[Editor’s note: this is the first of two guest posts from Reinaldo Marcus Green about his experiences at this year’s IFP Independent Film Week. Green was one of our 25 New Faces of Film this year; click here to read that profile.]

IFP’s Independent Film Week is an exciting time in New York City, where both aspiring and established filmmakers — writers, directors and producers — come together to share their stories. For one week, NYC becomes the world’s premier destination for independent film, television, and web-series development.

It’s a time when nomadic filmmakers feel like they have a home. Oftentimes our work can feel insular and disconnected from the outside world. We write and edit in small rooms for months on end, rarely coming up for air. Film schools, festivals, labs, residencies, and other incubation programs can help bring filmmakers together, but Film Week takes it one step further. It’s designed to help propel projects forward, at all levels of development, and connect independent storytellers with top industry professionals.

In many ways, it’s a curated form of speed-dating for filmmakers. Film Week seems to organically pair filmmakers and projects with likeminded investors, producers, and production companies.

This will be my second time attending Film Week. Last year, I had the privilege of attending with my brother Rashaad, where we represented a feature narrative project, Big Man, which had been selected for the Emerging Storytellers section. We met with at least two dozen people throughout the course of the week. We attended carefully curated meetings, panels, and screenings, and we were able to pitch to potential partners and advance our project to its next stage of development.

This year, I’m attending Film Week with a feature narrative, Rogue, written and directed by Mark F. Kindred, an NYU graduate student. Rogue has thus far been supported by the Sundance Screenwriting and Directors lab, as well as Sundance’s Music and Design Lab and Creative Producing Summit. IFP is Rogue‘s next stop, and it will be a critical step in securing financing for our project.

During Film Week, we hope to hit the ground running and be able to build off the momentum we’ve already gathered on Rogue. We feel that we have a poignant, urgent, and relevant story to tell, and we are glad it found a home at the No Borders Co-Production section at Film Independent Week.

I’ve made a brief list of 10 things I’d like to happen during the week. Let’s see if we are able to accomplish these goals:

1. Secure investor(s) for our film.
2. Find potential producing partners or production companies who can bring experience, expertise, and capital to the project.
3. Solidify our legal team.
4. Meet with potential collaborators willing to share resources and best practices.
5. Engage in meaningful dialogue around the current state of independent filmmaking.
6. Attend as many panel discussions and roundtables as possible spanning the various areas of filmmaking, from film financing, to sales and distribution.
7. Reconnect with filmmakers I’ve met, who don’t live in New York City — treat some new/old friends to coffee, hear about their projects in development.
8. Listen, learn, and grow as a filmmaker — soak up everything I can.
9. Depart Film Week with a tangible, concrete plan for moving our project closer to securing financing and into pre-production.
10. Most of all, have fun!