My interview about the Gwinnett Center International Film Festival was with the Festival Director, Selina Branstetter. The following is an approximate transcript of my interview, starting from my point of questioning:
Rebecca: I found on the website that you are the Festival Director, but who started the festival?
Selina: Kevin Powers and I started it together and are full time employees of GCI. We started brainstorming ideas of what to bring to the center in the summer, since those are our slow months, and decided to due this film festival. Kevin is very big in the film community here, and we pulled in our co-worker, Robin. So the three of us together are the founders.
Rebecca: Do people register to attend this festival, and how much does it cost?
Selina: We actually don't have pre-registration. We just sell tickets the day of. If you submit your film, you can get two free tickets for the weekend. We decided to do it that way because the event ise all at one location We found it more efficient to simply sell tickets. We have a one-day ticket price that will get you into all the films and panel for the day, which is $15. Our weekend ticket price is $35.
Rebecca: As Festival Director, how would you personally describe the mission/goals of your festival?
Selina: To provide an area or a space for filmmakers to present their work in an open environment. It's a place for them to feel, despite their age, that their films are welcome. It doesn't matter the genre. We also provide a facility for people to network with other professionals. We do a lot of local invitationals so we have a good number of people from Atlanta that our guests can network with.
Rebecca: What is your absolutely favorite thing about your festival?
Selina: To see all of the different cultures and community in film. This last festival, we represented 14 different countries in our screenings and to see that people will come from Israel or Japan just to see their film on the big screen is just amazing.
Rebecca: What is most challenging part of your festival?
Selina: We knew going in that the challenge of not knowing who is going to show would be a bit stressful, because there are no ticket sales in advance. It is all done day of. It leaves us in the dark of what are crowd is going to look like and where we can provide them with enough necessities.
Rebecca: What do you wish they had done differently or better when they were first starting out? Or something you wish you knew then that you know now?
Selina: Our 2nd and 3rd year, we opted for multiple platforms for submission. Our 1st year was done on withoutabox only. The 2nd and 3rd year we added filmfreeway and got way more submissions, almost by 50%. We found the filmfreeway is easier and a better to reach the filmmakers we are looking for.
Rebecca: How many entries did you get this year? Specifically between features and shorts?And how many films do you aim to screen each year?
Selina: We had 120 films shown. I would say 15 to 20 were features. This year, we had a strong submission of shorts, with more than 80. For us, it doesn't matter about showing more features than shorts. If a film is receiving a lot of acclaim, and Kevin knows it will get in crowds, we may repeat that film screening in the festival. This year just happened to be aimed toward shorts. Our festival time frame is from 11am to 10pm, so we simply program to run for that entire time. We have found, however, that by the 8pm, unless you have a high end feature, we lose people.
Rebecca:What is your prescreening process?
Selina: I am actually not too sure. This is more of a question for Kevin. I do know that whatever film we get, Kevin previews all of them. We do have a panel that then chooses which films to show at the festival. Then we have judges at the event choose who receives prizes.
Rebecca: How do you score entries? Are there scoring guidelines?
Selina: The judges score entries. They have specific scoring guidelines with a 1 to 5 scale in different categories. The categories are specific to if the film is a feature, a short, or the like.
Rebecca: How far in advance do you send out your call for entries?
Selina: Anywhere from November to January of that year. It really all depends.
Rebecca: When do most entries come in? Do most come early or late? Or do they come in waves?
Selina: Generally in waves. There has been a lot more of a social media push by us on Facebook and through their ads. We get a trickling of entries but when we get closer to the deadline, there are a lot more submissions.
Rebecca: How many paid employees and volunteers does the festival have each year?
Selina: Kevin, Robin, and I have full-time jobs at the center and whatever work associated with the festival is added to our existing jobs. We usually have around 25 volunteers that go on a rotation. They usually sign up for several time slots and come back on different days to help out.
Rebecca: Is there a software program that you use for programming, trafficking, and budgeting? Do you like it?
Selina: We have used excel spreadsheets for the past few years. Our budgeting is done a little differently than most festivals because have it go through the center. We use their accounting firm.
Rebecca: What community outreach do you do outside of your festival season to keep your event on the public's radar and/or to raise funds?
Selina: We are very active on social media throughout the year. We also go to many film events in Atlanta. Kevin works with other people to get their films in our festival and obtain their interest. Atlanta hosts a monthly film event called Get Connected where we go to network. We also do a big pushes closer to our event date.
Rebecca: Do you give out swag bags to visiting filmmakers or presenters? If so, what items do you include in those bags?
Selina: Swag bags are actually given to judges because they volunteer. They typically include staff shirts, lanyards, swag from Gwinnett Center, like cups, pens and pads. We don't sell any merchandise at the festival but are looking into it for the future, so this is our way of saying thanks.
Rebecca: Do you have local sponsors and, do you have any advice for us to reach out to them?
Selina: The festival has sponsorship opportunities with different levels and I personally reach out to any company I think would make a good sponsor. Since we are a part of Gwinnett Center, we do a lot of trade with the center's partners. We get it for no or little cost to advertise for them. They are usually avid film goers or passionate about film. My advice would be to always follow up until you hear no. You must follow up to get it. You must be persistent! You have to follow up to make sure that: 1. they got it; 2. they read it; and 3. they answer you.
Rebecca: Do filmmakers pay registration to attend?
Selina: No, they just pay the submission fee.
Rebecca: Do you provide filmmakers with funds to cover travel or lodging?
Selina: We are still in the early stages so we actually cannot afford to at this time. We do try to assist filmmakers if they do ask for help for travel accommodations. We will usually get them in touch with discount rates for hotels we are work with.
Rebecca: What "perks" do your filmmakers enjoy at your festival? Do you encourage them to do anything while they're in town?
Selina: Where we are located, there really isn't a large nightlife. We don't have clubs around, I will admit. Because of that, all of our additional programming is done at restaurants in town. We try to encourage the restaurant/bar atmosphere instead.
Rebecca: Do you have special donor perks during the event? Or how do you thank them?
Selina: We have an opening night reception for donors and sponsors, and its a big closed party that you must RSVP for. It is one of our biggest ways to thank everyone who has worked to make the event happen.
Rebecca: Any other ideas or advice that we haven’t thought to ask about?
Selina: Marketing! Marketing is so important for festivals. We are really into grassroots marketing, being a local event. Our print is minimal, just for this day and age; a lot of it is on social media. We tried doing a television commercial our first year, but we found that it was not a big enough return for the price. We like to really advertise in the community, hitting the artist niches in town.
We first talked to the Atlanta film festival's marketing firm, kind of like you are doing with me, and the key things they said is never count on ticket sales for events, but submissions! We must be accountable for submission and money.
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