Organising a film festival can be a challenging task; however, it’s also an incredibly rewarding experience. This isn’t only a way of showcasing your work and meeting other filmmakers; it also aids you in networking and building your reputation as an artist.

Organising a film festival, however, requires dedication, time, and money.

Thankfully, there are ways to reduce costs while still maintaining quality standards. Therefore, by following these tips below, you will be able to organise an amazing festival that will be remembered by all who attended!

 

Tips for organising a film festival

 

Make your event stand out with the following steps.

 

1. Decide on a name

 

First, come up with a name for the film festival. It should be catchy and memorable. However, it must fit in with the theme of your festival. Furthermore, if you’re also targeting an international audience, then consider using a more international font or style.

 

2. Organising a film festival requires some budgeting

 

You should have a rough idea of how much money is needed to get started and the total expenditure for all courses of the festival. It’s vital to understand that you might lose money at first, but once you’ve built a reputation, it can be profitable for years to come. Also, use this stage as a plan to avoid spending the money you can’t afford.

 

3. Research your marketplace

 

Do some research on the market and see what films are popular in your area. You can do it by attending local film festivals or looking at their websites. Also, find out about other festivals taking place around the same date as yours so they don’t clash with it, like concerts or sporting events. Figure out and take notice of what other creators around you are doing.

 

4. Pick your venue

 

If possible, try to find a venue that is close to public transport and has parking nearby and ensure that there is plenty of good signage so people don’t get lost on arrival. If you’re being particularly ambitious and hosting in a more rural area, you may want to consider offering attendees some form of hired transport to bring them to and from your venue.

 

5. Assemble the crew

 

To keep things running smoothly, assemble a team who knows what they’re doing. These people will help you organise and run the event, from promoting it to ensuring that the films are playing on time and manning anything on the technical side. They should also be able to answer any questions people may have about the festival.

 

 

6. Organising a film festival requires advertising

 

Once you’ve assembled the crew, it’s vital to advertise your film festival as much as possible. Advertise online, in print, and on social media. The more people who know it, the more likely they will attend.

 

7. Get some films to screen and some interesting people to attend

 

If you want more people to attend the event, make sure the films you pick are going to attract an audience. Get some well-known actors and directors involved. Find some other interesting people you know (and not necessarily attached to filmmaking) and have them attend too – a wide variety of opinionated, passionate people will create quite an atmosphere when all cobbled together!

 

8. Contact distributors and filmmakers to act as reviewers

 

You can contact distributors and filmmakers as reviewers to give you a hand with the film festival. They will help with information on the latest films that are being released. In addition, they can provide you with advice on how best to run your festival as well as potentially act as judges or reviewers for the movies you screen.

 

9. Technical thoughts

 

Consider what kinds of equipment will be needed for your event (cameras, microphones) and the time needed to set up and break down between screenings each day. Suppose you plan to have multiple screenings per day, setting up early or late at night; this may affect venue options as well. As also touched on in point 5, it would be wise to assign certain crew members certain technical responsibilities as there can be a lot to consider in this respect.

 

10. Set out a program and establish your event details

 

It is vital to set what will happen on each day, from opening to closing night ceremonies. Therefore, everyone knows what they are doing throughout their stay. Also, set up a process for the ticketing and registration at this stage. This point also ties in with point number 6 – you need to let people know your festival exists in the first place, but you also need to provide them with a very clear idea of the where, when, how etc.

 

 

Safe and accessible ground protection is crucial when organising a film festival

 

There is one more major piece of advice we can offer – provide your guests with a safe and comfortable way of getting in and out of your event using our ground protection and temporary access solutions.

Ground Protection Ireland can offer our TerraTrak Plus to provide an uninterrupted and gap-free walkway for viewers and critics alike. We’ve seen everything from the Cannes film festival to 50 people in your local town, and we can provide safe access solutions for vehicles, equipment, projectors, and guests. We’ll give your event an air of professionalism and solid planning that will impress all your audience members -whether they’re critics or just plain old fans.

Get in touch with our experienced team today to discover how using TerraTrak Plus can allow you to host a safe and accessible film festival in the remotest of locations, and don’t forget to also check out our blog and resources to find out more!