>In the midst of frenzied holiday preparations, who doesn’t love an excuse to spend a few days holed away in Las Vegas-adjacent luxury? But even better, for the finite (albeit quickly growing) subset of the species dedicated to furthering humanity by producing film festivals, is the opportunity to hob-nob with one’s like-minded (well..) industry peers. And, even more better, for those of us toiling away at what might be known as a niche film festival, is discovering others who are enjoying very much the same pains and pleasures along the way.

So we were delighted to find ourselves once again at the International Film Festival Summit and even more delighted to be included on the panel “Know Your Niche: The Key to Genre Film Festivals.” Also doing the honors on the dias were moderator Jennifer Morris of Frameline, along with Andrew Migliore of the H.P. Lovecraft Film Festival and Zompire: the Undead Film Festival and Rachel Belofsky of the Screamfest Horror Film Festival.

Sex or horror, besides demonstrating that the perceived extremes are represented by some of the nicest people in existence – ridiculously nice, polite even, ourselves included – we had the chance to touch upon the peculiar challenges that come up in producing a niche festival; securing sponsors in a timid corporate environment, explaining ourselves to largely uncomprehending media and getting the word out to often elusive targets. And also the pay-offs; being immersed in our passions, bringing together a community, connecting filmmakers to audience and watching both thrive.

And here you thought it was the money…