(left to right) Ted Hope, Ann Hornaday, Ron Yerxa, Susan Fox, Albert Berger, Phil Contrino, Karyn Temple, Derval Whelan
NATO’s Director of Media & Research Phil Contrino joined moderator Ann Hornaday and an esteemed panel to discuss the future of cinema at the 2024 Middleburg Film Festival. The panelists were:
Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa (Producers, Nebraska, Little Miss Sunshine, Election)
Susan Fox (Senior VP, Government Relations, The Walt Disney Company)
Ted Hope (Producer, former head of Amazon Original Movies)
Karyn Temple (Senior Executive VP & Global General Counsel, Motion Picture Association)
Derval Whelan (Head of Distribution, VP, Sales, Searchlight Pictures)
The wide-ranging conversation dealt with many topics including how important low-to-mid budget films are to movie theatres, the perception of movie theatres among consumers, and the opportunities and challenges that filmmakers and distributors are encountering.
The Middleburg Film Festival, founded in 2013, offers a carefully curated selection of narrative and documentary films screen in intimate theatre environments, followed by fascinating conversations with world-renowned filmmakers, actors, and other special guests. The films include festival favorites, world and regional premieres, first-class foreign films, and Oscar contenders.
At the 2024 festival, Conclave and September 5 shared the Audience Award.
