Film Fridays at CIFF brings together two of the most respected voices in independent film distribution for a candid, practical conversation about what happens after a film is made—and what filmmakers should be thinking about long before that point.

Jon Reiss, filmmaker, author of THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX OFFICE, and founder of 8 Above, has spent years helping independent filmmakers build audiences, develop smarter release strategies, and take greater control of distribution. Orly Ravid, founder of The Film Collaborative, brings decades of experience in sales, licensing, distribution, business affairs, rights, and entertainment law.

Together, they will explore how filmmakers can find their audience, evaluate distribution options, protect their rights, build leverage, avoid bad deals, and navigate the rapidly changing independent film market. For emerging filmmakers, this is a roadmap. For experienced filmmakers, it’s an opportunity to gain hard-earned strategies from two people who have championed independent films for decades.

Moderated by filmmaker and New Path Pictures co-founder Tom Acton.

[PANELIST] Jon Reiss is a filmmaker, author and media strategist who wrote the book THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX OFFICE. His company, 8 Above, creates custom audience-building strategies, theatrical experiences, and digital release campaigns for independent feature and documentary films. Reiss has consulted with hundreds of filmmakers and film organizations around the world, most recently THE LIBRARIANS, WHO MOVES AMERICA, BIRDS OF WAR, STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE, and HOLDING LIAT. He has conducted workshops on six continents and helped create and run the IFP/Gotham Filmmaker Lab for ten years.

In 2023 he created the 8 Above Distribution Lab to teach filmmakers how to distribute and market their films. He writes about distribution and marketing on his 8 Above Substack. Last year he co-founded the Future Film Coalition a new organization to research and advocate for the economic sustainability of independent film.

Jon got his start in filmmaking and distribution at the infamous San Francisco documentary collective Target Video. He not only shot seminal bands such as Black Flag, Iggy Pop, Throbbing Gristle, and The Cramps, but was one of the first – if not the first -  person to conceptualize and execute video tours throughout Europe, carting 500 lbs. of video deck and projector in a VW Bus across 15,000 miles.

[PANELIST] As the co-founder and co-executive director of The Film Collaborative (TFC), an entertainment attorney, and a professor of law and associate dean of the Biederman Entertainment, Media, & Sports Law Institute at Southwestern Law School, Orly Ravid balances a career in independent film and entertainment law. At Southwestern Law School, Orly also directs the pro bono Entertainment & the Arts Legal Clinic.

Previously, Orly was an entertainment attorney at Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP (MSK) and senior counsel at Tubi. She now practices at her own firm, Creative Arts Legal, LLP. Orly has more than 25 years of experience in independent film as an acquisitions and business affairs executive, with expertise spanning all aspects of distribution, domestic and international sales and licensing, development, production, grassroots marketing, and festival programming.

Orly began speaking publicly about VOD distribution and rights splitting in the early 2000s. She launched TFC’s Digital Distribution Guide, as well as many other resources in its Distripedia™, which the organization continues to update and offer for free today.

Orly was a distribution executive at Senator Entertainment and Wolfe Releasing, and served as a programming associate for documentaries at the Sundance Film Festival and as a programming consultant for both the Palm Springs International Film Festival and the Middle East Film Festival in Abu Dhabi.

A regular panelist, educator, and blogger on digital distribution, rights splitting, and distribution more broadly, Orly speaks at film festivals around the world and oversees TFC’s Distripedia educational resources. She has also contributed to indieWIRE, Ted Hope’s blog Truly Free Film, TFC’s blog, and Sundance’s Artist Services, for which she served as an advisor.

Orly co-authored the book series Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul and contributed to How Not to Sign a Film Contract. A passionate advocate for filmmakers, she has also begun providing executive producer services for documentaries while continuing to practise entertainment law through her firm, Creative Arts Legal, LLP.

[MODERATOR] A multi-time award-winning filmmaker and entrepreneur with experience across development, financing, and production in Canada and internationally, spanning documentaries, series, and commercial work. He has worked inside the constraints this model is built to solve, from fragmented financing to opaque deal structures, and brings the production and execution perspective behind New Path Pictures.