Starting in January of 2022, I joined the EIFF team as a Submissions Assistant. In this role, I worked within the submissions team to help with the running of the festival’s submissions process. Primarily using Filmfreeway and the festival’s FileMaker Pro database, this involved processing well over 4000 submitted films of all lengths and categories. In addition, I would also undertake responsibility for responding to enquires involving submissions, review films in relation to festival rules and regulations, contact filmmakers with any enquiries or results relating to their films, work with film schools and larger distributors in processing batch submissions, supporting the evaluation of fee waivers and discounts, supporting the work of the festival’s pre-selectors and programmers, researching films and filmmakers to support decision making and undertaking any other tasks required to support the running of the festival. Additionally, due to a high number of selections and previous experience, I jumped on as a pre-selector within this role to watch through and review submissions and support the work of the programming team. I took on this role till June 2022.

Following this, towards the end of my initial contract, I was asked to stay on and promoted to the role of Delegate Services Coordinator. In this role, I was responsable for the festival’s accreditation process for press, industry and filmmaker as well as supporting their experience in the run up and during the festival. The accreditation system involved a mixture of the festival’s website, their box office CRM system and their FileMaker Pro database to ensure that delegate’s data was appropriately processed (To the festivals policies and GDPR) and that their accreditation was ready in time for the festival itself. Additionally, this role involved heavy usage of Microsoft Office software in supporting the creation of accreditation process, recording the information of those receiving fee waivers on their accreditation and creating final reporting on the overall accreditation process, financial income and delegate numbers. In this role, I also worked heavily with the Filmhouse Box Office and Finance team to ensure the system worked well and that any requests for involved where appropriately processed. Dealing with enquires from our delegates was also an important part of my role and I would often deal with nearly 50 emails per day relating to anything from information on our programme to technical issues so ensuring excellent communication was key. As Delegate Services Coordinator, I was also responsable for the Delegate Services Assistant and, during the festival, the Delegate Services Centre. I really enjoyed the busy working environment and opportunity to communicate with many different delegates, stakeholders and departments within the festival. After the success running of the festival and completing all the tasks required of me to high praise, I finished up as Delegate Services Coordinator at the end of August 2022.

Being a part of the team bringing EIFF together, ever since my time as a Young Programmer at the festival in 2014, has always been a career dream of mine. Achieving that in 2022 has been one of the greatest experiences of my life. I have made so many new friends, learned so much from the roles I have taken on and really been able to put my passion, skills and experience into something that I truly care about and proud to be a part of. Sadly however, as of writing this in October 2022, CMI (Filmhouse & EIFF) has went into administration and this now brings into question the future of FIlmhouse and of EIFF. I am a part of the campaign to hopefully save both and can only hope that this will not be the last time that I am a part of EIFF.