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This two-day forum will focus on increasing audience engagement and community outreach through building a stronger relationship between programming and marketing teams. Whether you have year-round, robust staff resources, or you’re a single programmer/marketer/ticketseller, this forum will allow you to share strategies to drive attendance growth, network with your peers, and confront the evolving landscape of film distribution and its impact on your program.

Check back here for updates on venues, programming, and more.

Registration Fees

Registration Type FFA Member Non-Member
Individual $250 (Save $100) $350
Team (2) $400 (Save $175) $575

Register Here as an Individual                Register Here as a Team

Audience Development Forum  

This forum focuses on practical strategies and peer collaboration to:

  • Explore innovative approaches to audience engagement and community outreach

  • Share insights into funding, fundraising, and resource allocation to support your marketing and programming efforts

  • Strengthen the communication and effectiveness of your programming & marketing teams

  • Gain insights on diverse programming strategies and case studies on effective audience development from festivals and cinemas


By bringing together programmers, marketers, and film distributors, you will have the opportunity to connect with your colleagues in a dynamic, discussion-focused forum, tackling long-standing challenges while being responsive to current issues. 


Why Three Cities? How Will That Work?
By hosting in three cities simultaneously, we can bring the forum to you! We know the value of building regional community and we recognize the high costs of travel. To better serve our community, we want to provide a more accessible, affordable program that also strengthens your regional connectivity. While the program will be similar in each city, with the same topics and discussion-based approach, it will be the unique mix of participants and speakers who bring the dynamic energy and specificity to each Forum.

Which Forum Should I Attend?
There’s no wrong answer! Each program will offer you the opportunity to engage with your peers, dig in to the challenges and opportunities we face in audience development, and *fingers crossed* leave feeling inspired to head back to your community and keep creating your incredible programs every day.

Is There Financial Support to Attend?
Yes - FFA is offering a limited number of scholarships for individuals and teams to attend. Head here to fill out our scholarship request form: https://bit.ly/AudDevScholarship All requests due by March 30th, 2025.

Accessibility
Film Festival Alliance is committed to accessibility as a core value of our ongoing work. In practice, this looks like transparency, clear and timely communication of important information, and a dedicated resource for accommodation requests. Specific venue details for the Audience Development Forum will be announced soon. All venues used will be physically accessible for those in wheelchairs and/or with mobility needs.

For any accessibility questions or requests, please contact accessibility@filmfestivalalliance.org.