We were lucky to catch up with Brendon Rogers recently and have shared our conversation below.

Brendon, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Has Covid resulted in any major changes to your business model?

The last time there was a pandemic of this level, film festivals didn’t exist. All film festivals in the world have had to adopt a more organic and “real time” business model to reflect the changing circumstances, based on their location and whether or not their venue was even open at any given time. While we were lucky in that our festival theater was open and we could hold a non-virtual event, being an international festival, we’ve had to contend with travel restrictions for our filmmakers, who fly in from all over the world. The pandemic has also influenced our expansion projects; both a monthly screening series along with a master class series that we’ve developed in conjunction with our educational partners.

Brendon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Anyone working in the arts must be prepared for turns in the road. As an actor/writer/director/producer, the last thing I ever imagined was to be offered the stewardship of an established international film festival. One of my producing partners and I just happened to have two of our films accepted into the Central Florida Film Festival at the exact time that the founder/executive director was looking to step down to focus more on producing and directing more of his own films.

I accepted the opportunity, when offered. immediately. Running a film festival allows my team and I the opportunity to help emerging filmmakers to get more exposure for their projects and feedback from attending audiences, along with networking with other filmmakers across our festival weekend.

I feel that the promotion of cinema as art is incredibly important to any region or community. The arts is one of the few areas of the public square that can address social issues without the stigma of politics or agendas. By addressing serious subject matter in the form of a narrative, movies can always be ahead of the curve (since everyone loves a good story).

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I’ve found that resilience is simply never giving up; to turn your dreams into goals. No matter what winning means to you when you start down a path to what you feel is your “dream”, life has a way of throwing other opportunities at you. They may not be what you set out to achieve, but they can help you get there by ways you hadn’t imagined at the outset. The road to success has many, many twists and turns. It’s so important to seize upon opportunities as they present themselves to you along the way….they may not be what you initially wanted, but they can open doors you haven’t imagined existed to get you to that goal.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

Simply put, managing a team means EMPOWERING a team. While your team should always have the goals of the organization in mind, each member of the team also wants something that is important to them, personally. It’s a matter of helping them hone their skills to achieve the goals, not only of your company, but their own personal goals as well. If your organization can help your individual team members accomplish both, it’s a winning combination every time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.centralfloridafilmfestival.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/centralfloridafilmfestival
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CentralFloridaFilmFestival
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/CENFLO

Image Credits
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