SCHEDULE

The pair behind Festival Formula, the global resource platform offering festival guidance for filmmakers, discuss how to use film festivals to promote your work and advance your career, how to develop a festival strategy, improve festival acceptance rates, find an audience for your films, and more. 

About Katie Bignell

Katie Bignell provides strategy and submissions support to filmmakers worldwide through her company, Festival Formula. As an active member of the Short Film Conference and the Film Festival Alliance, Katie is also a key spokesperson on festival issues with coverage in The Hollywood Reporter and Screen Daily. She co-created the Filmmaker Lounge in partnership with Film Festival Alliance, an online space for programmers and filmmakers. She has spoken at numerous festivals including, HollyShorts, Sundance, SXSW, and many more and has served on juries at Cleveland International, Heartland International, St. Louis International, and DC Shorts. 

About Ian Bignell 

Ian is a Film Festival Strategist at Festival Formula. He watches films and provides impartial feedback on how they best fit into the worldwide film festival circuit. Drawing on his expert insight into the circuit, he creates bespoke festival strategies for filmmakers. Behind the scenes, he is the company’s go-to nerd for technical help on anything from codecs to subtitles. Away from the desk, you will often find him sharing his expertise and giving honest advice at film festivals around the world such as HollyShorts, Heartland Film Festival, Encounters Film Festival, Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival, Norwich Film Festival, Manchester International Film Festival, and many more and serving on juries at festivals such as DC Shorts and Indy Shorts.