Studying in my graduate Screenwriting program at BU has already been life-changing, but this experience comes with a major price tag, making any new large expenses nearly impossible to undertake even if it services my career. Thanks to COM’s Graduate Prize for Professional Development, I was able to attend Austin Film Festival’s Writers’ Conference, one of the premiere film festivals in the United States. Running for the last 24 years and an Academy Award Qualifying festival, AFF prides itself on showcasing the movies with the best story, not just the best production value. It’s a one-of-a-kind film festival with the world’s largest and most comprehensive screenwriters conference planned over four days (October 26—29). The festival is unlike most in its emphasis is on screenwriters and the craft of writing itself.
At this conference, I attended several panels discussing a variety of topics, from the hero’s desire to inclusion and diversity in front of and behind the camera and crowdfunding to women in filmmaking. I even participated in the AFF Pitch Fest competition, in which screenwriters give 90-second presentations of their scripts to industry professionals to get noticed and win prizes. While I didn’t win, I found it a great opportunity to practice putting myself out there and pitching to a large audience while also gaining valuable feedback from industry professionals (one of my judges was one of the writers of Moana, and she’s an inspiration).
Attending AFF gave me the opportunity to network with filmmakers from that community where I might move to post-graduation, but I also made many new connections from LA. One of the first two people I met are USC MFA grads who are currently in the CBS Television Writers Program and quickly became great friends of mine. The thing that connected us immediately was our affiliation with the National Professional Cinema Fraternity Delta Kappa Alpha, which I pledged this past semester. It was truly serendipitous to meet DeKA family immediately upon arriving at AFF.
Three of the biggest takeaways I made at AFF are the crowdfunding platform Seed & Spark, the necessity for inclusion and diversity in front of and behind the camera, and additional ways to network within the film community via social media. In the politically volatile times we find ourselves in, the need for inclusion has never been so dire. It was so incredibly encouraging and validating to see so many other writers and filmmakers seek to do with other underrepresented populations what I aspire to do with the LGBTQ population. Especially hearing from the CEO/Founder of Seed & Spark, Emily Best, about her crowdfunding platform was extraordinary. The platform isn’t like Kickstarter or Indiegogo; it’s better. It not only offers crowdfunding education to give filmmakers’ campaigns the best chance at success, it also requires inclusion and diversity of its campaigners. S&S is definitely a resource I hope to use in the future and one I hope BU can educate its students on in a future Cinematheque.
Overall, AFF was a phenomenal experience all around, and one that has given me new insights into the film industry, new inspiration for my writing, and new ideas of where I might take my filmmaking career after I leave BU. Thank you, Graduate Affairs, for making this possible.