Quick plug: Sundance panel on 'Rights Licensing in the New Era of Distribution'

The Sundance Film Festival hosts a number of free panel discussions and events that don't require a ticket; just search for "Panels & Events" here. (But if there's a code like "PATHR22PA" in the bottom right hand corner of the description page that pops up when you click "More," that means you do need a ticket.)

The panel I'm moderating this year is about how new distribution opportunities are changing the way filmmakers and distributors deal with rights. Here's the description:

Internet platforms, video-on-demand, mobile devices, and indie film pay-per-view are no longer a dream--they are the reality of the new world of distribution. But complexities abound, creating a need to make sense of revenue models, developing technologies, and evolving methods of exhibition. Hear major players, service providers, and filmmakers tackle the issues that surround today's licensing/distribution opportunities.

It'll be held at noon on Wednesday, January 24th at the New Frontier (formerly the Film Center, and before that, the Digital Center) at 333 Main Street, lower level.

The panelists will include Diane Robina, president of Comcast/Sony Networks, and before that EVP of acquisitions strategies at MTV Networks; Tracy Mercer of Clickstar; Orly Ravid from Wolfe Releasing; Jean Prewitt of the Independent Film & TV Association (formerly AFMA); and David Straus, CEO of Withoutabox.

If you're there, do come up and say hello afterward!

(Slamdance also has some great panels on new production technology and new distribution options.)