versions. The London Film Festival also returned as a largely physical event, albeit with a slightly more slimmeddown version with 160 films in the programme.

For many festival goers, the experience was hugely positive and emotional – with many expressing their delight at being able to meet in person at a live event once more. Although there were fewer people at the events, many said it was a more comfortable and enjoyable experience as a result.

This was very much the case at this year’s Zurich Film Festival, held in late September, which ran with a full programme of onsite screenings and events. Notably, its industry event – the Zurich Summit –ran as a fully physical gathering –there was no hybrid version of the Summit.

Head of ZFF Industry Reta Guetg says Zurich deliberately opts for a boutique feel to its Summit creating an atmosphere where execs and creatives can easily meet and build relationships at the same time as gaining market intelligence.

This explains why it didn’t run online at the same time. “We decided last year that our industry events are meant to be on site,” says Guetg. “To have this boutique conference feeling, it really does need to be a physical event.”

The fact that it was an in-person summit, doesn’t seem to have prevented Zurich from persuading a high-profile line up of speakers to travel to the event. Among the speakers were MGM bosses Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca.

Coming up, many of the major festivals are planning to return as hybrid physical / digital events for 2022, albeit it with the emphasis firmly on meeting onsite in person.

After a pandemic affected hybrid version in 2021, the Berlin Film Festival will return to being an in-person event in February 2022. Parallel events, the European Film Market and the Berlinale Co-Production Market, and Berlinale Talents, will focus on on-site offerings but will also provide online formats.

“The need for a physical festival experience and face-to-face encounters is strongly evident in both the industry and the public,” said Berlinale festival directors Mariette Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian, announcing the move. “The experiences of the last months have shown that on-location events can take place safely and successfully, and how important they are for dialogue and exchange.”

The Sundance Film Festival will also go ahead with its 2022 edition, from 20-30 January, with an in-person and online event, including health and safety guidelines that require full vaccinations and masking up for cinema-goers. The event combines virtual screenings with physical screenings in Salt Lake City and seven other indie art house cinemas elsewhere.

Likewise, FOCUS London returns in December in a hybrid format for its seventh edition. The traditional two-day live event takes place at the Business Design Centre London on 7 and 8 December, following a virtual edition in 2020. This year the digital element is expanded to four days from 7-10 December.

Most festival and market organisers are betting that attendees are keen to return to in person events once more, although they are aware of the need to be flexible.

They are acutely aware that this summer and autumn’s festivals were meant to return as in person events following vaccine roll-outs. But as we know, by mid-summer, the Delta variant and vaccine hesitancy among many, especially in the States, meant that most autumn festivals for 2021 had to rethink their plans and re-invent a new kind of hybrid live/online festival.

Flexibility looks to be key going into 2022, hence many events running digital versions alongside their physical offer in case people are unable to travel.

“The experiences of The lasT MonThs have shown ThaT on-locaTion evenTs can Take place safely and successfully, and how iMporTanT They are for dialogue and exchange.”

Among filmmakers, one senses a strong desire for A list festivals in particular to return to their former physical selves as key platforms for creating the buzz needed to launch new films.

However, there is a sense that many smaller festivals may struggle to survive as travel is reduced in the wake of Covid, and amid heightened concerns about the carbon footprint from international travel.

“Festivals are the columns that support the roof of the distribution of the independent movie,” says director and producer Bogdan George Apetri, whose feature Miracle played at Venice this year.

Arthouse films, in particular, have suffered from the lack of festival exposure over the past 18 months. “The last big [arthouse] hit before the pandemic was Parasite, which did huge business in the UK and everywhere else. It shows there's definitely an audience there, but they haven't come back yet –I think it's going to take a full festival and award season to hopefully get there,” said Danny Perkins, CEO and founder of Elysian Film Group at a Zurich Summit session discussing film distribution.

For television markets, the outlook is more mixed. Many distributors have actually saved significant sums of money by not having to pay to attend expensive physical markets, while still managing to sell large volumes of programming at a time of heightened demand for TV content. Looking ahead, one senses that distributors are being pickier about which events they attend, having previously had to grapple with a calendar that was packed with markets throughout the year.

“Physical markets remain very important, and our sales and acquisitions teams are or will be resuming face to face meetings with clients, particularly in some regions where it’s culturally beneficial,” says Tim Mutimer, CEO of distributor Cineflix Media.

Cineflix attended Mipcom, though with a much smaller presence, and is planning to attend Content London, NATPE Miami and Realscreen going forward. “Overall, we’re assessing which markets to attend on a strategic and case-by-case basis depending on what value they provide,” says Mutimer. “Markets need to be at important times for decision making in broadcasting.” He cites March’s London Screenings, which is increasingly important for UK-based distributors, May’s LA Screenings, October’s Mipcom and then regional events at key points for buyers.

Even before the pandemic, many distributors had adjusted their strategy for selling programmes so they were no longer tying programme launches to specific markets but were launching them year-round. “Buyers are looking for new content through the year, not just at three or four fixed points,” says Mutimer.

He says Cineflix will continue with this strategy, as well as new marketing and digital initiatives which it has increased during Covid. Its marketing teams have been reaching clients with “e-premieres” and digital screenings with cast and creatives, as well as creating bespoke digital initiatives like cineflixshowcase.com andCineflix Content Fest.

“To some extent, working online has meant being able to cut to the chase more quickly,” says Mutimer. “No one wants to spend any more time on Zoom or Teams than they have to, so deal-making has been efficient, direct, and quick. We’ll take all of these learnings into account in assessing future strategy for markets, digital marketing and sales trips.”

Cineflix is not alone. ITV Studios is another of many top distributors to invest more in digital initiatives to sell its content, notably the Fall Festival which it first launched in 2020 and repeated this year.

Looking ahead, the film and TV industry festival and markets landscape will continue to evolve in 2022 and beyond, with changes accelerated by the pandemic. Everyone accepts that the number of events had mushroomed in recent years, to an unsustainable extent.

Festivals and markets will look to tap into a pent up desire for people to connect in person next year, while extending their potential reach by offering digital coverage.

But the number of events on offer is likely to drop as executives and creatives focus on quality of meeting opportunities over quantity - safe in the knowledge that most people they want to meet are just a video call away.

We’re assessinG Which markets to attend on a strateGic and case-by-case basis dependinG on What value they provide.

“even before The pandeMic, Many disTribuTors had adjusTed Their sTraTegy for selling prograMMes so They were no longer Tying prograMMe launches To specific MarkeTs.”

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