Get out of your home studio and meet with 2000 industry professionals at the 3^rd Annual Filmmaker Conference. Promising to “identify new opportunities for independents," this year’s compendium of panels runs Sept. 16 – 21 in New York City. Up for discussion is the financial pitfall of post-production, marketing your film for festivals, packaging your script, the ethics of documentary filmmaking and all the other topics that take four years of film school to explore (and at $30 a panel, it’s much more cost-effective, trust me).

Get your nose out of that Rodriguez book and “learn where the business is at today – and where it's heading next” while you pass out copies of your script and a business card to anyone who will take one. In the end, it really is what you know and who you know.

For more information on panelists, locations and to purchase passes visit www.filmmakerconference.com.