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Recorded Session,
Overview: Join us for an in-depth and lively workshop on navigating your budget with Kathryn Spitz Cohan (Founder/Retired Executive Director, Film Pittsburgh) and Barbara Twist (Executive Director, Film Festival Alliance). We’ll cover core budgeting philosophies, common pitfalls, and practical strategies for building a budget that can flex under pressure. Whether you’re building a budget from scratch, adjusting mid-year after a lost grant, or trying to build in more resilience for an uncertain future, this workshop will bring new insights, real world examples, and important tools.
Objective: By the end of this workshop, you’ll walk away with a set of practical tactics and strategies to build a more resilient budget, plan for funding disruptions, and even revise your budget mid-year.
Who Should Attend: This workshop is designed for Executive Directors, Managing Directors, and people leading the budgeting process for their organizations. Learners at all levels are welcome.
Workshop Agenda:
You can expect to become more familiar with the following concepts and strategies as part of this workshop.
Budgeting mindset & philosophy: Learn how long-time leaders approach budget-building with strategy and flexibility in mind.
Planning for resilience: Explore real tactics for building in contingency, forecasting conservatively, and adapting to shifting conditions. How do you pivot mid-year? Plan for an uncertain future?
Building from scratch or simply updating from last year: Kathryn and Barbara will cover the budgetmaking process, whether from scratch or forecasting for the upcoming year, getting granular with line items.
Case studies: Barbara Twist will walk through the detailed budget reforecasting process for Film Festival Alliance after the loss of an anticipated NEA grant; participants will have the opportunity to share specific examples from their own budgeting process.
Q&A and Group Discussion: Bring your toughest budget questions—this session allows time for individualized discussion and shared problem-solving.
About Kathryn Spitz Cohan:
Kathryn Spitz Cohan is the Founder and former Executive Director of Film Pittsburgh, where, since 2001, she oversaw programs including Three Rivers Film Festival, Pittsburgh Shorts and Script Competition, JFilm Festival, ReelAbilities Pittsburgh, Teen Screen, and the Robinson Short Film Competition. Previously, Ms. Spitz Cohan served as Artistic and Education Director of Shakespeare-in-the-Schools at the University of Pittsburgh, where she also taught for the Katz School of Business, Film Studies, and the Department of Theatre Arts. Ms. Spitz Cohan was named one of the city's top 50 cultural forces by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and received an Opal Award from Women in Film and Media–Pittsburgh for exemplary professional achievement and contributions to the economic and cultural development of the region. Kathryn is a graduate of Northwestern University.
About Barbara Twist:
Barbara Twist is the Executive Director of the Film Festival Alliance, a nonprofit for festivals and the people who run them. She has extensive experience in distribution and exhibition, and her previous work includes Director of Partnerships at Vidiots, leading up to the recent re-launch and opening of the Eagle Theater, as well as Art House Convergence, Europa International, and others. Barbara is one of the organizers of IND/EX, the largest gathering of independent Exhibitors and Distributors in North America, and has been a key force behind exciting discussion series and new initiatives to address the distribution crisis - including most recently The Popcorn List, highlighting exceptional films that have yet to secure distribution after a festival premiere.
Recorded Session,
Overview: Join us for an in-depth and lively workshop on navigating your budget with Kathryn Spitz Cohan (Founder/Retired Executive Director, Film Pittsburgh) and Barbara Twist (Executive Director, Film Festival Alliance). We’ll cover core budgeting philosophies, common pitfalls, and practical strategies for building a budget that can flex under pressure. Whether you’re building a budget from scratch, adjusting mid-year after a lost grant, or trying to build in more resilience for an uncertain future, this workshop will bring new insights, real world examples, and important tools.
Objective: By the end of this workshop, you’ll walk away with a set of practical tactics and strategies to build a more resilient budget, plan for funding disruptions, and even revise your budget mid-year.
Who Should Attend: This workshop is designed for Executive Directors, Managing Directors, and people leading the budgeting process for their organizations. Learners at all levels are welcome.
Workshop Agenda:
You can expect to become more familiar with the following concepts and strategies as part of this workshop.
Budgeting mindset & philosophy: Learn how long-time leaders approach budget-building with strategy and flexibility in mind.
Planning for resilience: Explore real tactics for building in contingency, forecasting conservatively, and adapting to shifting conditions. How do you pivot mid-year? Plan for an uncertain future?
Building from scratch or simply updating from last year: Kathryn and Barbara will cover the budgetmaking process, whether from scratch or forecasting for the upcoming year, getting granular with line items.
Case studies: Barbara Twist will walk through the detailed budget reforecasting process for Film Festival Alliance after the loss of an anticipated NEA grant; participants will have the opportunity to share specific examples from their own budgeting process.
Q&A and Group Discussion: Bring your toughest budget questions—this session allows time for individualized discussion and shared problem-solving.
About Kathryn Spitz Cohan:
Kathryn Spitz Cohan is the Founder and former Executive Director of Film Pittsburgh, where, since 2001, she oversaw programs including Three Rivers Film Festival, Pittsburgh Shorts and Script Competition, JFilm Festival, ReelAbilities Pittsburgh, Teen Screen, and the Robinson Short Film Competition. Previously, Ms. Spitz Cohan served as Artistic and Education Director of Shakespeare-in-the-Schools at the University of Pittsburgh, where she also taught for the Katz School of Business, Film Studies, and the Department of Theatre Arts. Ms. Spitz Cohan was named one of the city's top 50 cultural forces by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and received an Opal Award from Women in Film and Media–Pittsburgh for exemplary professional achievement and contributions to the economic and cultural development of the region. Kathryn is a graduate of Northwestern University.
About Barbara Twist:
Barbara Twist is the Executive Director of the Film Festival Alliance, a nonprofit for festivals and the people who run them. She has extensive experience in distribution and exhibition, and her previous work includes Director of Partnerships at Vidiots, leading up to the recent re-launch and opening of the Eagle Theater, as well as Art House Convergence, Europa International, and others. Barbara is one of the organizers of IND/EX, the largest gathering of independent Exhibitors and Distributors in North America, and has been a key force behind exciting discussion series and new initiatives to address the distribution crisis - including most recently The Popcorn List, highlighting exceptional films that have yet to secure distribution after a festival premiere.