This year at the London Short Film Festival, we took the opportunity to host a ‘town hall’ style meeting where we invited both filmmakers and festival programmers/directors to come together for a frank discussion about the film festival experience.

Speaking to some of our clients (Mike Keaby // The Problem With Time Travel, Heather McQ // A Positive Contribution, Francis Tamburin // IRIS, and Ian Sweeney // Time Tourists) sci-fi scriptwriters are societies modern revolutionaries preparing their audiences with what the future entails. But how do we make it entertaining?

Nurturing the documentarians of tomorrow, filmmaker and LA Times Short Docs curator Nani Sahra Walker shares her wisdom and experiences.

Great fests for finding your film a buyer, best friend, or biggest fan Film festivals are a lovely break from your life at home — but they can also be the place your film finds a home. Our list has been created for and published by MovieMaker magazine, in 2022.

Festival Formula knows as well as anyone just how many short film festivals there are in the world – more than 12,000 listed on FilmFreeway alone – but when you go to Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, with its dedicated Short Film Market, you really feel it.

Based in Berlin, Germany. British Shorts Lichtspielklub Kurzfilmfestival has run for 16 years and is a celebration of British short film productions screening in this vibrant, larger than life city. The delightful Aaron shares his experience and the best way to get the most out of British Shorts Film Festival.

Although the pandemic seems a fading memory, some festivals are still having their first ‘normal’ event since it began. Our strategy client Alfie sends this postcard from the fantastic This Is England over in Rouen.

If you’ve yet to take a stab at the genre, here are a few reasons why you should absolutely make a horror film.

When someone utters “horror film” a vast mix of emotions evoke us. From immense disdain to utter admiration, it is arguable the most opinionated genre in the filmmaking world.

Horror is a genre catered for not just with specific strands within broad festival programmes, it also boasts a number of high profile festivals entirely dedicated to horror, all born of a deep-rooted love of the genre.

Some of the challenges our clients had to face when making a low-budget film came down to the filmmaking saying TIME = MONEY.

There are many differences between a festival run for a short film and one for a feature film, and Festival Formula client Martin Abildgaard has experienced both with us - his short Lovebirds and feature A Beautiful Curse.

Even the most experienced of directors can find the global festival circuit to be something of an unknown beast. Thomas Hescott brought his second short film, The Act, to Festival Formula after taking on the circuit solo with his first short.

If proof was ever needed that making and taking short films onto the festival circuit continues to be one of the most effective ways to launch a career, look no further than former Festival Formula client, Kate Herron.

Since working with us and her short film Five by Five, Kate has gone on to direct episodes of Sex Education on Netflix before taking the reins as series director of Loki on Disney+.