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2009 Certified Film Festival Professional Program
December 4-5, 2009
The designation of Certified Film Festival Professional will be awarded to those who have successfully completed the required training program, signifying that they have achieved the premier level of accomplishment in the profession. The certification program is designed to be comprehensive and challenging. It is comprised of a combination of required course work, outside activities, and other demonstrations of mastery of written materials. Once you have completed the CFFP you will possess the fundamental skills and knowledge necessary to successfully operate and manage a film festival. Those who are certified will have the opportunity to be re-certified every five years and must demonstrate continuing achievements in education and service to the industry in order to retain their certification.
What Is It?
The Certified Film Festival Professional Program is a two-day course that provides an in-depth training curriculum covering the most important elements involved in film festival work. The course content for each section is developed by a professional in that field and will be taught using lecture and small group session formats.
Who should take it?
The course is designed for film festival professionals and those interested in acquiring more
knowledge about film festival work, particularly those who aspire to a career as a film festival founder, director, or staff member.
Who are the faculty?
The faculty will be selected by February 2009 and comprised of some of the most esteemed
and accomplished professionals from the industry. Each faculty member will have a minimum of fifteen years of full time festival experience in the core areas of management. Our faculty have real world experience starting and managing some of the most successful and longest running film festivals in North America.
What will you learn?
Enrolled festival professionals will explore principal topics in-depth including: film festival
operations & management; marketing & PR; funding & sponsorship; programming; acquisition & distribution; digital technology solutions; executive management; and long term planning. Operational overviews from film festivals, case studies, and other information will be used to supplement the course materials.
What you need to know
The Inaugural Certified Film Festival Professional Program will be offered as part of the 2009
International Film Festival Summit (IFFS) Las Vegas, 2010 IFFS Europe, and other venues
worldwide as announced. Professionals in the Certified Film Festival Professional Program will receive a $100 discount on their IFFS registration
*The 2009 Certified Film Festival Professional Program is limited to 30 seats. If you or one of
your colleagues is interested please contact us today to learn more about the course and
reserve your seat.
Please contact Wyatt Royce at +1 (561) 277-9452 or wyatt@michaelbass.com
Faculty Biographies
MARK FISHKIN, Founder and Executive Director
California Film Institute
Mark Fishkin is the founder and Executive Director of the California Film Institute, a notfor-
profit institution which maintains the Mill Valley Film Festival, the Christopher B.
Smith Rafael Film Center and an Outreach and Education Program for the cultural
benefit of the Bay Area. He has been its Artistic/Executive Director for twenty-eight of
its thirty-one years. The 32nd Mill Valley Film Festival takes place in October of 2009.
Since founding the Mill Valley Film Festival in 1977, Mr. Fishkin has shepherded the
once small, three-day showcase into an eleven-day, internationally acclaimed event
featuring not only a wide variety of American and international independent films but a
Videofest, Children’s Fest, seminars, and workshops. Under his direction, the Mill Valley
Film Festival has garnered a reputation as a favorite among filmmakers and one of the
most influential festivals in North America.
The Smith Rafael Film Center, a three-screen cinematheque, opened in April, 1999, as
a home for U.S. and international independent films, retrospectives, documentaries, film
festivals, film-related educational programs and movies without traditional distribution.
CFI’s Education program offers free screenings with visiting filmmakers and subjectmatter
experts to area school groups. CFI uses film as an Education tool to enhance
existing curriculum and areas of relevance for students and teachers. Most recently, the
California Film Institute has facilitated the purchase of the landmark Sequoia Theater in
Mill Valley, where the Mill Valley Film Festival has its roots.
Over the last twenty years, he has served on the Boards of the following organizations:
The Marin Arts Council, the Film Arts Foundation, The Management Center and as a
juror for the California Arts Council’s Artists Fellowship Program for Screenwriting, as
well as being a featured speaker at international festivals, including Cannes, Singapore,
and in Australia.
He has been recognized by the Mill Valley Arts Commission with a “Milley” Award for his
contribution to the creative life of the community. He has also received awards from the
Marin Cultural Center and Museum for his distinguished cultural contribution to Marin
County and from the Marin Arts Council for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts. In
September, 2003, he received an honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Dominican
University of California. In December of 2008 Mr. Fishkin received the Director’s Award
of Excellence/International Category at the International Film Festival Summit held in
Las Vegas, NV.
CARL SPENCE, Artistic Director
Seattle International Film Festival
Carl Spence is currently the Artistic Director of SIFF (the Seattle International Film
Festival) and Lead programmer for the Palm Springs International Film Festival. He
previously held the position of Director of Programming at the Palm Springs
International Film Festival for 5 years helping the organization achieve unprecedented
growth and stature. Before his tenure at these two organizations he held the position of
Director of Programming at the San Francisco International Film Festival.
Prior to his work in San Francisco, Carl spent eight years at the Seattle International
Film Festival from 1994 as a programmer and head of marketing & promotions. In 1998
he was promoted to Associate Director of the organization. He began his career
curating film programs, concerts and live performances at the University of Washington
in 1991 followed by a brief stint working as a field publicist for Disney, MGM and other
major film studio clients in Seattle. Carl has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the
University of Washington in Theatre. He has also studied film at the NYU Tisch School
for the Arts and has studied and lived abroad in Japan.
GRAHAM LEGGAT, Executive Director
San Francisco Film Society
Graham Leggat has 19 years experience in the nonprofit arts world, including executive
positions at the American Museum of the Moving Image, The Museum of Modern Art,
and the Film Society of Lincoln Center, and board fixtures at Media Alliance and the
Association of Independent Film and Videomakers. Former publisher of Film Comment
magazine, contributing editor of FILMMAKER magazine, and columnist for the New
York Daily News, Leggat has written widely on various subjects. His first novel, Song of
a Dangerous Paradise, was published in 2007.
BONNIE VOLAND, International Marketing and Publicity
IM Global
Bonnie Voland currently heads international marketing and publicity for IM Global, and
consults for several other companies, including PorchLight Entertainment.
Prior to IM Global, Voland was founder and principal of B. Voland International, an
international publicity, marketing, sales, and co-production consulting company. Her
clients included First Look Studios, Palm Pictures, Live Entertainment, Fine Line
Pictures, Artisan, and Grupo Novo, and many independent films, for both U.S.
distribution and international sales, at the most renowned film festivals and markets
around the world, including Cannes, Toronto, Sundance, Venice, and AFM. She has
also run Golden Globe and Oscar campaigns for several films, including Germany's
2006 nominee for Best Foreign Film, SOPHIE SCHOLL.
Voland also has programmed films for several international film festivals, taught
publicity seminars at UCLA and the Los Angeles Film School, and has been a
moderator and speaker on panels at numerous film festivals. Before opening her own
company, Voland headed the international publicity department at Buena Vista
International, handling all releases for the Disney, Touchstone, and Hollywood Pictures
divisions overseas, for such films as WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT, DEAD POET'S
SOCIETY, PRETTY WOMAN and DICK TRACY. Prior to Disney, Voland was the senior
publicist at The Samuel Goldwyn Company, ran the press office at the Toronto Film
Festival, was a journalist in Paris, and a stage actress while living in New York.
