Joanne Bentley's Lounge Discussions

Welcome!

Hey, Stew, welcome. I'm over here in the southeast, but always looking for collaboration opportunities.

I can't wait and FYI I'm willing to travel for a good project!

Hi there Stew, great to meet you! We'd love to contribute to a project with "Team Feathers" - let's stay in touch! :0)

STEW, I use feathers to make pillows. Mark

Hey Bruce, this is Beth from the Stage 32 team. I just wanted to let you know I moved your post from Filmmaking / Directing to Introduce Yourself, as it fits much better there. Let me know if you have any questions, and all the best to you!

Hello Bruce, I'm Ashley Moore very nice to meet you.

Thank you Beth Fox Heisinger, and likewise Ashley Moore...

Hallo Bruce - I'm Joanne. Great to meet you!

Hi Joanne, I'm Ashley Moore and welcome to Stage 32.

Hi Evette - great to 'meet' you. We'd be happy to include you in our network, and would definitely embrace the opportunity to collaborate with you. Have a fabulous weekend, Joanne

David - So you would like to see awards based on audience voting, as opposed to festival staff picks? I can't agree more. Truly, that would be a good step. However, I have a genuine question for you: Do you have a suggestion for how to best carry that through? My concern with that is: how does a festival avoid a film winning - simply because those filmmakers had more friends that could attend the festival? Being a part of Theatre Festivals, that is a very common occurrence with audience based voting: the one with the most popular creators wins, instead of the best production. Thoughts?

Hey there Kris - I've a good friend named Suzette Laqua who is currently organizing Vancouver WebFest 2. She's a wonderful person, and I'm certain she'd be happy to offer some thoughts and guidance to you. If you follow this link you'll see a little bit about what's coming up as they prepare for the WebFest: http://www.vancouverwebfest.com/ Under the 'About Us' tab is the 'Contact Us' link - please feel welcome to tell Suzette I pointed you in her direction. :0) Joanne

Hi Kris! Your questions are well founded. And, as someone who has just embarked on launching a film festival this year, and, who had the great fortune of attending the International Film Festival Summit in Austin in December, I can honestly tell you, there is no one way of putting a festival together. Basically, you need a vision for what you want the festival to be and encompass and then you need a team of volunteers and/or board of directors who share your vision and won't let personal agendas hijack the goals you've laid out. Easier said than done as I've come to realize. I would suggest starting small and focused and yes, if you can do it as a non-profit, you are probably more likely to find people willing to support your efforts. Bottom line, your vision for the festival will stipulate a lot of the answers to the questions you've laid out. Do your best on perks for filmmakers.. that will definitely help you in your efforts. Attend film festivals to learn what works and doesn't work. Our festival is June 4-7, 2015 and if you want to attend, use our hotel discount code ARTIF15 if booking a room at our host resort, the Peppermill Reno Casino Resort. We'll also have a discount code for Enterprise Rental car on our website in January at RTIFF.org. Feel free to email me with questions any time. Good luck!

audience based voting A belated comment - you could offer a judges' award, separate from & additional to the audience award.

It is always easier to find a film festival. There is one I'm helping with in LA: https://www.facebook.com/events/765894000164978/ I think there is still some time left if you have works you like to share.