{"product_id":"how-to-navigate-the-austin-film-festival","title":"How to Navigate the Austin Film Festival","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cf01.stage32.com\/products\/nova\/uploads\/product_tinymce_6acfea502487a.png\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHeading to Austin Film Festival? Don’t go unprepared.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eJoin Ashley Smith, Stage 32 Head of Community, and Noel Thompson, award-winning producer, filmmaker, and Stage 32 Writers’ Room Weekly Pitch Practice Co-Host, for a free live webcast designed to help you maximize every moment of your AFF experience.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eThis year you’re getting the festival from both perspectives. Ashley has worked AFF from the Stage 32 side for years and knows how the festival runs behind the scenes, from how to pick up your badge and sign up for pitch roundtables, to how to network authentically without being “that person.” Noel is a longtime Stage 32 member and AFF attendee who has walked the festival as a writer and filmmaker, and she spends every week coaching writers on their pitches in the Writers’ Room’s Pitch Practice sessions. She can tell you which panels to prioritize, how to prepare ahead of the big week, and what it’s like pitching live. Together they’ll share insider tips you won’t find in the program guide and help you build a game plan so you can walk into Austin with confidence.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003eAnd if you’re attending in person, you’ll learn exactly where to find Stage 32 at the festival, including our 13th Annual Rooftop Bash on Friday, October 30th.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003eAnd bring your questions because we'll open it up to a Q\u0026amp;A at the end.\u003c\/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e \u003c\/div\u003e\r\n\u003cdiv\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAbout Your Hosts\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAshley Smith\u003c\/strong\u003e is the Head of Community at Stage 32, where she leads a global community of 1.5 million film, television, and theater creatives, connecting members with the resources, events, and people who move their careers forward. A veteran of the Austin Film Festival and festivals worldwide, including Cannes, she’ll be on the ground in Austin all weekend.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNoel Thompson\u003c\/strong\u003e is an award-winning producer and filmmaker. Noel came to screenwriting after watching Indiana Jones as a kid growing up in New Jersey, which inspired her to become an archaeologist. She excavated in Belize, Spain, and Egypt before receiving a Master’s degree from The University of Chicago based on research at the Giza Pyramids’ Khufu Solar Boat. Her adventures continued to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where she was inspired to write a tango-ghost story feature, now in development. Noel hosts the Stage 32 Writers’ Room’s weekly Pitch Practice sessions, giving writers feedback as they craft the perfect pitch for producers and studio executives, along with a bi-monthly table read and script critique session on writers’ first ten pages, and private script consultations. She is currently producing and set to direct her feature script SNOWDRIFT, a taut film noir set in rural Appalachia, based on the short film she wrote and directed, which is currently showing at film festivals.\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\u003c\/div\u003e\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cf01.stage32.com\/products\/nova\/uploads\/product_tinymce_6acfea5acbe5b.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1070\" height=\"132\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Stage 32","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":67712038666547,"sku":null,"price":0.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0700\/7728\/4659\/files\/odfuN3CCBv02cDl70fwI70HsNNRIJFmjbMc89acv.png?v=1792011377","url":"https:\/\/stage32.myshopify.com\/products\/how-to-navigate-the-austin-film-festival","provider":"Stage 32","version":"1.0","type":"link"}