Las Vegas is hosting a championship prize fight, the usual long and diverse list of entertainers, a half-marathon … and the International Film Festival Summit – a few hundred of the leaders of the world’s top film festivals. I’m honored to be keynoting the Summit on Sunday.

Film festivals began 70 years ago, with one in Venice; we’ve had them in the US for more than 50 years. I first got involved when I joined the San Francisco International Film Festival Board (the country’s second oldest) 20 years ago. Film festivals are incredibly critical to independent films – they have traditionally been the first (and sometimes, the only) source for many film fans to see new filmmakers, daring projects, experimental efforts, and groundbreaking calls for social change. Their leadership provides crucial local curation, especially at this time (as my friend Eugene Hernandez, indieWIRE’s Editor in Chief, has said) when local film critics are losing their jobs and it’s becoming harder to find other informed local perspectives on indie films.

It’s also a tough time for festivals – the economic melt-down is hitting them and all non-profits especially hard. Sunday, I’m going to be proposing a series of concrete steps we at SnagFilms and indieWIRE will be taking to try to help. We will be offering a year-round web presence for festivals and their fans; additional financial and marketing resources; and distribution for the films they champion. Like our work with filmmakers and charities, we know we won’t change the world for film festivals over night – but we are committed to helping. And we hope you will too.

Rick Allen

CEO, SnagFilms