Closed : NK
Festival : NK

The future of this popular festival is under review. Organised by Ken and Carol Wilson with the express intention of encouraging people in Britain to make more fiction movies. This note from Ken Wilson describes the current status for 2009:
We have run the above competition and festival for the past 4 years and with some success. What started out in 2005 as a one-off event was repeated in the next 3 years. As several people have asked me what is happening for 2009, I think it important to give a short update.
As any competition or film festival organiser will tell you, a huge amount of work goes on behind the scenes to run either of these. It is also true that volunteers to help are usually thin on the ground. Most of the pre competition and festival work falls on two people, myself and my wife Carol. Later on, nearer to the event, several people have helped out with judging and then on the day of the festival itself, with supplying or setting up of equipment and clearing away at the end. Then of course, there are comments to write and these are returned with the films on DVD or tape.
The above is all part of the task of running the competition and show and are undertaken voluntarily by all to maintain a successful event. There are however, several problems to think about. In 2008, the November date chosen for the show, clashed with numerous other film weekends as well as non film related parties, shows and dinners. This resulted in a 50% cut in the audience and a slight financial loss. The show is priced to merely break even and never to make a profit and this was the first time any sort of loss was incurred. In addition, film competition entries were for many weeks, hard to acquire and e-mails had to be sent out to chase some movies up to provide a decent show.
In the end, we did have a very good selection of films and in fact many more than we could include, but time was spent working to get people to send them in. The venue for the show is in many ways ideal, being a small theatre with raked seating for a clear view of the screen and a room downstairs for food and with a bar at the interval. The cost of hiring the theatre is reasonable and allows for modestly priced tickets. However, several people have mentioned the poor heating system especially on the two occasions when we have chosen a November date.
If we are to continue, a new date and/or venue would seem to be needed.
Organisation of the competition and show needs to be simplified as finding the time to do all of the above with very small numbers of helpers is an issue. A buffet complicates things and adds to the work and also the costs which some people also mention in their feedback. But also the buffet is important to many people too.
So the upshot is that nothing has yet been decided. Any comments/ suggestions or offers of competition entries should we continue, are welcome and can be e-mailed to me at kw@phase4.free-online.co.uk and an announcement will be made shortly.
Ken Wilson July 2009
Ken Wilson (PHASE 4)
6 Honeysuckle Close
Alverthorpe
Wakefield
W.Yorks WF2 0AF
(01924379020)     kw@phase4.free-online.co.uk

Report on 2008 festival