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58th Chicago International Film Festival Announces 2022 Industry Days Conference

Four-Day Conference for Entertainment Industry Professionals to Feature Inspiring Workshops, Networking Events, and The Pitch at 58th Chicago International Film Festival


CHICAGO - The Chicago International Film Festival, presented by Cinema/Chicago, today announced this year’s Industry Days will be held October 13-16, 2022 during the Festival in downtown Chicago. Early Bird badges are on sale now for qualified participants to secure registration at the lowest price for the four-day premier Midwestern conference for content creators and entertainment professionals. Registration prices will increase to the regular rate on September 1. Film and media professionals interested in attending should apply for credentials at http://chicagofilmfestival.com/industrydays.


“Industry Days is the place for Chicago’s creative communities--from indie filmmakers to the area’s TV and commercial makers--to come together with industry leaders from across the country,” said Anthony Kaufman, Industry Days Senior Programmer. “For the last several years, the conference is proud to have helped filmmakers to make their films and find distribution.”


Industry Days is the Chicago International Film Festival’s hub for filmmakers and industry professionals to connect, share ideas, and be inspired. This year’s edition will offer networking events, workshops, and master classes examining the current and future of the media landscape, in addition to roundtable meetings and a competitive curated pitch session with this year’s Chicago Industry Exchange Lab (CIX: Lab) participants.


Since its inception, Industry Days has hosted an impressive lineup of film executives, entertainment professionals, and major talents, including Oscar-winning director Steve McQueen, Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan; Oscar-nominated composer Terence Blanchard; producers Dede Gardner, Ted Hope, Gigi Pritzker, James D. Stern, and MACRO CEO Charles D. King; and veteran distribution executives Michael Barker, Richard Lorber, and Tom Quinn. Representatives from the following companies have attended panels and talks: Cinetic Media, CAA, Gravitas Ventures, IFC Films, Kartemquin Films, Kickstarter, Icarus Films, Magnolia Pictures, MPI Media, Music Box Films, Netflix, Neon, The Orchard, Oscilloscope Laboratories, Preferred Content, the United Talent Agency, and William Morris Endeavor.



Submissions are also open for CIX: Lab, the year-long fiction feature film development lab hosted by Cinema/Chicago and the Chicago International Film Festival.


With the goal of spotlighting and supporting high quality work from Chicago and the Midwest, the Chicago Industry Exchange invites filmmakers with narrative fiction feature films to participate in its second year-round quarterly development program, focused on script development, directing, producing and pre-production, and pitching, finally culminating in The Pitch in Fall 2023, where the filmmakers will pitch their projects in front of a live audience and a panel of industry judges.


Past award-winning projects at The Pitch have been invited to the Tribeca Film Institute All Access Fellowship, IFP New York’s 2016 Project Forum Film Slate No Borders program, and Tribeca Film Institute’s TFI Network. Films that started out as Pitch projects include Signature Move (2017), Knives and Skin (2019), Once Upon a River (2019), and The Year Between (2022).


For more information and to submit for the CIX: Lab, please go to: https://www.chicagofilmfestival.com/industry/lab/


The full Industry Days schedule of events will be released in September. For full Industry Days details and to register for credentials visit http://chicagofilmfestival.com/industrydays.


2022 Industry Days Partners and Supporters

Industry Days is supported by Camera Ambassador, Cinelease, Dark Matter Coffee, Light Iron, Panavision, Periscope Post & Audio, and SAGindie. Additional support is provided by the Illinois Film Office and the Chicago Film Office. This program is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, and a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.


The Chicago International Film Festival, presented by Cinema/Chicago, takes place October 12-23, 2022 at the AMC River East 21 (322 E. Illinois St.), Music Box Theatre (3733 N. Southport Ave.) and the Gene Siskel Film Center (164 N. State St.) Full details can be found at http://www.chicagofilmfestival.com.


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