FOUR DAYS OF PANELS, WORKSHOPS, NETWORKING,
AND A SHARED PASSION FOR STORYTELLING
Telling you everything you need to know about the Austin Film Festival and Writers Conference in one short sentence is impossible unless you are Hemingway or Raymond Carver, which we are not because we are more like Pynchon or David Foster Wallace and in need of a lot more space and words to explain that folks like Lawrence Kasdan said we are the greatest film festival in the world, and Paul Feig said we are the best film festival hands down (the same thing), and Ed Solomon said “there is no us and them” at AFF, so there you have three good reasons out of a hundred why you should come to Austin and attend our Festival and Conference because we do not just name drop, we frigging give ‘em to you in the flesh, then we stand back and watch them joyfully share their hearts and souls and guts with you to help make you a better writer, and we also watch them turn to you for some payback inspiration (not B.S., happens all the time, read our testimonials), which proves we are indeed the greatest film festival in the world. Hands down.
Click here to take a look at our growing list of panelists and awardees!
There is no magic formula for success for any writer, but there is magic that happens at AFF when writers of many genres gather and realize that, regardless of their preferred storytelling outlet, it all comes back to the story itself. A story is a story, for better or worse, and whether people listen to it or watch it unfold on a big screen, a small screen, or a stage, all that matters is that the audience is moved. That’s every writers job. The AFF offers you a lot of valuable information from a lot of multi-talented wizards who have cracked their writing racket and have wrestled it to the ground.
The Conference covers basics like:
- researching and editing your story
- creating and funding your film while somehow paying the rent
- working with a writing partner
- facing a blank page on a bad day
- or risking a new direction after established success.
So register, tune in and…listen.
PANELISTS
Austin Film Festival is a diverse collection of talent, background, expertise, and knowledge. Offering access and insight through panels, pitches, workshops, and roundtables, AFF is the one stop shop for storytellers. And because the full experience is so interactive, panelists are not just names on a list, but artists you get to know over the course of the week. This is a festival and conference designed for contact, for catalyzing ideas, and collaboration.
Hosting over 150 speakers, these working professionals range from writers, directors, and showrunners to producers, executives, agents, and managers.
A Letter From…
“…Austin Film Festival is the best, hands down. I’m honored to have shown films here, I’m honored to have spoken on its panels, and I’m honored to have let it put me up in the city’s finest hotels. The movie business is a collaboration, whether the auteurs among us want to admit it or not. And AFF realizes that. Which is why they bring us all together every year. To learn, to share, and to hopefully enjoy each other’s company…”
– Paul Feig
Click below to peruse other letters from past AFF panelists and alum!