The basic aim of the initiative is to offer a reserved and proactive environment for professionals from different industry backgrounds (distributors, exhibitors, producers, international sales agents, funding bodies, broadcasters, platforms and delegates from film festivals and markets) to share their own experience, interact, get inspired by one another, and look at how they can implement new behaviours, practices and business models.
Last year, during the global lockdown, we turned our program in 3 online sessions in partnership with Variety to address the extraordinary situation we were facing and figure out what was going to happen in 3 different fields: theatrical distribution, production, film festivals & markets.
Now that the different sectors of our industry are trying to get back on tracks, there’s an elephant in the room that still needs to be addressed. To put it bluntly: do we think our industry is a healthy place to work in? While we are in a rush to go back to normal, we strongly believe we should take some time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to. Because clearly there were a few dysfunctional things going on in our industry which the pandemic, if anything, has made even more evident. And since we have all been forced, in a way or another, to reset, reboot and restart, we might as well take this opportunity to do it with the right foot.
This is why StepIn 2021 is going to take a different approach, in order to tackle some crucial issues, such as mental health, gender equality, diversity representation, inclusion and economic fairness; introduce some good practices, and envision together a better future.
The day-long event will comprise an out-of-the-box introduction, an opening keynote, a private roundtable and a wrap-up session. Exceptionally in 2021, StepIn program is by invitation only. Nevertheless, Industry badgeholders can find the live streams of the Opening Keynote and Wrap up on the Locarno Pro Reserved Area.
StepIn is organized with the support of Eurimages, in partnership with Variety and in collaboration with Europa Cinemas, Europa Distribution and Europa International.
