Announcing the Industry Days Schedule, Oct 14-17

The 57th Chicago International Film Festival announced today the program for Industry Days, to be held October 14 – 17, 2021, with an impressive list of guest speakers to inspire and illuminate the film and entertainment community.

Highlights include this year’s Keynote talk with Brenda Gilbert, President and Co-Founder of BRON Studios, which has received six Academy Award wins for films such as Fences, Joker, Bombshell, Roman J. Israel, Esq., and Judas and the Black Messiah; a State of the Industry conversation with Nancy Utley, former co-head of Searchlight Pictures, and Chan Phung, Searchlight’s current Senior Vice President Acquisitions and Production; and a Screenwriting Master Class with Oscar-nominated writer Virgil Williams (Mudbound, this year’s A Journal For Jordan).

This year’s Industry Days will also feature panel discussions, featuring leading film industry executives from such companies as IFC Films, and Decision-Maker Roundtable meetings, where registered badgeholders will get the opportunity to speak in small groups with executives from talent agencies including CAA, Cinetic Media, William Morris Endeavor, and Verve, among others.

“Despite the pandemic, film and TV production continues to flourish in Chicago and beyond, and Industry Days remains a vital place for people from all corners of the industry to come together, both virtually and in-person,” said Chicago International Film Festival Senior Programmer Anthony Kaufman. “We look forward to bolstering Chicago-area and Chicago international Film Festival filmmakers with powerful discussions and substantive meetings.”

All in-person panel events are held on Saturday, Oct. 16, at WoodWind, 259 E Erie St 18th floor, Chicago, IL 60611. Sunday’s in-person networking event will take place at Cinespace Chicago Film Studios.

Since its inception in 2015, Industry Days at the Chicago International Film Festival has hosted an impressive lineup of film executives, creatives, and entertainment professionals, including Oscar®-winning director Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Michael Barker (Sony Pictures Classics), Bob Berney (Picturehouse) and Charles D. King (Macro), Hollywood producers Dede Gardner, Gigi Pritzker, James D. Stern, and Albert Berger, and award-winning and celebrated creatives, including screenwriter John Logan, composer Terence Blanchard, director and editor Sam Pollard, and director and actor Joe Swanberg. All events are open to registered Industry Days passholders.

View the full schedule and register here.