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Unfortunately, since the below interview was
conducted, the AWESOME Film Festival has suffered a severe
case of permanent cancellation!
November 24th will see the first ever AWESOME Film Festival -
so what can you tell us about the event?
It's a one day film festival in
Nottinghamshire, England accepting films from all over the world, whether
short or feature length, documentary or narrative. It's open to everything
and there are no restrictions because we want to see real creativity
blossom without any barriers. What gave you
the idea to launch a(nother) film festival in the first place? And in your
eyes, what makes the AWESOME Film Festival special, sets it
apart from other festivals? There
are tons of film festivals and rightly so. I wanted to make one that had
no restrictions, one where you could enter anything at all. I'm not so
much interested in the big movies, I'm interested in the indies who are
incredibly creative. There are some amazing filmmakers out there and with
the bonus of having Awesome Magazine being read by thousands of people
from all over the world, it just made sense to give them some extra
promotion. Having some great connections in film distribution we can also
help them get their films out there! As far as I know, AWESOME
Film Festival accepts submissions from around the world - so what
kinds of submissions will you accept, what kinds of movies do you want to
showcase, and what can you tell us about submission fees, deadlines and
the like? We want anything
that is creative, awesome. Yes budgets will be low, yes, some production
values won't be stunning, but that does not mean there isn't heart and
soul in these films. We want to see everything! There is a submission fee,
but that is simply to help cover the cost of the venue and a little
celebrity cost to help boost the promotion for their films. We will give
people amazing publicity through all our magazines, Facebooks, Twitters
and more, so it is much more value for money than people will realise.
Any films scheduled yet? We've
only just announced the event but we have two in already.
You'll
also hand out awards during the festival, right? So what can you tell us
about your award categories, and what will the winners be awarded with? We've
tried to make sure everything is covered from best actor to writer. We'll
be giving out special certificates, we'll run big features in the
magazines and promotions, we'll give them a special goody bag of stuff as
we'll and get them pictures and video footage of the event to show them
off.
Related
to that: Your panel of judges - who's on it, and why? I
have not yet decided but a certain Mr Haberfelner would be very welcome on
the panel. Any
events planned in addition to the screenings and the awards show? If
I told you that, I would have to put a hit out on you.
At
events like this, people just love to see stars - any you can whet our
appetite with yet? There are
some very real celebs coming to the event, but until I have absolute
confirmation I'm keeping quiet. Celebrities are notoriously useless. All
the stars from films such as Lady of the
Dark, Dark
Watchers, Dead Walkers, Exorcist Chronicles etc will be there. It will be great for
networking. What can you tell us about your
projected venue? Medium-sized
but very posh! And a bar, there has to be a bar.
So with quite a few films to show and
an award ceremony in the evening, what will the schedule be, and how do
you plan to pack all this into one day? We're
going to show the winning entries during the day and have the awards
ceremony in the evening.
What's the entry
fee for a regular audience member, and where to get tickets from?
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Philip Gardiner |
At
present we are having to restrict numbers because I want free space for
the fillmmakers, so tickets are £30 and it will be first come first
served. People will get free DVDs, a drink or two and other stuff. We're
not aiming to make a profit, in fact my forecast is that it will end up
personally costing me an arm and a leg. Should
the AWESOME Film Festival become a success (and I'm sure it
will), any plans to expand it in the next years, or take it to the next
level (and I have no idea what that might mean either)? If
it's a success, then we'll do it every year and possibly some other more
specific events (horror etc). Any
future projects besides the AWESOME Film Festival? A
ton of films, auditions for actors to get into the amazingly popular
Awesome Talent Agency and, well, that's enough for my small brain at the
moment. The
festival's website, Facebook, whatever else? The
details for the event are on
www.awesomeonlinemagazine.com. Anything
else you are dying to mention and I have merely forgotten to ask? Yes,
thank you for helping to promote the event, and please folks, any
questions contact us, we want this to be YOUR event, we want to HELP
support your hard work in any way we can. Thanks
for the interview! No sir,
thank you :)
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