Visions Blog : SJIWFF Research

1. What time is your interview scheduled and who will you be talking with when you call/skype?

· My interview was with Sarah Smellie, the Executive Director, of St. Johns Film Festival on September 10^th at 9:30am.

2. Who started it and who runs it?

· Founded in 1989 by Alison Dyer with Noreen Golfman, Peggy Norman and others. The SJIWFF is a means of supporting and celebrating women filmmakers world wide. Run by a board, made up of 10 woman.

3. What is the mission of the festival/conference? (copy and paste the first paragraph)

· Increase the exposure of new works written and / or directed by women;

· Showcase the province to the Canadian and international film industry;

· Increase the national and international profile of St. John’s and the province as a vibrant cultural site and place to do business;

· Deliver programs to help develop the next generation of filmmakers (FRAMED, 2D in 2 DAYS);

· Offer outreach programs (Films on the Go, special screenings);

· Facilitate interaction among filmmakers and between filmmakers and their audiences;

· Provide local communities access to outstanding yet unfamiliar and limited-release works;

· Produce a unique cultural event that highlights our filmmakers, our province and our industry; and

· Support the development of the local film community through promotion, exhibition, market access, professional development and training opportunities and grants (the RBC MJEFA)

4. How does this compare with their actual programming choices from the past two years? Be specific  in describing what they program (mode, categories within mode, niche, Political? Global? Local?  Gender? Sexuality? Race? Any themes?

· SJIWFF is programmed as a festival “by women for everyone.” With this I believe they achieve the goal of increasing exposure of women film makers because they market the film festival in such a way that everyone knows that it is only women film makers. They utilize a lot of pink and feminine colors in order to emphasize the importance of women to this film festival.

5. Where is the event?

· St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

6. When is the event? (Give dates from last year if not current)

October 14-18, 2014.

7. How do you submit? Snail mail, online, withoutabox, through their site, etc...

· Submission copies must be NTSC format DVD or submitted online through Withoutabox or a password-protected Vimeo link. PAL format DVDs cannot be accepted. An English language track or subtitled version is required.

8. When are the deadlines to enter? Early? Reg? Late?

· January 15th, 2014 — Submissions open March 18, 2014 — Early Bird Deadline ($10CAD) April 15, 2014 — Regular Deadline ($20CAD) May 20, 2014 — Late Deadline ($35CAD) May 27, 2014 — Withoutabox Extended Deadline ($50CAD)

9. How much does it cost to enter?

· March 18, 2014 — Early Bird Deadline ($10CAD) April 15, 2014 — Regular Deadline ($20CAD) May 20, 2014 — Late Deadline ($35CAD) May 27, 2014 — Withoutabox Extended Deadline ($50CAD)

10. Who’s eligible, what are the guidelines to enter?

Must be directed and/or written by women filmmakers from around the world.

11. Is there a Student category?

· No, but there are camp workshops put on for students.

12. What formats do they except for jurying? DVD, Vimeo, Flash drives?

13. What formats do they except for exhibition/screening?

14. How many films screened at the festival last year?

· Around 70-90

15. How long is a typical shorts block or paper presentation block at their event?

· Really depends on the block you go to.

16. How many films or papers do they program per block?

· 3-4

17. How do people register to attend? Is there a cost to attend as a guest?

Ticket information unavailable on their website.

18. Look at sponsorship page and see what businesses. Grants and private entities give money to the  event. Figure out how many of each kind and note any leads that might be useful to us.

· Most of the sponsors are related to Canada and Canadian television, film, and arts. While some of those sponsors might not work for us, Sarah said to keep her as a contact and they would be happy to promote our festival in Canada.

19. What are their sponsorship levels and incentives for each level?

· Sponsors split into premiere sponsors, platinum, gold, silver, bronze and friends of the festival. List of specific incentives for each level are listed on the website.

20. Did they have a kickstarter or indiegogo? What incentives did they have for each level of donor?

· Listed on website. But incentives are greatest for highest donors and decrease as the amount the sponsor donated decreases. Some perks include passes, posters, logo displayed in trailers/ banners, tickets to gala.

21. What kind of non-traditional film/video events have they had before? Things like Installations,  'Visual Soundwalls,' VJing etc.

· Have things like FRAMED, Scene & Heard and Industry film forum instead of non- traditional abstract events. Also offer to screne past mvoies at different venues throughout the year.

22. Are there ways in which they have expanded the typical film screening event? How have they  branched out from sitting in a dark room in front of a screen?

· Industry Film Forum will bring some of the country’s leading creators to St. John’s for a series of panels, workshops, networking opportunities, pitch sessions and project consultations. The groundbreaking event will help bridge the gap between the local filmmaking and digital content industries, and strengthen those industries’ skills and connections to mainland and local creators.

· FRAMED Film Education Series offers free, high-quality filmmaking camps to youth in order to encourage, support and train them in the craft and business of filmmaking. Camps include FRAMED West, FRAMED Doc, a camp for documentary filmmaking; FRAMED Drama, a camp for fictional film; and FRAMED Animation, a camp that creates an animated film.

· Scene & Heard a week-long series of workshops, film screenings, performances and readings, as well as a an important networking opportunity for filmmakers to connect and build work relationships prior to the St. John’s International Film Festival and the Industry Film Forum in the Fall. Scene & Heard also offers hands-on workshops, such as full-day film editing and camera masterclasses.