Pilot training
TALENT MANAGER/FILM FESTIVAL PROGRAMMER/STRATEGIST
Derek Horne has demonstrated a knack for talent management through the years of programming film festivals and working with emerging talent at two of the leading film schools in the USA:
For eleven years at Chapman University, Derek was their inaugural Film Coordinator, advising students and submitting their films to festivals (with first time selections at Sundance, Tribeca, SXSW, and Telluride). Derek was the first to promote the student work of now famous and successful alumni: The Duffer Brothers, Carlos López Estrada, Gursimran Sandhu, Justin Simien, Carles Torrens, Zach Wechter, Missy Laney, and many others.
Currently as the Distribution Coordinator at University of Southern California's School of Cinematic Arts, Derek licenses their student films to television, streaming platforms, and other distribution channels.
To contact Derek for festival advice or consulting, please contact festivalstrategy@gmail.com
CONNECTING talent
Derek has played a supporting role in the careers of many filmmakers, actors, and musicians by programming their films at festivals and giving them a promotional platform.
Derek was the first to program the short film "Night Ride" in the U.S. which led to it being discovered by a programmer of the Tribeca Film Festival who brought it with her to that festival where it ended up winning the Oscar®,-qualifying award and set in on the path to being Oscar®,-nominated in 2023.
In the case of the band Panda Transport, a live performance by lead singer Kathy Compton at a film festival that Derek programmed, led to their song "Transmission" being placed in the TV Show Grey's Anatomy.
Promoting talent
Derek has promoted talent for decades in his capacity as programmer for numerous film festivals and in his staff positions at top film schools at USC and Chapman.
Derek was the first advocate for the Duffer Brothers when they were students at Chapman University. He lobbied for their thesis film Eater to be included in the annual industry showcase at the DGA theater. He also presented the film in Cannes and Clermont-Ferrand in Chapman showcases.
Derek was the founder and editor of Kodak's student magazine the "Campus Beat" which ran for six years and gave many emerging filmmakers their first exposure to press. Derek also coordinated Kodak's Emerging Filmmaker Program at the Cannes Film Festival which brought award-winning student filmmakers to the festival.
Scouting talent
Derek has travelled to many festivals around the world in search of gems to add to his stellar program lineups at film festivals. Curating film festivals for decades has led to discoveries that have gone on to universal acclaim at the Academy Awards®, Golden-Globes®, and more. See more details about the festivals he has programmed in the Satellite Projects section. To contact Derek for festival programming, please email filmfestprogrammer@gmail.com