One Step In Fear

And now let's talk about fear. Not in terms of horror, but in terms of the future. The right day to do so will be August 8. That's when the 2019 edition of StepIn will meet the the independent and auteur cinema of tomorrow and question it, trying to study its fears and understand the risks. 

Under the heading What Are We Afraid Of?, the 2019 edition of StepIn will address some of the main “fears” haunting the film industry. Chief among these is the worry over whether independent filmmaking will continue to be relevant, both as an art form and as entertainment. There are many related concerns: what does the future hold for production and theatrical distribution of independent products, especially foreign-language films? What will be the impact of streaming platforms and new technologies? We will be trying to debunk some of the common misconceptions, perhaps discovering that things are not quite as bad as some people think.

Through an opening keynote session, backed up by four dedicated workgroups, we will address on-going changes in independent filmmaking in terms of formats and funding opportunities; we will explore theatrical box office performance, which in the past year showed highly inconsistent results across various countries; we will analyze promotion and communication strategies for foreign-language films around the world, in collaboration with European Film Promotion; lastly, we will introduce for the first time a sector which is becoming increasingly important and decisive in filmmaking, by taking a look at the role of talent agencies.

Here you will find all the information and the StepIn 2019 program.