Using Film Festival Events to Fundraise and Build Community

This presentation serves as an introduction to the World Trails Film Festival and looks behind the scenes to better understand advocacy festivals and how they serve their mission and benefit host communities.

There are many advocacy film festivals in the conservation and outdoor recreation space that feature films of epic adventures in nature, but many times the trails supporting these stories fade to the background. The World Trails Film Festival aims to help highlight the otherwise invisible thread weaving all these stories together and celebrate the many diverse reasons why trails matter. Additionally, the festival showcases many important related themes including trails in cities, mental health, trail-building, the environment, accessibility, and more.

The first part of this webinar covers the general functions of advocacy film festivals like the World Trails Film Festival, including why they exist, how they work with filmmakers to screen films, and what audience experiences are available over the course of a year.

Next, the presentation covers the motivations for hosts of festival events. From large multi-day events to single-night fundraising events, film screenings can be impactful events that bring together community members, business leaders, sponsors, and partnering organizations. Attendees will consider the cost-benefits for a range of events of various sizes.

The presentation is concluded by highlight important considerations for hosting film festival events including goal identification, venue selection, equipment needs, audience size, and marketing. Attendees will be able to leave the workshop with a framework to help facilitate drafting a film festival event action plan.

Join us for the North American Premiere of the World Trails Film Festival at the International Trails Summit (ITS) in Reno, Nevada in April 2023! ITS attendees are invited for free to the Tuesday night event on April 18 in the Celebrity Showroom at the Nugget Casino Resort. An additional filming is taking place on Thursday, April 20 that is open to the public but requires a ticket purchase. Benefits from the public showing benefit local nonprofit, Truckee Meadows Parks Foundation.

Learning Objectives:

• Gain a general introduction into advocacy film festivals like the World Trails Film Festival and learn how festivals relate to filmmakers and audience communities.
• Learn the potential benefits of hosting film festival events for small and large trail organizations.
• Learn how to navigate the main considerations for hosting film festival events including venue, audience size, and marketing.