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Conference

Built around one of the most prestigious screenwriting contests in the country, the Conference attracts groundbreaking producers, agents, managers, and development execs, as well as countless working screenwriters and filmmakers.

The speakers converging in Austin every October range from established A-listers like Steven Zaillian, Ron Howard, Judd Apatow, Caroline Thompson, Susannah Grant and John Lee Hancock to upstart writers and filmmakers who have just broken into the industry. The Conference is famous, like its host city, for a culture of progressive ideas, big heart and zero pretensions. You won’t just watch your heroes speak from a podium — we want you to get up close and personal — so panels are designed for intimacy and interaction, workshops are hands-on dream opportunities for writers and filmmakers, and parties are grand and fun without the velvet ropes. AFF’s combination of high-caliber talent with access is unmatched by any other film festival or conference.

A Stellar Roster of Industry Talent

Past AFF registrants have rubbed elbows with Joel and Ethan Coen, Robert Altman, Jason Reitman, Wes Anderson, David Chase, James Franco, Oliver Stone, James L. Brooks, Harold Ramis, Mitchell Hurwitz, David Milch, Lawrence Kasdan, Claire Danes, Barry Levinson, Sydney Pollack, Mike Judge, Buck Henry, John Lasseter, Robert Rodriguez, David Simon, David Peoples and many, many more.

Rooms Packed with Industry Secrets

Many conferences are footnotes to festivals; the AFF Conference is worth the trip alone. While these panels are renowned for celebrating the pure art of writing and filmmaking, so you leave with creative morale sky-high, they also impart industry secrets and strategies that can make or break projects and careers. Topics span from basics like how to improve your script, find an agent, take meetings, produce your own film, or get your writing career off the ground (or back up and running), to staying true to yourself and your story, harvesting material from life without losing friends, the art and craft of storytelling, and tackling a blank page on a bad day. Whether you’re a writer, filmmaker or a fan, you’re in for a transformative experience at AFF.

At the Conference, you’ll join interactive panels and roundtables with industry veterans who will give you professional advice in navigating and negotiating the art and business of writing and filmmaking. You’re guaranteed to leave with a notebook full of valuable and unexpected pointers. Because the backbone of the Conference is writing and filmmaking, not politics and ego, the kinship that develops among legendary artists and newcomers and between panelists and entrants is life-changing. From the stage or at a cocktail party, our panelists will impart wisdom and nuts-and-bolts information so you can write the scripts and make the films that producers buy.

The programming concept of the Conference pivots on interactivity. The 2011 Conference boasted more than 90 panels, workshops, roundtable discussions, and screening events to help participants spur creativity, galvanize productivity, break into the business, and have long, successful careers. These sessions included:

A Conversation with Alec Berg (“Seinfeld”, “Curb Your Enthusiasm”)
The Art of Storytelling with John Lasseter (Chief Creative Officer for Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios), Caroline Thompson (“Edward Scissorhands”, “The Nightmare Before Christmas”), and Hart Hanson (“Bones”, “The Finder”)
In-depth presentations on the script-to-screen process for “Toy Story 3″ with screenwriter Michael Arndt, “Fight Club” with screenwriter Jim Uhls and author Chuck Palahniuk, “Bob’s Burgers” with writer/producer Jim Dauterive, and “Veronica Mars” with show creator Rob Thomas
The Showrunners featuring Rodrigo Garcia (“In Treatment”), Kyle Killen (“Awake”), and Donald Todd (“Samantha Who?”)
Based on a True Story with Scott Silver (“The Fighter”), Pamela Gray (“Conviction”) and Nicholas Kazan (“Reversal of Fortune”)
A staged reading of Shane Black & Anthony Bagarozzi’s noir script “The Nice Guys” with Peter Weller and Thomas Jane
Conversations with Lawrence Kasdan (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”), Whit Stillman (“Metropolitan”), Jonathan Aibel & Glenn Berger (“Kung Fu Panda 2″), Nancy Pimental (“Shameless”), and others.
And many, many more!

Full theaters, Big Parties and Brilliant Panels in a Hotbed City

The Austin Film Festival and Conference operates as a tiny community with gigantic names. It funnels a vast and unreachable industry into one moment and place, and sets a tone for connecting, debating, discussing, imagining and creating that’s impossible to find elsewhere. Rooms burst with energy, sidewalks outside theaters are lined with film lovers, and the city is wide open for exploration. The staff runs a seamless festival so chaos and fun and coincidences can happen. This event’s spirit of camaraderie must be experienced to be believed; come see for yourself!

“The Austin Film Festival actually manages to perfectly embody the spirit of the city which hosts it. Edgy yet mellow. Intelligent yet accessible. Cool yet completely geeky. In short, one of the best professional experiences of my career.” – Damon Lindelof, co-creator “Lost,” producer “Star Trek”

What to expect? Watch this and take a look at our Past Programs and Schedules.

It’s never too early to start planning. Visit our Travel & Lodging page to book your trip to Austin in October!

A Letter from Michael Brandt and Derek Haas

Over the past ten years, each October means a trip to Austin for the Austin Film Festival, the no-bullshit best screenwriting conference in the world.

What makes it great? For one thing, it’s the style of the conference: laid back yet well organized. Topics are based on what participants actually care about and the list of screenwriters looks like someone stole Warner Brother’s secret rolodex. Best of all is an atmosphere that doesn’t allow for any of the typical Hollywood crap.

Over the years at AFF we’ve met: Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio, Shane Black, John August, John Lee Hancock, Randall Wallace, Robert Rodriguez, Craig Mazin, Rita Hsiao, Jon Lucas & Scott Moore, Matt Olmstead, Jessica Bendinger, Nancy Pimental, Jeff Lowell, Phil Hay & Matt Manfredi, the Weitz Brothers … and the list goes on and on. And that’s just the screenwriters who attend … there are a host of huge executives and producers and agents who come in each year to talk about the craft as well.

There is a genuine love of the writing process in Austin, probably because Austin is such a great music town where the writer is still king! And here’s the kicker: everyone is excited to be there. We’ve always called it a spring break for writers … a week long party where all the participants and the speakers mingle all night long, talking movies.

We can’t recommend it enough. Look for us late at night at the Driskill … we’ll be the ones on the deck, smoking cigars, drinking whiskey, telling lies and maybe a few truths about screenwriting. Come pull up a chair …

Michael Brandt and Derek Haas
Screenwriters of “The Double ’11″, “Wanted”, “3:10 to Yuma”, “2 Fast 2 Furious”
Derek Haas is also the author of the bestselling novels “The Silver Bear” and “Columbus”

Important Information

*Important: Badge holders and Film Pass holders MUST be in line no later than 25 minutes prior to scheduled start time. Priority admission is given to all Badge holders. Film Pass holders will be seated after all Badge holders have entered the theater.

Once General Admission tickets have gone on sale, Badge holders and Film Pass holders will no longer have priority admittance. Neither Badge holders nor Film Pass holders are guaranteed a seat in a particular theater, only admission up to capacity. General Admission tickets will go on sale 25 minutes prior to each screening. Badge holders and Film Pass holders arriving AFTER the 25 minute mark must go to the back of the General Admission line.

ALL theater seating will be on a first-come, first-served basis. No one will be admitted to the theater 15 minutes after start time.

Thank you for your cooperation.

**All speakers and events are based on permitting schedules and subject to change and/or cancellation without notice.

***Special events may require purchase of a separate ticket for entry. If you have any questions about the Festival or your membership or badge purchases, please contact info@austinfilmfestival.com or call 1-800-310-3378.

The Austin Film Festival strives to be accessible to all patrons of the arts. While all of our Conference and Festival venues are wheelchair accessible, it is important to request accessible seating for a particular screening at least one day before the screening. As there are a limited number of available seats, waiting until walk-up or the day of the screening does not guarantee an accessible seat will be available. These requests can be made by calling the Austin Film Festival at 1-800-310-FEST(3378).