Applications for Developing Your Film Festival 2021 are now open. The deadline to apply is Monday 1 February 2021. Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic the training will take place live online. 

Now in its tenth year, Developing Your Film Festival (DYFF) is an intensive programme for film festival professionals, taught by some of the world’s experts on taking your festival to the next level. If you want the next edition of your film festival to have a bigger audience, stronger international reputation and improved sponsorship and partnerships, this course was designed for you. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the film festival industry worldwide — it has never been so important to secure funding, know your audience and build a sustainable business model for your festival.

The course is 100% recommended by our participants, which include over 190 film festivals from around the world.

Drop-in Q&A Sessions
If you’re considering applying to DYFF 2021, we’ll be holding some drop-in sessions with James Calver, Project & Events Officer at the ICO, where you can discuss your application in a one-to-one setting. If you’d like to book a slot please email info@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk.

Developing Your Film Festival is taught interactively by experts from the Independent Cinema Office as well as key festival staff from the best festivals from around the world (in the past, we have welcomed representatives from the Berlinale, Hot Docs, Rotterdam, Toronto and many more). Delegates come away with a clear strategy that they can implement immediately, as well as new contacts from festivals around the world. Scroll down to see the list of confirmed speakers for 2021.

New format for 2021
This course will be delivered live online due to the current Covid-19 pandemic.

Course schedule
Sessions will take place Tuesdays and Fridays between 13:00 – 15:00 GMT. There will also be webinars hosted every Wednesday at 13:00 – 14:00 GMT for the duration of the course. These will cover a variety of case studies that will be confirmed at a later date.

Week 1: Tuesday 23, Wednesday 24 and Friday 26 February
Week 2: Tuesday 2, Wednesday 3 and Friday 5 March
Week 3: Tuesday 9, Wednesday 10 and Friday 12 March
Week 4: Tuesday 16, Wednesday 17 and Friday 19 March
Week 5: Tuesday 23, Wednesday 24 and Friday 26 March

Course content
On the course delegates learn practical lessons about:

• Sponsorship
• Partnerships
• Audience development
• Programming
• Press strategy
• Income building

Our programme will cover relevant issues and challenges festivals are facing due to the current COVID-19 pandemic and its impact going forward.

Fees: €750 for live online training
This includes live training sessions, course materials, select preview film screenings, one-to-one sessions and networking opportunities.

Technical requirements
To attend this live training online, you will need a computer or laptop with a webcam and a microphone. The course will be conducted through Zoom.

The fee for attending DYFF2021 is €750.

We have scholarships of up to €500 available to help those most in need take part.  

You can apply for a scholarship as part of the application process at the bottom of this page. Scholarships are allocated on a first come, first served basis so early applications are encouraged.

Please note, due to funding agreements, priority for scholarships will be given to film festival professionals working for not-for-profit organisations with an annual turnover of less than €400,000 from low capacity countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia) or non-EU countries that participate in the Creative Europe MEDIA Programme. This Scholarship is also open to freelance film festival professionals whose financial circumstances would otherwise prevent them from participating in the training.

If you have any further queries about scholarships, please email James on james.calver@independentcinemaoffice.org.uk

100% of participants questioned said they would recommend Developing Your Film Festival (DYFF) to a colleague or peer

100% of respondents said the course was ‘very relevant’ or ‘relevant’ to their job and career development

100% said the overall organisation of the course was either ‘excellent’ (77%) or ‘good’ (23%)

96% rated the speaker’s expertise as ‘excellent’

What our participants say:

“Our sponsorship income has increased significantly – it has grown by 1360% since I did the course!” – Juliet Tweedie, Edinburgh International Film Festival, UK

“All the sessions are very well taught and the speakers are really the best in their fields. Most unforgettable training I’ve ever had” – Andhika Annas Satria, Europe on Screen, Indonesia

“Our overall ticket sales increased by 30%” – Ornela Cop, Animafest Zagreb, Croatia

“Since attending DYFF, we’ve trebled annual turnover of the festival, implemented a five year strategic plan, received international attention and acclaim for our projects and had 79% capacity at last year’s festival.” – Holly Tarquini, Bath Film Festival, UK

“It calibrated my work: what we are doing right, what we are doing wrong and how to move forward.” – Nita Deda, Dokufest, Kosovo

What our speakers say:

“I’ve really noticed that within Developing Your Film Festival over just four days you can take your film festival to the next level.” – Jennifer Frees, former Vice President, Partnerships, Toronto International Film Festival

“It’s not only about training, it’s about collective problem solving. Having this platform where you can exchange ideas is fantastic.” – Sten-Kristian Saluveer, Industry Director Black Nights Film Festival, Estonia

“There’s such an appetite from the people here. There’s such a need for this course. It’s amazing.” – Wendy Mitchell, Contributing Editor, Screen International and delegate for San Sebastian and Zurich film festivals