FNMEC 2026: Inspiring a New Mindset

In June, I attended the FUTURE NOW Media Conference for the first time as both a student and a volunteer. The event lasted just three days, but I left feeling I had cracked open a new well of understanding of something that had eluded me for the longest time. I came with preconceptions of what success, networking, and working in the entertainment industry looked like, and what it meant to ask for mentorship from people who seemed so established in their positions in the industry and in life. 

As a filmmaker and rising senior at Williams College, I also came in with a cloud of uncertainty about my own future, as the media industry has been in constant evolution and facing challenges. I won’t pretend that I left the conference with these preconceptions and anxieties completely lifted from my mind. However, every peer interaction, speed mentoring session, panel, keynote conversation, and media tour helped me develop the mindset I needed to chip away at my doubts and transform my anxieties into something actionable. 

My favorite parts of the conference were the intimate group speed mentoring sessions and the peer-to-peer networking that occurred during breaks and meals. On the first day, we were split into groups and got the opportunity to connect with different industry professionals in thirty-minute increments. Despite the brevity, the mentors were warm, open, and so willing to speak about their experiences in the industry, offer advice to us in the early stages of our careers, and answer our specific questions about the tribulations they’d experienced in their lines of work across the years. 

One of my favorite mentors who spoke with our group was Tyra Hanshaw, a creative production leader. Generous and witty with her responses, I appreciated how frank she was about the difficulties of working as a freelance creative, but also insistent on the impact and value her work brought to the spaces and communities she was a part of. 

One of the most insightful and uplifting pieces of advice she gave our group was “don’t worry about logistics, find opportunities”. She emphasized the flexibility we were all capable of at our ages and urged us to strive openly towards what we wanted at this stage in our careers; everything else would fall into place. 

All of the mentors I had the opportunity to speak with offered so much wisdom: Stuart Feldman, Patalia Tate, Brendan Kneeland, Brad Samuels, Dana Sohn, among others, and I’m incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to learn and grow from our short interactions. 

Speaking with the other students at the event was another highlight of the conference for me. Connections and collaboration are the bedrock of filmmaking, and over the course of the three days, I was lucky enough to get the chance to speak to other filmmakers who were also navigating their own journeys in a competitive industry. 

Because of the lack of a film major at my school, it’s often been difficult to broaden my filmmaking network and build creative connections. The conference offered me an opportunity to connect with people who had similar passions and backgrounds to mine, who were also looking for consistent collaborators to uplift one another’s projects in a multitude of ways. I’m very excited about the LinkedIn connections, Instagram exchanges, and email swaps I ended up with after three days: hopeful future filmmaking partners. 

All in all, the FUTURE NOW conference has offered me an invaluable experience that is merely the beginning of a long journey. A glimpse of what’s to come and the mindset and community I can draw from as I navigate my way through.