It's All About *Perspective*

Hey y'all,

We hope you had an amazing summer. Fall is now fast approaching, and with it comes IMI Fest 2024!

Today we're revealing our theme for this year's festival and also the exciting launch of Camp IMI.

But before we even get into all of that, we have yet another exciting announcement to share with you!

Calling All Podcasters

Are you — or do you know — an up-and-coming audio producer we should all know more about?

We are thrilled to announce a new partnership with Radiotopia from PRX, the network of legendary independent podcasts, including Ear Hustle, Song Exploder, and Normal Gossip.

The Radiotopia team will be at IMI Fest this year, and they are putting out an open call to select two audio producers to be their special guests here at the festival - and yes, all expenses are paid!

Click here for more information and to apply. The deadline is Tuesday, October 15, 2024 at 5pm ET.

WhyMI?

So: why IMI Fest?

Inspired by the legacy of the Sundance Film Festival, we wanted to create a space to bring together independent creators, educators, storytellers, and industry professionals from different disciplines to feel inspired and to be celebrated.

The centerpiece of the festival is the presentation of the IMI Awards, which is to honor exceptional independent creators and celebrate the intrinsic educational and artistic value of their work.

In November 2023 we hosted the inaugural IMI Fest and it was wonderful to welcome a wide variety of independent creators to connect and inspire one another in their creative endeavors.

Check out the highlights from IMI Fest 2023 below, or head to our YouTube channel where you can see the award winners; acceptance speeches, the full Audio Flux event, and more!

IMI Fest brings independent creators together to inspire and encourage each other. Here's how IMI Fest 2023 has impacted a handful of exceptional creators!

"We came away inspired and encouraged to keep building on our momentum with Audio Flux, and grateful to have planted the seeds of collaboration with new friends and potential creative partners."

Julie Shapiro

Co-Founder of Audio Flux

"It was deeply meaningful to hear, watch, and engage with work from folks in so many disciplines — all of us navigating what it means to create independently in a precarious time."

Aaron Edwards

Writer, story editor, and director

"IMI Fest is unique in bringing together completely different creative disciplines into one room. It makes you realize how big the world is and how many different perspectives there are"

Ryan Ng

Filmmaker

IMI Fest 2024

Perspective is this year's festival focus. This theme celebrates one of the best parts of independent media: that creators can use online platforms to share their unique perspective to make exceptional work.

It also reminds us that we have a lot of work to do in shifting the public’s perception of independent media. Is YouTube a dangerous and addictive entertainment site, or the world’s largest platform for human expression?

We're looking forward to digging in to these kinds of questions with you guys soon!

Here's just a taste of what we have on offer at this year's festival...

Workshop day: A day packed full of compelling unconference sessions, guided tours of various Austin-based creative businesses, and opportunities to chat with fellow creatives about the challenges we each face in 2024 as creators.

Show & Tell: Back by popular demand, we're providing an opportunity for you to come and share what project you're currently working on. Or perhaps you want a live audience of like-minded creators to run an idea by and welcome some feedback.

Awards Dinner: Not only will we present the IMI Awards for 2024's winners, but once again we'll be catering an exquisite sit-down meal followed by another epic after-party that's not to be missed!

Camp IMI

One of our goals for IMI Fest is to mix established creators with newcomers. We always want to be sourcing and elevating the next great voices!

IMI Fest is a great opportunity for up-and-coming creators to meet their heroes, find community, and gain skills, but it can also be overwhelming for them to be thrown into the mix. To address this, we added a whole day of the festival just for these creators to meet each other and talk about their specific set of challenges before the rest of the attendees show up.

Creators attending Camp IMI will arrive on November 13th for a full day of activities on November 14th just for them. After we celebrate their work they’ll head into the welcome party with the rest of the IMI Fest creators.

We've rented out an entire hotel to host all of our creators, but Camp IMI attendees will have their very own wing with an upgraded college dormitory feel.

Want to attend Camp IMI or know someone who should? Drop us a line at info@theimi.co and tell us more about why you think you (or they) would be a good fit.

Staff Picks

Stuart Co-Founder Blacktail Studio 50 Layers of Denim and Epoxy	Elaine Co-Founder Answer in Progress why you were forced to learn the recorder in school	Kyndal Chief of Staff Bailey Sarian When The Purge happened In America
Dan Head of Partnerships Righteous Robot GRUFF	Amanda Media Production Bobby Duke Arts I Made a Perfect Miniature Working Ghibli House	Robert Editor & Producer Every Frame a Painting The Sustained Two-Shot

See the full playlist on YouTube.

See you soon! 🤠