Today, the 48th annual Atlanta Film Festival (ATLFF) announced its lineup of Creative Conference panels, workshops, and conversations that will take place from Tuesday, April 30 – Friday, May 3, 2024. This will be the 14th year that ATLFF has curated a robust lineup of educational programming, known as the Creative Conference, as part of the annual film festival. This year, the Creative Conference will offer 32 in-person panels during the 11-day festival and 12 virtual panels post festival.
The Creative Conference serves to educate, entertain, engage, and enlighten festival-goers by pulling back the curtain on film and television production. Festival filmmakers share how their projects got made, and industry professionals discuss their craft and the future of the industry. While offering a wide variety of topics, the conference spotlight is on acting, directing, and producing in Georgia.
“This year’s Creative Conference explores building community, developing homegrown projects, and supporting emerging filmmakers from development to post production,” said Linda Burns, a 30-year industry veteran and Creative Conference Director. “We’re excited to offer interactive events with Art of the Pitch and Crowdfunding to Build Independence from Emily Best at Seed&Spark, Improv: Learning to Pivot while Producing from Dad’s Garage, and the wildly popular and epic literary battle Write Club will wrap up the Creative Conference on Friday afternoon.”
Panels feature revealing conversations with some of the most admired and sought-after artists in their respective fields. Highlights include a discussion on the Art of Casting with Casting Society members Erica A. Hart (We Strangers, A Black Lady Sketch Show, That Damn Michael Che), Kate Geller (Bob Trevino Likes It, Molly and Max, Shiva Baby), and Rori Bergman (Powerbook III: Raising Kanan, Rabbit Hole, Retribution). Additionally, Production Designer Christopher Glass joins Molly Coffee, the Creative Director of Film Impact Georgia, for a 1-on-1 conversation about his career, his process, and how he gets the look that defines his projects including Ms Marvel, Amazing Stories, and The Jungle Book. SAG Actors Nelson Bonilla (Sacrifice, Ozark, Buried in Barstow), Mike Pniewski (Hightown, The Good Fight, Madam Secretary), Sharon Conley (Perimeter, NCIS: New Orleans, Rectify), Christina Kari (Law & Order: Organized Crime, The Walking Dead: World Beyond, Queen Sugar), Kurt Yue (Will Trent, Haunted Mansion, General Hospital) and Donielle Hansley (Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead, BMF, Terror Lake Drive) share career advice, how they got their start, and how to build long term relationships in the industry. And panelists Nikka Duarte (Netflix’s The Liberator, Jeb Stuart’s Takeover, George RR Martin’s Night of the Cooters), and Glen Owen (Signing Day) will explore how to develop, pitch, raise funds, and sell original stories produced in Georgia.
As with the lineup of 142 selected works and Marquee screenings, the 2024 Creative Conference programming will highlight underrepresented filmmakers and stories. Panel topics will explore Animation and African Filmmaking, The Journey of Making ‘Color Book’ – Our First Feature – Sponsored by MPA, The Intersection of AI and Cinema: Innovations, Ethics, and the Future, Documentary Funding with ITVS, Cutting Edge Creativity: Voices from the Black & Queer Community, Mental Health and Parenting While Filmmaking, The Directing Challenge, and Latinas in Media among others.
All Creative Conference content, other than in-person panels, will be available for streaming worldwide during the entire 11 days of the festival. In-person panels will not be offered virtually. Festival badges are on sale now at www.AtlantaFilmFestival.com or by clicking here.
The full list of programming for this year’s Creative Conference can be found below. As previously announced, ATLFF’s 2024 lineup of 142 selected works, presented in person or virtually, can be found on the festival’s website here.