Week 10 Reflection

I have absolutely loved collecting some of the film festival programs since beginning this festival-making journey! I felt particularly drawn to the 2023 Melbourne Queer Film Festival program because of the graphics and the size of the actual booklet. The program not only contains detailed information about what will be screened, but also includes ads from companies and partners who share aligned values and interests, as well as additional details such as pages on other events that the festival’s audience members might find interesting, like trivia nights or speed dating. I think it’s an important way of creating a community that shares the same values and helps keep audiences engaged and eager to read future programs. I also appreciated the “partners and supporters” pages in the MQFF and Melbourne Cinematheque programs because they motivated me to reach out and find organizations willing to support us. It gave me hope that the And Scene Festival would have its own “partners and supporters” page that not only included our venue partners, The Capitol and RMIT, but also other companies interested in lending a helping hand to our festival.

Regarding adding to our mailing list, I visited multiple Melbourne film festival websites and went to their “supporters” and “sponsorships/partners” pages to better understand who I could reach out to. I started this after learning about The ReelGood Film Festival and following their Instagram page to get a glimpse of their media and festival production. It was really cool to see many people posing in front of their media wall with all the brands they have partnered with, and even though a media wall is a bit costly, the idea of the And Scene Festival having our very own media wall for our audiences and community to capture moments in front of is inspiring.

Overall, referring to successful film festival websites, social media pages, and programs is a great way to find inspiration and use as guidance in producing our festival!