Week 11: What were the key insights you gained from – One or more film festivals’ programs (booklets) or websites that you’ve used – or can now use – as references to inform your contribution towards launching SIFF.

Whilst attending our second field trip in week 3 to search for film festive activity in Melbourne’s CBD, we came across the Kino Cinema at Collins Place which at the time was in partnership with the Alliance Française French Film Festival (AFFFF). Here, I had the opportunity to acquire the film festivals booklet and observe many of the promotional materials they had on display around the cinemas entry point, interior and exterior of Collins Place. The program booklet is beautifully designed and contains 95 pages of information regarding its entire program, the festivals theme, and a list of everyone involved in the festivals production. I have kept this booklet not only as a memento of this media studio, but to constantly look back on and help me throughout the process of designing material and launching our film festival.

I was also very surprised with how detailed the booklet was and how it aims to highlight every little aspect of the festivals production. Initially, I thought that program booklets only contained a small amount of information regarding the date, location and screening times of the films. However, it is now clear that programs should include a great deal of information so audiences are provided with all of the necessary information when planning to attend. This includes the festivals overall schedule, their mission statement, accessibility and transportation options, a list of national and local sponsors, a description of each of the films screening, and a detailed list of everyone involved in the development of the event. More so, from a consumers perspective, it is extremely important to maintain the festivals design throughout the program booklet and on other advertising materials, as this was essentially the first thing I noticed upon taking the booklet off the display. As most of my inspiration has stemmed from this booklet, it has also helped me in developing the brochure for our festival.