Dear Catalyst Community, We hope you are doing well and staying healthy during these strange times. As millions of people are now spending more of their days indoors, they are turning to TV, film, podcasts, and storytelling to stay connected with the world. The power of storytelling has never been more obvious and impactful. While the world is figuring out how to respond to this pandemic, our team is focused on the best ways we can support you by adapting our organization's plan for the months ahead. Our core mission of championing you and other independent voices will never change.
UPDATE: The Catalyst Storieroad Institute is still active and working with artists to develop their projects and advance their careers. Our goal is to use this time to get you as ready as possible for when the industry "re-opens".
UPDATE: The 2020 festival is still scheduled as planned for Sept 30-Oct 4 in Duluth, MN. We expect final decisions to be made later this summer. If you have already enrolled in the Storieroad institute, below are some important updates for the process ahead. If you have not enrolled yet, you can still enroll here.
All of our in-person educational events for May & June are being moved to online seminar formats.
We are accelerating the timetable of your initial one-on-one development project meeting. This is an important first step towards more potential industry meetings with executives, mentors, and agents. This initial meeting will now take place in May & June, instead of later in the summer as originally planned. You'll receive a scheduling link to book your meeting time with our Executive Director, Philip Gilpin, Jr. to discuss your career and projects.
We are accelerating the development and launch of our online jobs board. Once this shutdown is over, productions will launch again and we want to give you as much access to as many jobs as possible.
To help promote your projects, we are looking into setting up an online viewing portal for all Catalyst shows, scripts, and pitches. More info to come.
We have begun talks with local and industry partners about establishing funding sources to support independent artists & productions that could potentially shoot in MN. These are in early stages but are showing some promise.
These are a few immediate steps we are taking to adapt to this new reality. More updates will be sent as our plans progress. Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our Catalyst community, so we will be following federal, state, and local guidance in the months ahead. It is our hope, based on the current information we have, that in-person events can resume this summer and the festival will be held as normal in early October. Stay healthy and keep creating!
